‘Gabi’ opens the video highlighting Phuket’s global reputation as a tourism destination with its popular beaches, nightlife and tours to nearby islands.
Yet he rightly points out that Phuket is home to more than 20 slums on the island, the largest of which is the Soi Kingkaew area near the Phuket Fishing Port.
“Most of the people here are not from Thailand and they do not have any rights here in Phuket,” Gabi says in his opening comments.
He highlights the level of poverty the entire community lives in, but also spotlights the good work by local charity ‘Good Shepherd Phuket Town’ in providing free education, and free school lunches, for children in the impoverished community.
For more information about ’Good Shepherd Phuket Town’, click here.
A key point Gabi makes is that many of the people living in the slum are not recognised by the Thai government, a fact that makes access to services very difficult to impossible.
Although under Thai law all children regardless of origin or legal status are entitled to free education, accessing free education has presented many “challenges”.
After the video was released, social media was flooded with comments, many expressing frustration and concern.
Among the comments were, “This happened because government officials were negligent” and “Phuket is turning a blind eye to this”.
One comment read, “The Provincial Education Office must take legal action against those responsible for neglecting their duty under Section 157.”
The Phuket Provincial Office has already confirmed a press conference will be held in response to the video.
The ‘Ride with Gabi’ YouTube channel has grown in popularity over the years.
‘Gabi’ has chosen to keep his real name from public view, despite a 15-minute video titled ‘My Story’ detailing his life events, including his childhood growing up north of Lake Como in Italy and his work history in hospitality.
‘Ride with Gabi’ has 234,000 subscribers. According to vidIQ, the channel has received 32.44 million views in the past month.
‘Ride with Gabi’ earns ‘Gabi’ about US$1,500-4,400 (about B50,535-148,200) a month from his YouTube account alone.