Sai & Luther: What's it Like Being Blind in Bangkok? [Season 4, Episode 9]

In our ongoing series about living in Bangkok with a
disability, Greg interviews Sai Techawongtham, a Thai citizen who
is blind, and who has something very rare in Thailand - a guide
dog (his name is Luther and he's a very good boy). Sai has
recently received a lot of social media attention due to the fact
that many Thai people are unaware of the purpose of guide dogs
and often fail to accommodate their use. Sai discusses the
difficulty of being blind in Thailand, and compares Bangkok to
the U.S., where she goes to university.


As Sai notes, exposure and awareness are slowly changing
minds in Thailand, but many businesses in Bangkok still will not
allow dogs to enter, even though guide dogs are allowed by law.
But all the laws in the world won't do much good if no one knows
about them.


Sai says that while it might be normal to blame the
government for lack of accessibility for the disabled, there's
still a lot that private citizens can do to make their places of
businesses easier to negotiate for the blind or people in
wheelchairs. 


And don't forget to check out Sai's Facebook
page, which has frequent posts in Thai and English
about life as a blind person in Bangkok.   


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