20 July 2022 – dtac Net for Living has teamed up with TIJ and Robinhood to launch the #ChimRiakYim campaign. This campaign features food and beverages prepared by formerly incarcerated persons who have received digital upskilling in order to support new career paths with dignity. In collaboration with the Robinhood delivery app, #ChimRiakYim is offering exciting and delicious deals on the dtac Net for Living Facebook page from 20 -30 July.
Helping People Start Over
Each year, more than one hundred thousand people are released from prison to restart their lives. For many, however, the transition back into society is fraught with challenges. According to the Ministry of Justice, the rate of recidivism – where formerly incarcerated persons commit new crimes and end up back in prison – have been as high as 13% over the past three years, with former drug offenders making up the majority of such cases. These numbers highlight the need for the justice system to provide more meaningful opportunities and support systems for resocialization.
Dr. Anuwan Vongpichet, Deputy Executive Director of the Thailand Institute of Justice (TIJ) says, “TIJ’s vision is to promote change and level up the justice system. We firmly believe that capacity-building can lead to alleviating recidivism. Recently, our Hygienic Street Food for Chance program provided training to formerly incarcerated people so they can re-assimilate through sustainable careers in food services. The program provided the skills and resources required to run this type of small business.”
She adds, “reducing recidivism rates calls for collaboration from all concerned parties in both the government and private sectors. Together, we are creating an ecosystem to foster sustainable careers and futures for those who struggle to access the same opportunities as most other people.”
The Digital Pathway to New Opportunities
Mr. Sharad Mehrotra, Chief Executive Officer at Total Access Communication PLC or dtac, says, “dtac strives to offer inclusive access to connectivity and digital upskilling, especially for marginalized persons. The dtac Net for Living program supports our key mission to promote digital inclusion and support marginalized groups, such as senior citizens, ethnic minorities and formerly incarcerated people. Our dedicated team of facilitators supports these groups with digital upskilling to help them brave the economic storm and move forward. dtac firmly believes that communication technology and access to connectivity is the accelerator for economic growth at every level: individual, societal, and national.”
The dtac Net for Living program has so far supported over 10,555 marginalized persons across all four regions of Thailand to become small entrepreneurs, and helped increase their online earnings by as much as 50%. In 2021, we launched the #ShopRiakYim (Shop for Smile) campaign to help small businesses migrate online amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The campaign helped boost their earnings by as much as 41% and their online audience by an average of 90 followers per brand. Our new #ChimRiakYim (Taste for Smile) campaign aims to build upon the lessons learned from last year.
Mr. Srihanath Lamsam, Chief Executive Officer at Robinhood developer and operator Purple Ventures Co., Ltd. said, “The key objective of Robinhood is to support small businesses to run sustainably. We do this via a food delivery platform that charges no gross profit share fees, so that vendors and delivery riders keep their earnings. We sincerely hope that the #ChimRiakYim campaign will help first-time food vendors on the Robinhood app kick-start their businesses. We hope they get a good welcome from our users, who can help Thai businesses and support the resocializing of new vendors as they forge new sustainable careers and futures.”
Follow the stories of nine inspiring re-socializing entrepreneurs from the #ChimRiakYim campaign on the dtac Net for Living Facebook page today through 30 July 2022. And don’t forget to get the best deals from them via the Robinhood app.
