Safe drinking, saving lives

Students sign up for Care4Friends membership

Some inebriated revellers, however, may not be so lucky. A mixture of ignorance and irresponsibility could lead them straight into the path of the grim reaper and the New Year they have just celebrated will not be one that they, nor their families, will ever enjoy.

Drinking alcohol, of course, is very much part of Thai culture as it is in many other countries. Yet it is also responsible for a huge number of deaths each year and is accepted by society in ways that some other drugs, that kill comparatively few, are not. Despite this anomaly, the death toll from alcohol-related injuries or diseases continues to mount.

In this festive season, nobody likes to be depressed by statistics. But it does pay to be mindful of what constitutes safe drinking and what doesn’t. Youth in particular are prone to a carefree attitude when it comes to alcohol consumption. After all, they are young and invincible and everyone drinks heavily from time to time, so they are not likely to come to any harm. Or so they think.

Care4Friends Club is an organisation dedicated to promoting socially responsible drinking across university campuses. Supported by the drinks distribution company Riche Monde (Thailand), the organisation works in partnership the Department of Probation, The Blind and Handicapped Network, The Network of Taxi and Sam Lor (tuk-tuks) and The Student Union Network.

The group’s founder, Boonchouy Tongchareonpulporn, set up Care4Friends in response to an escalating climate of ‘binge drinking’ within campus communities. The trend was particularly worrying because students were increasingly damaging themselves and others through drunkenness. One student, for example, was playing football following a heavy night on the town and died of a heart attack. Others have been known to jump into their 4-litre turbos under the influence only to end up a few hours later in the morgue.

Working in association with Riche Monde and the Thamassat Foundation, Khun Boonchouy began his campaign last year, promoting a basic knowledge of alcohol so that students could make informed decisions about their own drinking habits.

Bounchouy Thongcharoenpulporn

“Our mission is to teach students how to educate their friends,” explains Khun Bounchouy, attired in his trendy Care4Friends T-shirt and jacket. “They need to know what their responsibilities are, such as not to drive when they’ve had a drink, as well as how much alcohol you can take in safely. The strategy you need to communicate must be friendly, funny and fashionable – something that is attractive to teenagers.”

Indeed, it is a fact that when most students reach university age they look more towards their peers for guidance on social issues than from their parents or teachers. Instructing them simply not to drink or only to drink a small amount of alcohol is bound to be ineffective.

“Students want to be independent and think for themselves,” points out Wimonwan Udomphorn, Vice President of Riche Monde (Thailand). “If somebody just tells them to stop drinking, they won’t listen.

Wimonwan Udomphorn

They’ll just ask why. Many of them challenge things that are prohibited.

“Most students drink to get drunk because it is fun. They don’t know what they are taking in. Some students drink things like cocktails without even knowing there is alcohol in them – they just think they are drinking fruit juice! Care4Friends teaches responsibility – to know about the product you are drinking, know about what kind of product your body can withstand, know when you can drink after sports and so on.”

'Safe drinking' message cards spreading the word

Within the space of a year, the Care4Friends community has grown from only a handful of university students to almost 10,000, mainly from the Bangkok area. The main hub for all Care4Friends volunteers is their website – www.rakgan.com - which includes facts about alcohol as well as information on the latest CARE4FRIENDS activities.

The Care4Friends roadshows, which have toured a number of university campuses, have been particularly successful. Learning post was invited to one such event held at Siam University recently, to catch the vibe and see what goes on.

Care4Friends Club were welcomed with open arms by university administrators who consider it a huge help in combating a growing problem. “We are happy to have this project in our community,” says Siam University director, Dr Payungsak Jantrasurin. “It is very much needed. I would also like to encourage the parents to teach more about alcohol to their children. We need to go beyond our former culture where we didn’t teach anything about the hazards in our life.”

From their strategically placed booths, Care4Friends volunteers, dressed up in Care4Friends T-shirts and bandannas, draw students in with games, questionnaires and loud, lively banter. Passers-by are encouraged to test out their knowledge in a multiple-choice survey, posing questions such as “How much alcohol in beer?” Not surprisingly, only a small percentage of students ever get the right answer – perhaps a reflection of the ignorance about alcohol throughout society, not just amongst young people.

Once a student has registered, they immediately become a Care4Friends member and learn all the important facts about alcohol and its potential misuse. They are then encouraged to become ‘ambassadors’ – that is to say that they will pass on their newly-acquired alcohol knowledge to their peers. Committed volunteers will also find themselves involved in rallies and discussions. It’s very much a social affair as well as serving a useful cause.

Krisayam Kantagnern

Krisayam Kantagnern, nicknamed ‘Diew’, from Thammasat University has been a Care4Friends ambassador for just over six months and thinks it has been very successful so far.

“Before I joined Care4Friends, I drank more and more every day,” he admits. “Adults always told me not to but they never explained to me why. Now, as an ambassador to change behaviour, I don’t drink as much. University students are very vulnerable. In my group we have discussions, go to other universities and entertain. But we have to keep on adapting our campaign to suit the changing tastes of students.”

Poj Khewchaaum, or ‘Nok’, is a recent graduate of Ramkamheng University and is now project leader for Care4Friends Club.“Seventy percent of students don’t warn each other about dangerous drinking,” he says. “Freshies are at that age when most people start drinking, so it is the right time to promote this message. Every time we go to a university we get students to join and to be actively involved in promoting the message to other students as well.”

As a testament to their dogged tenacity, Care4Friends volunteers managed to recruit over 300 Siam University students in just three hours.

But the recruitment process doesn’t stop there. Since Care4Friends began, the initiative has attracted a lot of interest outside the university world to the extent that popular local talent is now keen to help out. One notable example is film maker Nonsri Nimibutr. He is currently shooting a short two-minute promotion film involving some of his big-name stars and has consulted Care4Friends volunteers about its contents.

Then there’s the Care4Friends pop song and the mass Care4Friends mosaic which will be flashed by 5000 spectators at the Chulalonghorn-Thamassat annual football match in January.

Fun and games at the roadshow

It is, of course, in society’s best interest that a campaign such as Care4Friends is a success. What may come as a surprise is that it is also in the interests of drinks manufacturers and suppliers.

Riche Monde, for instance, has contributed much of the funds and technical expertise to Care4Friends. It believes that it, along with others involved in the alcohol trade, has a responsibility to ensure that its products are used safely and knowledgably.

Tom Bingham is an executive of Diageo, the company that makes Johnny Walker whisky and Guinness among other popular alcoholic beverages, and the parent company of Riche Monde.

C4F volunteers at Siam University

“Clearly we want people to buy and enjoy our products, that’s our business, but also we want people to consume them responsibly,” he says. “We are very pleased with the work that Thammasat foundation and Riche Monde and Care4Friends are doing in Thailand and are happy to invest in these types of programmes. It’s all about giving people enough information about the products so that they can make their own minds up and drink responsibly.”

Although university students in Bangkok are the key target group of the Care4Friends campaign, the problems associated with excessive drinking are by no means confined to them.

The campaign is, nonetheless, of some help to justice and probation authorities who are vigourously attempting to curb alcohol related offences, particularly in relation to drink-driving.

“Most drunk-drivers are youth,” says Director of Probation (North Bangkok) Nittaya Kosuwan, noting that in 2003, the rate of drunk-driving offences in her district stood at around 1,000. This year, she says, the number is already 4,700. While the increase sounds shocking it is worth remembering that the police department’s policy of clamping down on offenders is partly responsible for the surge in convictions.

Under the new system, offenders are fined and put on probation. They must also work with the victims and families of any accidents they have caused. The community service element is important, officials believe, because offenders can warn others of the dangers of neglecting their responsibilities.

The Department of Probation works closely with Care4Friends and a number of probationers, including the celebrity television star Willy Macintosh, have played their part in getting the responsible-drinking point across to students

“The activities of Care4Friends will have an effect in the future – it is a long-term investment,” says Kosuwan. “It may not decrease the rate of drunk-driving in the short term but the youth are the future of society. It will make them aware. It is a starting point. Care4Friends will create awareness and build upon the ethics of our society.”

If you want to know more about or even join Care4Friends club, visit their website: www.rakgan.com