Tsunami Relief Work

Overview

The Tsunami that hit the Andaman presented many problems for both the victims, the survivors and the governments of the countries that were hit. Never before had one event affected so many people in such a short space of time. It is the popular conception that when a disaster occurs there are large international organizations, such as the UN, Red Cross and Medicine Sans Frontier, that will step in and work with the local government and military to coordinate the relief effort that needs to take place. Unfortunately this is not the case. Few countries in the world could have been prepared for an event of this scale. The Thai military was very quickly dispatched to the affected areas to help those in need. The survivors of the tsunami also immediately became involved in the relief and recovery efforts. Many locally and nationally based Non-Government Organizations also became involved in the recovery process in all of the affected provinces. Houses and boats are still being built and while the process has been slow it is understandable in the context of the scale of the disaster. Many organizations are now moving onto more long term projects centred around sustainable development and education. Teaching all generations, but particularly children and youth, about disasters and what to do in an emergency situation has become a part of the focus of tsunami recovery, so as to reduce the impact of future disasters.

Focus on Phuket

Although the tsunami did cause much damage in many of the beach towns around Phuket, the destruction that occurred was far worse in many other areas. Work began quickly and dedicated teams of volunteers worked all over the affected areas of Phuket. There have been problems along the way but the majority of the building and re-construction is now complete.

Patong was one of the areas to recover the quickest from the devastation caused by the tsunami. Some businesses are still in the process of completing repairs, having been slowed down by a variety of issues such as insurance claims. There are also some sections of road that still need to be repaired. On the whole Patong is back to its beautiful self and in fact many say that the tsunami has left the beach cleaner than before.

Kamala has received a flood of assistance from many sectors of the community both local and international. Rotary clubs have financed projects to rebuild the fishing boats that were destroyed in the local area. The Thai Royal family is completely rebuilding the school which was damaged by the tsunami. Many organizations international and local organizations have also assisted in the building of a new kindergarten located further away from the ocean. The Kamala Temple is located very close to the beach and was severely damaged by the tsunami, work on the temple has not yet been completed but is well underway and support has been given from many sectors.

A volunteer organization sprang up around the town of Bang Tao and worked to clean up the area, give aid to the local people and help businesses get back up on their feet. Assistance to Bang Tao also came from the nearby Laguna Resort, and many locally based Farang.

Though there was little structural damage sustained in Rawai, there were many boats and fishing equipment that was destroyed and damaged. Local NGO have been instrumental in rebuilding boats in this area and providing fishermen with new equipment.

There are also several organizations in Phuket who are working on mental health and education projects.

Very few children were left as complete orphans due to the close nit nature of Thai communities and family. Most children who lost both parents as a result of the tsunami have been taken in by aunts, uncles or grandparents. Scholarship programs have been put in place to ease the financial burdens of families affected by the tsunami and to ensure that children are able to continue to attend school. Several day care/ children's centers are also being built in Phuket to take in orphans and children who need care while parents are at work during the day.

Recovering the Andaman Coast Tourist Industry

     The cabinet made the decision to set up an Andaman Coastal Tourism Recovery Committee to manage the recovery and development of natural resources, the environment and disaster areas and to motivate management of tourist destinations. The committee would have full power to make its own decisions. To gauge the Andaman Coastal Tourism Recovery, the cabinet determined to help recovery of the tourist industry in the six disaster provinces using three strategies. The first strategy, Recovery and Tourism Management, would intensively recover tourist locations and resources as soon as possible. The second strategy would create a positive image of the quality of tourist services available to bring them up to international standards such as in tourism service standards, tourist security, health, and the environment. This strategy would pay attention to promoting Thai culture as well as supporting and improving the quality of life for local communities by implementing changes for them as part of operation and using the benefits from tourism in a fair and a sustainable manner. The last strategy is to market the 6 disaster provinces to help them regain their pre-tsunami tourist numbers.

Phuket detailed the three strategy plans to operate the Tourism Recovery Project as follows:

Kamala Beach Improvement Project:
Rehabilitate and improve tourist locations to world-class standards. Build and arrange accommodation at new villages through landscaping, recovering the beach side road, building Storm and Tsunami Prevention barriers using trees, repairing and re-building the underground electricity system and water supply system and repairing the main road.

Patong Beach Improvement Project:
Rehabilitate Patong Beach with the aim of increasing the occupation and ability of competition to Thailand and to increase the potential for higher class tourists. Recovery and arrangement operation of disaster area; create electric system, water supply system and underground telephone lines, create security systems for tourists, develop pavements on Thaveewong Road, create a car park area. The Southern Tourism Authority of Thailand: Region 4 is responsible for this project.

Phuket Convention and Product Display Centre Project:
To attract Thai and Foreign Tourists to have conventions in Phuket, and upgrade the economics of Phuket.

Thai-Chinese Monument Project:
The Phuket Provincial Cultural Office responsible for this project, for supporting private and government sections working together in unity, and supporting cultural tourism for real events. The Charity Foundation had a plan to recover the Thai Hwa School (old).

Tourism Personal Development Project "Guide Training":
This project was operated by Phuket Tourism, Sport and Recreation Center, to provide higher potential for tourist personnel to understand foreign languages and develop tourism services of Phuket to be more impressive to tourists.

Marina Tourism Project:
Cruise Port Construction Project in appropriate areas such as Chalong bay, Deep Sea Port, to international cruise port standards. Ports, shipyards, and other relevant activities such shops, restaurants etc. The committee of the project would determine investors to join this project.

International Marketing Project:
International Health Promotion Project, Recover and Development Andaman Coastal Industrial such as promotion and Display of OTOP Products, and is the responsibility of the Southern Tourism Authority of Thailand: Region 4, Phuket Community Development Office, Phuket Industrial Office, and Phuket Provincial Office.

Marketing Immediate Term Project:
Public relations nationally, Rehabilitation Andaman by Tourism, Phuket Travel budget packages etc.

Tourism Personal Service Development:
The strategy of service increases the potential of competition during a crisis, for improving tourist services in Phuket to impress Tourists. Phuket Rajabhat University is responsible for this project.

Tourism Security for Tourist Projects:
Phuket Prevention and Relief of Public Disaster set up security who had done a Sea Rescue Training program to patrol and take care of tourists at the beach areas.

Disaster Tsunami Monument Project
responsible by Phuket Cultural Office.

Mega Event Project
such as Golf Competitions, X-Games, Colorful Andaman Sport Festival, etc.,