Sponsor a child in Isaan, Thailand for £10 a month and change a life with our Sponsorship Standing Order form  or
The Anglo-Thai Foundation
by Phrakhru Panyasudhammawithet (Dr Phramaha Laow Panyasiri)
I first came to the Buddhapadipa Temple (Theravada Buddhism) in Wimbledon, London, UK in 1987. I made many English friends through my Thai language and meditation classes, meeting an Englishman, Peter Robinson, who had been to Thailand many times and was highly motivated.
The next time I was in Thailand I took Peter to the village in Isaan where I was born, and we discussed how we could change the lives of children in need in Thailand through education. In 1990 we set up the Anglo-Thai Foundation to encourage British and Thai people of goodwill to express their kindness (Metta) through giving (Dana).   We decided to raise funds to finance a well to provide the village with clean water, a community hall, extra land for the school so the children could breed fish for a sustainable food supply. We built a small kindergarten and paid for lunch for all the children attending it. We also built a kuti (cells) for the monks to live in. We made hardship grants so that even the poorest children should be able to receive the education they were entitled to, and we hoped to help them with their studies at college or university in the future. We found a teacher who wrote to schools in many different villages to ask which children were most in need of financial help, and in the UK we found generous sponsors, not all of them Buddhists by any means.
I myself came from a very poor family and had only three years at primary school. I always felt sad at not having been able to study more as a child and wanted to help other children in the same situation. With time, through the generous support of a growing number of sponsors, we were able to expand our work to other provinces, and now help schoolchildren and students in Nakhon Ratchasima, Buriram, Surin, Amnat Charoen, Ubon Ratchathani, Khon Kaen and other provinces. The Anglo-Thai Foundation has been working continuously now for twenty years and in 2008/9 was able to support 331 schoolchildren and 125 college and university students. If you would like to sponsor a child, print off and fill in the Standing Order Mandate form and send it to our registered address:  The Anglo-Thai Foundation, 14 Emmanuel Road, Cambridge CB1 1JW. If you prefer to donate online, just click on the JustGiving.com button.
Thank you for your Metta.    (The only photograph of Phrakhru Panyasudhammawithet as a young boy.)
The Anglo-Thai Foundation, founded in 1990,  is UK Registered Charity, No. 1000093. The Trustees are Phrakru Panyasudhammawithet (Dr Phramaha Laow Panyasiri, Chairman), Nanthawan Hasthanasombat (Treasurer), Carol Isaacs, Wannee Juntamongkol, Dr Wilaiwan Khrisanapan, Ngamnij Kittisara, Chantorn Mongkol, Dr Arch Tait (Secretary), Ajahn Surapong Wechapan and Ladawan Wilson. You can e-mail us at :  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   Gift Aid Donations and sponsorship payments are eligible for Gift Aid providing donors are paying at least the amount of UK income tax reclaimed on their donations. In the 2010/2011 tax year this makes a £100 donation worth £125 to the Anglo-Thai Foundation, and the Government contributes another £3. Our understanding is that, if you pay tax at the 40% or new 50% rate, you will be able personally to reclaim a further £41.66 or £75 through your tax return.
Sponsor a child in Isaan, Thailand for £10 a month and change a life with our Sponsorship Standing Order form  or