Member of Boards of Directors – Institutional Communications Consultant

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Ban ObOun Refuge

Animal suffering is often relegated to the background, and this is a sad reality. Fortunately, for a certain number of human beings on this earth, suffering, whatever it may be, is simply intolerable. Dominique Brustlein is one of these people and it is in this context that she is the first supporter of the Ban Oboun shelter and the architect of the first stone.

The Ban Oboun shelter inThailand was created in March 2008 by two women from totally different worlds, but whose meeting in 2001 was decisive: Sombut Singkaew, a teacher living in Bangkok and originally from Uthai Thani province, and Michèle Bise, a Swiss expatriate working for a local hotel chain.
After more than 10 years of caring for stray dogs in their neighbourhood of Thonburi, Bangkok, they decided in 2008 to create a haven of peace and compassion for them in a remote, non-touristy area of Thailand, near a town called Nongchang (Uthai Thani Province) 280 km north of the capital.
The Ban ObOun project (which means “warm home”) was set up thanks to the unconditional support and funding of Dominique Brustlein, who made it possible to lay the first stone.

The mission of the shelter is to provide a permanent home for stray dogs found injured or ill on the streets of Bangkok, and to provide them with the care and affection that every dog should have the right to receive. In order to guarantee an optimal quality of life for the residents, the shelter’s capacity has been set at 150, and they are cared for on a daily basis by a team of 4 women who are entirely devoted to their well-being and to their cause.

Over the years, this project has obtained the status of a foundation in Thailand and has developed a volunteer programme for young people from all over the world who are motivated and sensitive to the animal cause. They come to contribute their energy, enthusiasm and goodwill by helping to take care of the pack, which now numbers 84 dogs and 5 cats.

At the same time, Dominique Brustlein, surrounded by a circle of Swiss friends from the beginning, took the initiative of creating in March 2013, the Association of Swiss friends of the Ban Oboun shelter in Thailand, whose main goal is to find sources of financing for monthly expenses, development projects and infrastructure renovation.

Currently two renowned personalities sponsor Ban Oboun, Sarah Marquis, Swiss explorer and author, and Matthieu Ricard, French essayist and photographer, who became a Buddhist monk.

After more than 10 years of existence, the mission of the shelter continues more than ever, despite the difficulties encountered in the field, so that the residents of the shelter can live and die in dignity, accompanied, under the sign of benevolence.

Michèle Bise
Vice-Présidente / Vice-President
Association des amis suisses du refuge Ban ObOun
Association of the Swiss friends of Ban ObOun dog shelter in Thailand

To find out more about the life of Ban Oboun’s family:
Website : https://banoboun.org
Facebook page : https://www.facebook.com/associationbanoboun
Instagram : Ban_Oboun_dog_sanctuary

Ban Oboun – Newsletter (july 2021)
https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:fef1157c-5b60-4544-bb32-b75feca78b73

Video of French volunteers (Anastasia et Lilia) – 2019
Click here

Video of the dogs at the shelter: Click here

My 15-year commitment in favor of animal rights, and more particularly of the suffering animal out of Switzerland and Europe, is also a subject on which I am active!

In the same way as the suffering of a Somali, an American, an Inuit, a white person, a Chinese or a black person, a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim or an atheist, have in common the pain of being human, so is the suffering of any live being, including animals… here or elsewhere! It’s not easy to find to finance a project such as the Refuge BanObun for stray dogs from Thailand !

Those who generously donate to our Regional SPA – a gesture that I greet well of course! – are rarely ready to get involved with the animal cause in Asia.

All the more reason to continue to, again and again, speak of raising awareness to other ways of seeing, of thinking and understanding!

My immense gratitude goes to the Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard whose exemplary commitment to our Planet and all those who inhabit it reflects on our Refuge of which he is the Godfather!

Gratitude also to the Godmother of Ban ObOun, adventurer Sarah Marquis with the generosity toward the refuge protected us much affected ,Sarah, who was nominated Adventurer of the Year in 2014 by National Geographic!

I am happy to have been able to finance the construction of the Refuge in 2008, and to have subsequently founded the Association of Swiss Friends of the Ban ObOun Dog Shelter in Thailand, thanks to the trust and unwavering support of “Swiss friends from the very beginning”!