Spreading the news
throughout the community that there is now a 1479 hotline for the
disabled.
Phasakorn Channgam
A new Pattaya-based telephone hotline is helping the
disabled find jobs and learn about human rights and education.
Operated out the Redemptorist Center for the
Disabled, the 24-hour 1479 hotline has taken calls from more than 500
people since its start in May. About 40 percent of the calls were
inquiring about how to find employment.
Hotline director Jatupol Soison said the center met
with about 40 people who called in and were able to place half of those
in jobs. Others stayed on for education and housing and were offered
job-placement services upon completing their training.
Besides employment, operators also advise on human
rights, education, and ways to get help. Redemptorist executives also
hope to use the phone line to raise funds to build more educational
centers for the disabled.
Boonyarit Meetham, who called the hotline from Samut
Sakorn, was one of the lucky to land a job. He’s now working at the
Eastern Grand Palace as a computer graphics designer. He thanked the
center for helping him find work and relieving a burden on his family.
