As with her previous exploits in other lands Shirin Fozdar’s arrival in Thailand in 1960 did not go unnoticed by the mass media and her earlier contacts with the “movers and shakers” in the capital’s society enabled her to greatly assist the Baha’i community of Bangkok which had been established since 1953. In quick order Shrin was able to organize impressive public meetings including inter-faith gatherings such as World Religion Day observance and obtain the participation as Chief-Guest of such eminent Thai personalities as Dr Thanat Khoman Thailand’s then Foreign Minister and one of the Founding Fathers of ASEAN, Thai Prime Minister Professor Sanya Dharmasakti and other eminent personalities.

Upon her arrival she obtained quarters in an apartment complex on the main road (Suriwongse) in the heart of the commercial area. But soon, with the help from her children she was able to purchase a suitable property with house and garden (77/1 Soi Lang Suan) in the center of a choice residential area and donated it as the permanent Baha’i Center for Bangkok. In this Center Shirin organized English classes for Thai students. Later on her children assisted her to add to the property by constructing two more modest buildings to house the expanding needs of the Bangkok Baha’i community and the Baha’i friends from the various localities in Thailand visiting what had become the National Baha’i Center for Thailand, where the office of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Thailand was also based. Some years later when the Baha’i Faith had become better known in Thai society, especially in Bangkok the capital and Shirin Fozdar’s own reputation as a champion of women’s rights and a fearless advocate for the Baha’i Faith had become firmly established, Shirin at the behest of the supreme Body of the Baha’i Faith, The Universal House of Justice wrote to His Majesty Rama IX King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand and requested an audience to present to His Majesty, the newly printed English version of The Declaration of Baha’u’llah. Shirin’s request was graciously granted by His Majesty and the presentation of this historic document took place on 29 September 1967 and was fully reported by TV the same evening and by newspapers the following morning.

Picture show L to R Mrs Dhanya Anapapitra Secretary of the Baha’i National Spiritual Assembly of Thailand; Mrs Parvati Fozdar member of the NSA and the Chairperson Mrs Shirin Fozdar presenting the Declaration of Baha’u’llah to His Majesty Rama IX King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. (Seated:In the same order.)

In Bangkok as in Singapore Shirin Fozdar was actively engaged by the mass media soliciting her views on various aspects of Thai society especially women’s rights and inter-faith issuces.

However, all the high society notwithstanding, Shirin Fozdar’s main purpose for being in Thailand was of course, the same as in the lands in which she had resided before entering Thailand. Namely, to proclaim the spiritually redeeming principles of the Baha’i Faith for rejuvenating society and in Thailand this meant the upliftment of the disenfranchised, with special focus on women and children. Shirin focused upon a pioneer project to establish a vocational school for young children and girls in Yasothon town in a poverty ridden area of north-east of Thailand and she finally purchased a “run-down” village school there in 1967.

It started with a nursery and kindergarten classes. In due course, she added a sewing class to cater for the village girls as she reckoned that with such training, some of the girls could earn a decent living instead of turning to prostitution in the red-light districts especially in Bangkok. She named the school Santitham (the abode of Peace). But running a school was harder than fighting for women’s rights in Singapore. With little or no help, she had to do everything single-handedly including supervising the carpenter to replace the rotten wood of the classrooms, drawing up a curriculum and recruiting teachers. Her life savings and the generous allowances from her five children were insufficient to maintain the school.

Over the years, Shirin would travel from Singapore to Bangkok and then a seven-hour bus ride from Bangkok to Yasothan. Every cent she had was focused on making the school viable. She would walk around the class room, then around the schoolcompound and noted what was needed. The school fence must be repaired. The pot-holed roadsneeded servicing. Her dedication to making the school viable won the hearts of the villagers. Santitham School became popular as more children attended its classes. Since 1984 the school management has passed to the Baha'i Foundation of Thailand, operating under the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Thailand.

The fruits of one woman's labour of love

Santitham Vidhayakhom School from the onset has separated Development Projects
from the school’s academic activities so as to have the maximum latitude in designing, developing and implementing these projects in collaboration with the local community of Yasathon. Moreover, because the school and the Yasathon Baha’i Community form an integral part of the world-wide Baha’i Community the school is able to call for assistance from different countries in the form of experts in the fields of moral education, social sciences, comparative religion, curriculum development, socio-economic projects, etc. Baha’i teachers from the USA,UK,Singapore, India, etc. also spend a couple of years at the school as part of their “Year of Service” contribution to the Baha’i Faith.

In 1991, the kindergarten classes were acclaimed to be the best in the area and eight years later in 1999 the Santitham Vidhayakhom School was awarded the First Prize for schools in that region by His Majesty, King Rama IX

If Shirin Fozdar was alive today, it would certainly make her happy to see that the school she founded is speedily measuring up to her hopes for it. It is my privilege to state for people of goodwill everwhere “the Santitham Vision” addressed to all, especially parents.