#Homelessness

A recent investigative piece, “Out of Sight, Out of Mind” by Bonnie Schell, published on Mad in America, is reigniting discussion about how modern societies—particularly the United States—manage visibly unhoused and mentally ill populations. The article, released on July 28, 2025, details not only current US policies involving forced removals of homeless encampments but also traces the roots of these actions to a centuries-old history of social segregation, institutionalization, and medicalization. For Thai readers, this global narrative fuels reflection on how societies—perhaps even Thailand itself—balance public order, health, policy ethics, and human dignity.

A compelling examination of how societies treat visibly unhoused people and individuals with mental illness reveals a long-standing tension between public order and human dignity. The piece, published mid-2025, traces policies that favor removal over root-cause solutions and situates them within a centuries-old pattern of social segregation and medicalization. For Thai readers, it invites reflection on how Thailand can balance safety, ethics, and compassion in public policy.

The article opens with current events where authorities clear public spaces ahead of major national activities. It highlights a familiar pattern in many places: reducing the visibility of poverty and mental illness through removal and coerced treatment rather than investing in living-wage jobs, affordable housing, and community-based mental health care. This approach is linked to a broader historical thread that traces back to ancient thinkers who advocated removing stigmatized individuals from public view, illustrating how urban policy has long shaped inclusion or exclusion.

As vacationers flock to the scenic beauty of coastal Maine, a rising tide of invisible hardship persists, just beyond the sightlines of Mount Desert Island’s bustling tourist hubs. The latest reports reveal a significant escalation in rural homelessness across Hancock County, where forested lanes and tranquil coves mask a swelling crisis among residents living in tents, vehicles, abandoned homes, or on borrowed plots of land—an issue mirrored in many global tourism hotspots, including Thailand’s own rural and resort-adjacent provinces.

A thriving tourism scene along Maine’s coast hides a growing hardship in rural Hancock County. As visitors flock to Mount Desert Island and nearby attractions, families live in tents, cars, or abandoned spaces, often on land they don’t own. The trend echoes challenges seen in other travel hubs and resonates with Thai readers who recognize how growth can bypass vulnerable communities.

In the corridor from Ellsworth to Machias, a local food pantry has expanded from serving 35 families to nearly 500 households. Authorities warn that at least 20 people are living precariously, with some housed in tents, campers, or derelict properties along back roads. This reflects a broader rural pattern: homelessness rising out of sight even as urban counts attract more attention.

A recent NPR investigation shines a stark light on how psychiatric patients in the United States, particularly in Montana, become trapped in a relentless cycle of homelessness, fragmented care, and social exclusion. The story, centered on a woman known as K and told through her daughter L’s harrowing experience, reveals how insufficient mental health services, lack of stable housing, and bureaucratic gaps intertwine to keep vulnerable individuals on the margins of society. As Thailand grapples with its own rising numbers of unhoused people living with mental illness, the lessons from Montana’s crisis offer urgent warnings and valuable insights for Thai policymakers, health workers, and society at large (NPR, 2025).

A recent investigative report highlights how psychiatric patients in the United States can spiral into homelessness and fragmented care. Centered on a Missoula, Montana case and told through a daughter’s voice, the piece shows how limited mental health services, unstable housing, and bureaucratic gaps push vulnerable people to the margins. As Thailand confronts rising numbers of unhoused individuals with mental illness, these findings offer urgent lessons for Thai policymakers, health workers, and communities.