[glagoliska]

Hi Betti!

Maybe you could explain what exactly you find too complicated, and if other forum members feel the same I would really appreciate some comments. It really would be a shame if the children lose out because of some unnecessary administrative hurdles. If it is not just me not explaining things properly I would like to give some feedback to the charity so that they could change their systems if necessary.

As far as I can see it you have three options to make a donation in Thailand:

1. You could go to the Mercy Center office in Pattaya and make a cash donation (or give food, clothes, toys, etc.). Obviously this is usually not an option if you live hundreds of kilometers away.

2. PayPal: Assuming it is available in Thailand, you could make a donation via PayPal using your debit or credit card and make a payment in Thai Baht or any other currency you choose. You do not need a PayPal account and it is no more complicated than buying something online. I have used PayPal myself and if I can do it everybody else can.

3. Bank transfer: You could make an electronic payment from your Thai bank account to the Mercy Center bank account with Bangkok Bank. I contacted them and asked for their bank details which they sent to me, but for security reasons they asked me not to publish these details on the internet. They would also like to know who made a donation so that they can reconcile their books and are also able to say thank you to the donor. Therefore I think it is best to contact them via the Mercy website to request their bank details. You only need to go to the "Friends of Mercy" page and click on the "Contact us for details" button at the bottom of the page. This way you could also stipulate what your donation should be spend on if you wish to give money for a certain project.

I hope I have explained the payment options a bit better now, but if there are still questions unanswered do not hesitate to contact the Mercy Center direct. They are really good in replying to any questions you might have. Whenever I had a query I would send them an email in the evening and in most cases I received a reply the next day.

I have met the staff from Mercy on three separate visits to Thailand and they are all a very friendly bunch of people who really do care about the children they look after.

TomUK