TIJ x dtac Net for Living x Robinhood Launch #ChimRiakYim Campaign to Help Formerly Incarcerated Persons Begin Sustainable Livelihoods
20 July 2022 – TIJ has teamed up with dtac Net for Living and Robinhood to launch the #ChimRiakYim campaign. This campaign features food and beverages from 9 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 a hundred thousand persons 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 recommit 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, “With TIJ’s mission as a promoter of change in elevating the criminal justice system, we strongly believe in the reduction of recidivism through capacity building.”
We acknowledge the limitation regarding vocational skills and job opportunities of the formerly incarcerated persons. Therefore, TIJ has initiated the ‘Hygiene Street Food for Chance’ program to enhance their skills in hygienic cooking so they can re-assimilate through sustainable careers in food vending. The program includes both practical and theoretical training e.g. food recipes, hygienic cooking techniques, and business planning, as well as providing resources required to run this category of small business. TIJ has collaborated with dtac Net-For-Living and Robinhood in providing digital marketing knowledge and introducing the Robinhood application to the participants of the program which led to the initiation of the #ChimRiakYim campaign.
She adds, “TIJ aims to effectively support social reintegration of the formerly incarcerated persons. In order to reduce recidivism rates, there is a call for collaboration from all concerned parties in both the government and private sectors. Together, we could create 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, Managing Director of Purple Ventures, the creator of the Robinhood food delivery platform, said, “The key objective of Robinhood is to support small businesses 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 these nine inspiring resocializing 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.
