Thai International School Donates To Filipino Evacuees After Volcanic Eruption

Expat and local pupils as well as their teachers at a Bangkok-based international school are getting together to encourage donations to help the Filipino communities evacuated due to the Taal volcanic eruption.

Thailand has its own versions of natural calamities, but has luckily been spared the fatal attention of the dozens of volcanoes located along the Pacific Ring of Fire. Even so, hearing of the evacuations of so many Filipinos due to the Taal volcano’s eruption, both Filipino teachers and their multinational pupils got together to request donations for those affected.

Anjelo Mungcal, a Filipino teacher at Pathumthani’s AIT International School, described to the media how a Thai pupil handed him some folded baht, saying he hoped it would help children living near the eruption. Since the news of the eruption broke, students, parents and the Bangkok expatriate community have been donating towards the cost of N95 protective masks for all the evacuees, with anonymous donors from both the international and Thai communities extending their financial help via charity drives organised by Filipino expat workers.

Bangkok’s Stamford University-based Filipino Culture Club, partnered with entrepreneur and Filipino restaurant owner Ms. Jongkasem Julakham, organised a fund-raising Filipino Food Festival attended by some 2,000 local and international students. Money raised by the event will be sent to a Filipino partner organisation already involved in helping those displaced due the poisonous fumes from the eruption. In addition, the Culture Club is planning to purchase the popular Kapeng Barako coffee produced in the affected region as well as promoting the Arabica and Liberica coffee beans also grown in Batangas.