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8. The Disabilities Fund is made up of annual budget from the government

and financial contribution from private companies that do not hire persons

with disabilities as specified in the law. Although persons with disabilities

are represented in the Sub-committee that oversees the management of

the Fund, they are smaller in number than representatives from concerned

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government departments. This has made it difficult for them to advance a
proposal for the benefit of persons with disabilities. The regulation

regarding the application and use of funds poses an obstacle to persons

with disabilities in accessing the Fund and in some cases does not respond

to their needs. The amount of funds approved is fixed in accordance with

set criteria with no consideration given to the specific circumstance of each

case as mentioned in paragraph 3 above. An application for personal loan

requires a credible guarantor to prevent loss, but this requirement is hard

to fulfill for many persons with disabilities and has barred them from

access to available funds. No specific timeframe is set for the approval of

funds. The time used in considering an application for funds depends on

each Sub-committee at provincial level. According to 2014 Fund status

report issued by the DEP, a total of 624.89 million baht was approved, with

328.10 million baht in loans and 296.79 million baht for projects to

improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities. Presently, the Fund

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has a remaining balance of about 8,000 million baht.

1 The composition of the Sub-committee responsible for the Fund management as prescribed in Section 25 of the 2007
Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Act consists of the Permanent Secretary of the Social Development and Human
Security Ministry as chairperson, representatives of the Ministries of Interior, Labor, Education and Public Health,
representatives of the Budget Bureau and the Comptroller General, and 9 experts, 7 of whom must be persons with
disabilities. The Secretary-General of the National Office for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (now the Director-
General of the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Department) serves as the secretary of the Sub-committee.
2 The current exchange rate is approximately 34 baht to 1 US dollar.