The Thai Red Cross Society ( th, สภากาชาดไทย; ) is a major

humanitarian Humanitarianism is an active belief in the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotional ...

organisation in Thailand, providing services as part of the

International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

. The society was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

. It is governed by the Act on Thai Red Cross Society, Buddhist Era 2461 (1918), and is supervised by the

Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or ...

. Its expenses are borne by the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

. Its president is appointed by the

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

upon

advice and consent Advice and consent is an English phrase frequently used in enacting formulae of bills and in other legal or constitutional contexts. It describes either of two situations: where a weak executive branch of a government enacts something previ ...

of the council of ministers. The current president is Queen

Sirikit Queen Sirikit ( th, สิริกิติ์; ; ); born '' Mom Rajawongse'' Sirikit Kitiyakara ( th, สิริกิติ์ กิติยากร; ; 12 August 1932) is the queen mother of Thailand. She was Queen of Thailand as the wi ...

who has held the position since 12 August 1956.

History

The origin of the Thai Red Cross Society dates to the Franco–Siamese

territorial dispute A territorial dispute or boundary dispute is a disagreement over the possession or control of land between two or more political entities. Context and definitions Territorial disputes are often related to the possession of natural resources s ...

of 1893 in which no organised aid was available to assist military casualties. Lady Plien Pasakornravongs assembled a group of female volunteers and asked

Queen Savang Vadhana Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mo ...

for royal permission to establish a humanitarian organisation. Permission was granted by

King Chulalongkorn Chulalongkorn ( th, จุฬาลงกรณ์, 20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910) was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri, titled Rama V. He was known to the Siamese of his time as ''Phra Phuttha Chao Luang'' (พร� ...

, who also granted permission to raise initial funding, 443,716 baht. The society, then known as the Red Unalom Society (สภาอุณาโลมแดง), was founded on 26 April 1893, with Queen Savang Vadhana as maternal patron. Queen Saovabha was appointed the first president, and Lady Plien acted as the society secretary. The society's name was later changed to the Siam Red Cross Society and, following the renaming of the country, the Thai Red Cross Society. The society was officially recognized by the

International Committee of the Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signato ...

on 27 May 1920, and membership in the

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is a worldwide humanitarian aid organization that reaches 160 million people each year through its 192-member National Societies. It acts before, during and after disas ...

(then the League of Red Cross Societies) was granted on 8 April 1921.

Services

Following the statutes of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the Thai Red Cross Society provides humanitarian aid and relief services in times of war and disaster, which is handled by its Relief and Public Health Bureau. The bureau offers public health services in remote areas of the country. The society also provides other medical and charitable services. In total the Thai Red Cross Society has 14 bureaus, 6 specialized centers, and 5 special affair offices. Key focus areas are holistic public health services, disaster relief assistance, supply of blood products and transfusion, and improving quality of life in impoverished communities.

Medical services

The Thai Red Cross Society operates the

King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital (KCMH, th, โรงพยาบาลจุฬาลงกรณ์; ) is a public general and tertiary referral hospital in Bangkok, Thailand. It is operated by the Thai Red Cross Society, and serves as the ...

in Bangkok, with 1,479 beds, one of the largest hospitals in the country, and

Queen Savang Vadhana Memorial Hospital Queen Savang Vadhana Memorial Hospital () or Somdej Phra Boromma Ratchathewi Na Si Racha Hospital is a hospital located in Si Racha District, Chonburi Province, Thailand. It is a hospital operated by the Thai Red Cross Society. It has a CPIRD Medic ...

, a 500-bed general hospital in Si Racha District,

Chonburi Province Chonburi (, , ) is a province of Thailand (''changwat'') located in eastern Thailand. Its capital is also named Chonburi. Neighbouring provinces are (clockwise from north) Chachoengsao, Chanthaburi, and Rayong, while the Bay of Bangkok is to th ...

. The Red Cross Rehabilitation Centre in Samut Prakan Province, provides physical medicine and rehabilitation services for long-term patients.

Blood donation

Blood donation A blood donation occurs when a person voluntarily has blood drawn and used for transfusions and/or made into biopharmaceutical medications by a process called fractionation (separation of whole blood components). Donation may be of whole bl ...

services provided by the National Blood Centre are one of the society's most visible activities. Founded in 1952, the centre collects, processes, and provides blood and blood components to hospitals in Bangkok and nationwide through 147 regional chapters.

Organ donation

The Thai Red Cross Organ Donation Centre began operation in 1994 and is the sole national coordinator of

organ donation Organ donation is the process when a person allows an organ of their own to be removed and transplanted to another person, legally, either by consent while the donor is alive or dead with the assent of the next of kin. Donation may be for re ...

s. The Thai Red Cross Eye Bank, in operation since 1965, provides eye tissue for

corneal transplantation Corneal transplantation, also known as corneal grafting, is a surgical procedure where a damaged or diseased cornea is replaced by donated corneal tissue (the graft). When the entire cornea is replaced it is known as penetrating keratoplasty a ...

, and has 10 regional offices.

AIDS programme

In 1991, the Thai Red Cross Society AIDS Research Centre opened the first HIV-voluntary counselling and testing clinic in Asia. The Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Centre offers HIV testing and counseling services through its Anonymous Clinic, and runs education and awareness campaigns to battle the spread of the epidemic and better the lives of those living with HIV. The centre conducts research on HIV and clinical interventions under HIV-NAT and SEARCH units, and offers many services to help those living with HIV.

Vaccines and rabies prevention

Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute The Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute (QSMI) ( th, สถานเสาวภา; ) in Bangkok, Thailand, is an institute that specialises in the husbandry of venomous snakes, the extraction and research of snake venom, and vaccines, especiall ...

produces BCG and

rabies Rabies is a viral disease that causes encephalitis in humans and other mammals. Early symptoms can include fever and tingling at the site of exposure. These symptoms are followed by one or more of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, ...

vaccine A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious or malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verified.

s and snake antivenins for national distribution. The institute provides rabies prevention and immunisation services. Its snake farm is open to visitors and tourists, providing education in addition to its research activities.

Medical education

The Srisavarindhira Thai Red Cross Institute of Nursing is one of the country's major professional nurse training centres. King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital serves as the

teaching hospital A teaching hospital is a hospital or medical centre that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities and are often co-located ...

for both the college and also the

Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University The Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, the second oldest medical school in Thailand, was established in 1947 in accordance with the wishes of King Ananda Mahidol to educate a sufficient number of medical doctors to satisfy the publ ...

Child welfare

The Thai Red Cross Children's Home takes care of abandoned children at King Chulalongkorn and Queen Savang Vadhana Memorial Hospitals, and attempts to reunite the families or provide the children with suitable adoptive homes.

Transgender services

On November 27, 2015, The Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Centre in Bangkok opened the first clinic in Asia to target services exclusively to the transgender community. The Tangerine Community Health Centre is funded by the US Agency for International Development.

References

The Thai Red Cross Society official web site
Retrieved on 15 March 2008.
The Thai Red Cross Society web site
at the Golden Jubilee Network project. Retrieved on 15 March 2008.

External links

The Thai Red Cross Society website
{{Authority control Red Cross and Red Crescent national societies Medical and health organizations based in Thailand Blood banks Organizations established in 1893 1893 establishments in Siam Pathum Wan district