Marketers by day, restaurant owners by night and change makers in what spare time they can find, one Bangkok couple is using their ingenuity to help the less fortunate.
Apichai Inthutsingh and Atisanun Uengwiriyasakun turn second-hand shopping carts into wheelchairs to donate to the poor and disabled in less fortunate communities. This past weekend, they were in west metro Bangkok donating wheelchairs to a low-income housing project. Earlier in June, they gathered 30 volunteers for an all-hands-on-deck work day to fabricate 22 of them.
“The people we help live in such poverty that they cannot afford an ordinary wheelchair of their own. Many do not even have phones or social media. We’ve even gotten some wheelchair requests via snail mail,” said Apichai, the 44-year-old cofounder of KZY Agency.
Each cart must be cut, welded, reshaped and sanded down. The sides are bent and shaped into arm rests. The front half is sawed off and hung from the back to make a basket. Foot rests and hand brakes are installed then cushions tied onto the arm rests.
Due to the size of the wheels, the final product cannot be self-propelled and requires someone behind pushing.
Speaking in the corner of a Bangkok warehouse that’s donated space for their wheelchair operation, Apichai and Atisanun, his 35-year-old girlfriend and the agency’s managing director, talked about how they started with one shopping cart and hope to inspire others to tackle social issues in their own communities.
“I believe that what goes around comes around. When you do things for others… it gives you perspective about what’s important, which will lead you to have a good relationship with others as well as yourself,” Apichai said as Atisanun frantically answered texts and calls from coworkers.
This duo keeps a tight schedule. Not only do they run a 24-hour advertisement and marketing agency with clients such as Big C, Sunsilk and L’Oreal – they also own a restaurant in the capital’s Bang Na district.
They say their true passion, however, lies in work that benefits society.
For the last two years, they have poured money, sweat and time into improving the lives of those hindered by immobility.
“We’ve gotten requests from bed-ridden seniors in slums who cannot afford to buy common wheelchairs and the son of a disabled woman who has to carry his mother for over a kilometer into town every week to visit the hospital,” Atisanun said.
“Just one wheelchair can turn their lives around,” she added.
From Cart to Chair
Apichai built his first cart-wheelchair in 2017 after getting the idea during a supermarket commercial shoot a year earlier. Not knowing what to do with the idea, he kept it himself until it dawned on him hat it could help people in need.
“As soon as I had that realization, I got to work,” he said. So he purchased a second-hand shopping cart from a thrift store and, together with a colleague, got to work on figuring out how to give it new life.
“We didn’t know how to cut or piece the cart together at all, so we had to figure it out ourselves,” he said.
After a prototype was finished, Apichai posted a picture of it on KZY’s Facebook page with a message saying he was giving it away. To their surprise, it became an overnight sensation.
“We posted it on Friday, and Saturday we had reached one million people,” he said. Come Monday, it had reached more than three million.
“So many people were commenting on the post, calling us, emailing, asking for a cart. That was the turning point for us that made us decide to do this for real,” the designer added.
The Facebook post not only propelled the DIY wheelchairs into the public eye, it also revealed to the team how many people were living without access to a wheelchair. Though the couple has made more than 3,000 of their DIY wheelchairs, the demand is vast.
While numbers are hard to come by, a 2005 report by nonprofit Whirlwind Wheelchair International cited by the WHO said under 1 percent of the 20 million people in developing countries needing a wheelchair had access to one. Many of those people were among the “poorest of the poor” and often unable to work due to lack of mobility.
The number of Thais with disabilities was pegged at roughly 2 percent of the population, or 1.5 million in 2012, according to the National Statistics Office.
To help those most in need, Atisanun created a system by which applicants can describe their condition and ailments, as well as attach photos. The team spent the first year refining the system.
“We plan on doing this for as long as we can, so we tell everyone that contacts us that we guarantee they will get a wheelchair. I can’t tell you how long it’ll take, because we have full time jobs, but you’ll get one,” Apichai said, chuckling.
Building support
Growing interest led to higher demand and the realization that they needed help.
“I used to just find time to make one or two wheelchairs every day after work and stuff, but this wasn’t enough anymore. We had people constantly asking for more,” Apichai said.
His online appeal for second-hand materials and volunteers resulted in a small army of new donors, sponsors and helpers. Used cushions came from an office buying new chairs. Leftover cloth was donated by a curtain manufacturer. Shopping carts poured in from grocery store chains.
Around the once a month, the team sets a day to build as many wheelchairs as possible. The latest was the first weekend of June, when around 30 participants managed to assemble 22 wheelchairs. Prospective volunteers interested in helping out can contact the team via email.
“There’s only so much time volunteers can give to us because most of them are normal people with full-time jobs. But [Atisanun and I] work on the project every chance we get. Whenever I have free time, I still build them alone,” Apichai said, adding that there’s a backlog of about 200 wheelchairs that need assembly.
‘The first level’
The wheelchairs aren’t medically certified devices and the designers admit they didn’t consult with doctors or health experts. They’ve come in for some internet hate from those who fault them as impractical or worse.
“You designed this with complete disregard for the patients. Shopping carts are not suitable to be wheelchairs at all. The wheels are small, it looks weak, and it does not look comfortable nor safe. … You’re hurting more than helping,” user Sitthiwa Mingklang wrote in reply to the original 2017 post.
Atisanun acknowledged the criticism.
“We’ve received nasty messages saying the design is dangerous, and there’s no way we could have possibly designed a good wheelchair since we are not handicapped,” she said.
Wheelchair user and mobility expert Manit Itharapim said there are limitations to the design.
“I think it’s an incredibly unique and creative design, however, I see a few things that can be problematic when it comes to usage,” said the 51-year-old accessibility campaigner.
He said their heavy weight, small wheels, and inability to be self-propelled pose problems for long-term use and comfort.
“Then again, their target group is very specific, and I’m not it. I think their design is a great alternative for those who don’t have other options,” he said. “In terms of helping the less fortunate, I think their project is very helpful.”
The couple said the design has been tested to support up to 150 kilograms. They also said they’re working with a university engineering professor to standardize the design, but it’s taking time due to limited availability.
Despite the scrutiny, they said they’ve had no safety complaints.
“We only customize the wheels for some specific cases, but we just can’t do it for everyone,” Atisanun said. “With our limited resources, we only wish to be the first level of support for our customers – the first step of a stair, if you will.”
The duo also offers free classes, online tutorials and partnerships.
“If you want me to go teach you, I’ll go. If you want equipment, we’ll send you some. We are also happy to teach this at schools for free or universities,” said Apichai, who hopes others will continue building on the design.
“Me and my team can only do so much, but if everyone takes this idea and runs or comes up with improvements, maybe we can eradicate this whole need for wheelchairs,” he said.
