Cabbages & Condoms

I have to admit that I really just thought this was going to be a fun and outrageous place to eat.  I was quite right.  However, I came to find out that all proceeds from this restaurant are used to fund different development projects.  After doing my homework at the restaurant and some research after, I was very pleased with our choice to have gone to eat the wonderful Thai food here twice!  Why not have fun and make a difference at the same time!?!?

"Our food is guaranteed not to cause pregnancy."

Established in part to support the activities of PDA, the Cabbages and Condoms Restaurants offer a pleasant dining experience in several locations around Thailand. Not only do the restaurants offer excellent food, but they also promote the health and safety aspects of condom use in a fun and amusing manner. All proceeds from the restaurants are used to fund the social development programs of PDA.

Such pretty lights on such a fantastic evening...

Santa and I.

 The Population and Community Development Association (PDA) was founded in 1974 as a non-governmental organization with the initial aim to complement the efforts of the Royal Thai Government in promoting family planning in Thailand, especially in areas where knowledge and access to services were scarce. Utilizing a participatory, community-based approach, PDA recruited and trained residents of villages and urban neighborhoods to provide information on family planning, including the supervised, non-medical distribution of oral contraceptives. This distribution network covered more than one-third of the country, thus contributing significantly to the decrease in the annual population growth rate from 3.3% in the mid-1970s to 0.6% in 2005. During the same period, the number of children per family fell from 7 to under two.

Go Tiger!

3...2...1...Blast off!

 After addressing the immediate family planning needs, PDA expanded its activities to include primary health care, HIV/AIDS education and prevention, water resource development and sanitation, income-generation, environmental conservation, promotion of small-scale rural enterprise programs, gender equality, youth development, and democracy promotion. Most recently, PDA has aggressively approached the problem of rural poverty by empowering the poor through the Village Development Partnership, which establishes a community-owned Village Development Bank for the purpose of microcredit.

Abbie and I at dinner.

 Today, PDA is the leading and most diversified NGO in Thailand, employing over 800 staff members and working with over 12,000 volunteers. PDA has 18 regional development centers and branch offices located across 15 provinces in rural Thailand. It also manages operation of the Lamplaimat-Pattana Primary and Secondary Schools, which is revolutionary, private education for the poor.

Everything is labeled...

 PDA has pioneered sustainable grassroots endeavors, marked by extensive villager involvement not only as beneficiaries, but also as partners, planners, managers, and leaders. PDA’s programs are based on the belief that local people are best suited to be an equal partner in shaping and sustaining their own development. 35 years of PDA’s involvement has created significant change in the following areas:

• Health, AIDS & Family Planning
• Income Generation & Poverty Reduction
• Rural Microcredit
• Water & Environmental
• Youth as Agents of Change Today and Leaders of Tomorrow
• Education & Nutrition
• Corporate Social Responsibility - The Village Development Partnership
• Emergency Relief Services (CBERS)
• Asian Center for Population and Community Development (ACPD)
• NGO Sustainability
• International
• Human Rights Promotion

Carol and I at dinner.

And they really mean it.  There are no mints.