When one thinks of the 2004 Tsunami the image of a demonic wave towering over holiday resorts and crashing down leaving a wake of human debris is probably the most widely accessible. Live video footage filmed by awestruck tourists caught on the edges of the oceanic uprising was transmitted into the living rooms of horrified individuals and facilitated a collective response that was as spontaneous as it was generous. Emergency aid in the form of food, medicine and clothes were dispatched through international organizations and in many cases delivered personally. The severity of the disaster reminded us of our mortal impotence. Even impromptu wars have roots, but natural disasters often strike with such rapidity and magnitude that we have no alternative but to surrender our desire to tame and to control, and bow down to the dominance of nature. The tally of victims rose with such rapidity that approximate estimates were not given in tens or hundreds but in thousands. In many communities across the affected areas, an exact figure of the dead remains unknown. Piles of rotting bodies carried a new health risk and meant that many victims were burned prior to identification. According to P.Pial, the proprietor of a hotel in Phuket, it was more mentally productive for survivors to underestimate the number of victims; as Buddhists it is widely believed that those who die violently or suddenly will be ill prepared for an advantageous rebirth. Alternatively, they will remain trapped between the mortal and the immortal worlds in the harrowing limbo of the spirit realm. P. Pial admitted that there were still occasions when he is forced to stop and turn away until the faces of the dead have passed. Such fears reminds us that two years on the Tsunami is still a daily reality for the survivors. A re-assessment of the destruction caused by the Tsunami shows that political, economic and social repercussions continue to emerge from the rubble of the coastal communities.
Renewal
In contrast to the emergency relief, the extent of longer term rehabilitation has only gradually unfolded, and this is what explains the aura of permanence which surrounds organizations such as the Tsunami Volunteer Centre (TVC). The TVC continue to tackle ongoing challenges, and are doing so with a foresight aimed at minimizing the consequences of past and current projects. Saori is the name of the brand of clothes and accessories which was one of many innovative ventures designed to utilize inappropriate emergency aid which flooded Thailand two years ago. Saori's overheads are minimal as the materials were largely donated from overseas; large aid parcels filled with clothes, unsuitable for conservative communities and which Tsunami survivors feared would attract dengue carrying mosquitoes. Instead they were transformed into a vibrant line of weaved materials stitched with effervescent colours and textured with an assortment of fabrics. Patterned trousers, shirts, wallets, bags, wristbands as well as tie-died sarongs and batiks are now sold throughout the local communities, and have began to appear in funky fashion outlets in Bangkok. Tsunami dolls have a nearly fetishistic appearance to them; the pocket size dolls are sold either as keyrings or as a festive Christmas decoration. The dolls are also hand-made from recycled clothes and are filled with sand taken from the beaches around the Khao Lak area. The dolls represent the victims, the survivors as well as the donors and come brandishing either the word 'Hope', 'Spirit' or 'Renewal' which is the TVC's affirmative and reverberating motto. To date more than 5,000 dolls have been purchased. Ninety percent of the profits go directly to the women. Two years on and the piles of donated clothing have all been utilized and the two projects now use factory seconds and other fabric scraps.
In contrast to the emergency relief, the extent of longer term rehabilitation has only gradually unfolded, and this is what explains the aura of permanence which surrounds organizations such as the Tsunami Volunteer Centre (TVC). The TVC continue to tackle ongoing challenges, and are doing so with a foresight aimed at minimizing the consequences of past and current projects. Saori is the name of the brand of clothes and accessories which was one of many innovative ventures designed to utilize inappropriate emergency aid which flooded Thailand two years ago. Saori's overheads are minimal as the materials were largely donated from overseas; large aid parcels filled with clothes, unsuitable for conservative communities and which Tsunami survivors feared would attract dengue carrying mosquitoes. Instead they were transformed into a vibrant line of weaved materials stitched with effervescent colours and textured with an assortment of fabrics. Patterned trousers, shirts, wallets, bags, wristbands as well as tie-died sarongs and batiks are now sold throughout the local communities, and have began to appear in funky fashion outlets in Bangkok. Tsunami dolls have a nearly fetishistic appearance to them; the pocket size dolls are sold either as keyrings or as a festive Christmas decoration. The dolls are also hand-made from recycled clothes and are filled with sand taken from the beaches around the Khao Lak area. The dolls represent the victims, the survivors as well as the donors and come brandishing either the word 'Hope', 'Spirit' or 'Renewal' which is the TVC's affirmative and reverberating motto. To date more than 5,000 dolls have been purchased. Ninety percent of the profits go directly to the women. Two years on and the piles of donated clothing have all been utilized and the two projects now use factory seconds and other fabric scraps.
The TVC also supports an equally originative venture, Wave Creations; a range of beautifully carved wooden furniture, so allegoric of its name that it almost seems to be the workmanship of the sea rather than from novice carpenters. The carpenters are not working with driftwood or the traditional Thai teak, but with the wood from donated coffins. After the Tsunami, bodies were either burned before they could be buried or the aspiration of sea water meant that they were too swollen to fit inside the coffins. Whether or not one is able to transcend the morbidity of the venture, it is clearly another example of locating a practical opportunity for survivors from what would otherwise be shortsighted aid. Refurbishment of both public and private property was required on a massive scale and Wave Creations initially offered three pieces of new furniture to families. The condition was that one member of the family would participate in its production. The project provided each family with more than a material object but with a skilled craftsman, which it was hoped may help the family through the soaring unemployment. Ultimately, the carpenters began to design more ornate pieces for the tourist market and to fill the empty resorts gradually re-opening around the area. The furniture was sold in the aptly named Thaikea.
Another rehabilitation project which has had continuing implications is carried out at Cape Pakarang; a blissfully serene peninsula, surrounded by the ocean in three directions, the equanimity of which penetrates the nearby boat yard. An opportunity to volunteer at Cape Pakarang Boat Yard is certainly no hardship and reminds us that volunteering is not entirely altruistic. It was opened in March 2005 with the urgent mission to replace destroyed longtails in order to provide fishing communities with the means to self sufficiency. Prior to the Tsunami fishing had been the localities primary source of income. During the Tsunami, waves washed over the peninsula in all directions taking with it fishing boats, nets, crates and leaving shoals of fish stranded in newfangled marshes in the middle of swampy towns. Local boat builders have been employed to work alongside the fishermen and TVC volunteers and in the past nineteen months the hundreds of lost longtails have been replaced. The project has not been without challenges, and fraudulent claims have had to be sensitively investigated. Many boats were funded from international donors and as such have been dedicated in memorandum to victims of the sea.
Reclaiming the Tourists
The Tsunami put the coastal village of Khao-Lak and the neighbouring fishing communities firmly on the national map but it also removed it from the holiday brochures of European travel agents. The combined result was an outburst of spontaneous generosity from the rest of Thailand and a disappearing act from the seasonal foreign tourists. While the Kingdom of Thailand refused the majority of the international aid which was flooding the region, it remained heavily dependent upon the tourism industry. The beautiful beaches along the Andaman coast, as well as the world class diving sites surrounding the Similan Islands have in the past been a reliable magnet for seasonal tourists. In Khao Lak, the Tsunami washed away dive shops, restaurants, shops as well as a once abundant stretch of locally owned guest houses and luxury resorts. Two years later the number of independent dive shops has been rebuilt to 12, compared to the 50 or so at the other major diving are, Koh Tao. Unlike the tourist hub of Phuket, which received an immediate (if only superficial) face-lift in order to numb the predicted impact on the tourist industry, the much smaller and provincial town of Khao Lak remained a construction site. Debris continued to be washed up along the beach, once fertile land remained reclaimed by seawater and temporary housing consisting of one room cement blocks and corrugated iron began to take on a permanence. Last year the number of tourists to the region dropped dramatically. This was known as the 'Second Disaster' to hit Khao Lak. This year, people are hopeful, but apprehensive.
The Tsunami put the coastal village of Khao-Lak and the neighbouring fishing communities firmly on the national map but it also removed it from the holiday brochures of European travel agents. The combined result was an outburst of spontaneous generosity from the rest of Thailand and a disappearing act from the seasonal foreign tourists. While the Kingdom of Thailand refused the majority of the international aid which was flooding the region, it remained heavily dependent upon the tourism industry. The beautiful beaches along the Andaman coast, as well as the world class diving sites surrounding the Similan Islands have in the past been a reliable magnet for seasonal tourists. In Khao Lak, the Tsunami washed away dive shops, restaurants, shops as well as a once abundant stretch of locally owned guest houses and luxury resorts. Two years later the number of independent dive shops has been rebuilt to 12, compared to the 50 or so at the other major diving are, Koh Tao. Unlike the tourist hub of Phuket, which received an immediate (if only superficial) face-lift in order to numb the predicted impact on the tourist industry, the much smaller and provincial town of Khao Lak remained a construction site. Debris continued to be washed up along the beach, once fertile land remained reclaimed by seawater and temporary housing consisting of one room cement blocks and corrugated iron began to take on a permanence. Last year the number of tourists to the region dropped dramatically. This was known as the 'Second Disaster' to hit Khao Lak. This year, people are hopeful, but apprehensive.
The recovery which has already been made is remarkable. Top of the range resorts are opening every week, local women who have reopened their restaurants are helping to teach their new staff English. The beach is beautiful and clean; and for anyone new to the area it would seem a peaceful and tranquil place far removed from the photographs outside the highstreet camera shop, which shows a beach covered in rubbish and to the informed eye – bodies. Some of the larger resorts, such as Le Meridan 'took Khoa Lak' to Germany and Switzerland in a road show designed to convenience once regular agents to come back. And so far it seems to have worked. Old dive shops are reopening. New resorts are slowly filling up, and the common language spoken on the main street seems to be German. However, behind the scenes, new challenges continue to be tackled, many of which are reflected by projects supported by the TVC.
Continuing Ripples
Volunteers have also been engaged in building entire villages. Nam Kham 1 is a new fifty house village, built on reclaimed swamp land. Volunteers built the village with the help of volunteers and alongside its new residents and proud owners, who like those of Nam Kham 2 had fallen through the proverbial net. A major problem after the Tsunami has been land rights. Many people could not prove that they owned the land that their, particularly those in the poorest classes, Burmese refugees and the moken sea gypsies. Paradoxically, much of the beach front which was previously owned by individual Thai families was quickly snatched up by large international hotels, and the once publicly accessible beach is now being filled up with chain resorts, which in turn are being filled by European families, who spend their prepaid holiday in the parameters of the hotel.
Indirectly the TVC has also been a network of support for survivors. Many of the initial volunteers included those directly involved in the Tsunami or who had lost friends or family. The TVC provided a basic network of support and a channel to direct energy into a practical outcome.
Two years on the needs of the local community are changing and the TVC is changing accordingly. It is still receiving a steady stream of volunteers and is looking at a way to involve them in a more socially sustainable way, minimiing the impact on the local cultures, but still taking advantage of this new interest in the area. Plans for more long term home stays in exchange for language classes or Thai cooking courses are being explored. Other new initiatives are also flourishing, such as Fun for Kids which is a new charity aimed at providing public play areas and activities for local children. Meanwhile, survivors are also continuing with their lives. Many of the dive instructors continue to share their love for the ocean while the local people are slowly beginning to return to the beach for picnics and socialising.
Two years on the needs of the local community are changing and the TVC is changing accordingly. It is still receiving a steady stream of volunteers and is looking at a way to involve them in a more socially sustainable way, minimiing the impact on the local cultures, but still taking advantage of this new interest in the area. Plans for more long term home stays in exchange for language classes or Thai cooking courses are being explored. Other new initiatives are also flourishing, such as Fun for Kids which is a new charity aimed at providing public play areas and activities for local children. Meanwhile, survivors are also continuing with their lives. Many of the dive instructors continue to share their love for the ocean while the local people are slowly beginning to return to the beach for picnics and socialising.
More information on the above projects can be found at the following websites:
