Gallery: Mercy and hope in the slums of Pattaya

When people mention Pattaya the first images that likely spring to mind are beaches and the city’s notorious nightlife. However, mixed in with the luxury hotels and seedy go-go bars are the unseen people of the city’s slums, for whom the bright lights and tourism industry mean next to nothing. 

Living in ramshackle accommodation on vacant plots of land, often right next to multi-million dollar hotels and condominiums, yet hidden from the view of tourists by towering trees, these families and individuals eke out a living collecting recyclable goods or working as casual day laborers. Others survive on the generosity of others, being too old, frail or ill to forage. 

With no running water, no electricity and no bathrooms, the living conditions in some of the slums of Pattaya can be justly described as abysmal. Though the people living there might call their shelters home, their reality is a world away from most people’s. 

Living in shacks as crudely constructed as a few sheets of tin nailed to some timber off-cuts, with a discarded tarpaulin as a roof, comfort in the slums of Pattaya is measured by things such as whether there is a well to draw 'fresh' water from or whether heavy rain will lead to a river flowing through where you are sleeping. 

The uncertainty of tenure is a big problem. In the past construction crews have turned up out of the blue in the morning, giving the people living there a few minutes to gather their belongings before bulldozers level everything to make way for a new development. If people weren’t present at the time, their humble structures were destroyed, along with any possessions they may have had.  

For some of the slum people of Pattaya, life is a little more certain. Land owners might rent them space to erect a shelter, and even supply a light bulb, but when you are 70 or 80 years old with no family and unable to go foraging because of cataracts or other ailments, 600 baht ($US18.80) per month is a lot of money. 


For the past 13 years an unassuming protestant preacher and his wife from Edmonton, Canada, the Rev Fred and Dianne Doell, have brought a little relief to Pattaya’s needy, starting first with a children’s home. Establishing the aptly named Mercy Center, what began as a desire to help orphaned children has grown into a much larger operation, with the shelter now housing 17 orphaned, abandoned, or at-risk kids between two and 11-years-old, while a school scholarship program pays the uniform, transport and lunch-time meal costs of more than 160 children from the slums.

In addition, an outreach program in Pattaya’s slums provides small food parcels once a week to the poor, infirm and elderly -- along the way showing the poor of Pattaya that they are not forgotten and there is always hope.

Funded almost entirely by private donations, 73-year-old Fred says the biggest problem is that while the need for help continues to grow, donations don’t always follow suit.

Now requiring a staff of five to run, Fred said that even with him and his wife not drawing a salary, Mercy Center has costs of about 200,000 baht per month. The outreach program also provides those living in the slums with mosquito nets and other items to make their existence a little more comfortable, including basic building materials to renovate or construct sturdier dwellings.

People visiting Thailand who might like to assist the poor and helpless of Pattaya can contact Fred via the Mercy Center website.