The Bangkok Post Foundation was established in 1982 to mark the Bangkok Post’s 36th anniversary with an initial fund of 500,000 baht. Its main objective was to give children from poor families the same opportunity to attend school as other Thai children.
The foundation began by sponsoring the education of eight children. Then, in November 1989, the devastating Typhoon Gay struck southern Thailand, claiming the lives of 500 people and destroying many houses and more than 100 schools. One of the worst hit was the village of Ban Sapli in Chumphon province, whose local school was razed to the ground and reduced to rubble.