Tsunami Aftermath: Recovery, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction

AU J.T. 9(1): 29-40 (Jul. 2505) Tsunami Aftermath: Recovery, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Elfren Bringas Paz Faculty of Architecture, Assumption University Bangkok, Thailand Abstract Why there were no Tsunami alert systems in the Indian Ocean. Many Asian countries lacked preparedness. Clearly the hazard had been grossly underestimated. Seven weeks after December s Tsunami, thousands of new houses being built for Tsunami victims could go to waste if survivors abandon them. Some residents of the worst hit areas are unhappy about the designs. The agencies which built them excluded the villagers opinions, resulting in new houses alien to their tribal or fishing style. These victims although penniless, have their dignity. Thus any assistance to them should be given while allowing them a role in making decisions on matters that directly affect them; Without much ado fishermen from many communities along the coast have joined hands to regain their livelihood repaired their damaged boats or building new ones, with the help of non-governmental groups, had now returned to their fishing grounds. Today the white sand and calm blue waters offered no hint of the destruction the big wave brought to the western coast of Thailand. Some local residents believe it should be kept that way. Urban planners, tourist operators and land developers are hoping to transform crisis into opportunity by rethinking development priorities along these beaches. Now, it appears a rising wave of development may deprive villagers and ethnic survivors of their ancestral villages. The affected areas are bowing to pressure from the tourism industry to clean up the land and put it to more economic uses. Abandoned in the aftermath some children may have survived nature s worst disaster, but were unfortunate to have lost both parents. Without appropriate social aid, a generation may grow up in an environment where people did everything to survive. There was a huge international effort to help the Thai authorities to identify the bodies of more than 5000 victims of the Tsunami. Some said it could take as long as a year to finish the painstaking work based on dental DNA and fingerprint records. The region s tourism industry relied heavily on the successful recovery of the hotel and resort sector. As the tourism industry reinvents itself, provisions must be made to guarantee social security, emergency benefits insurance and workmen s compensation for rehired workers. Small business owners should be supported in every way possible to rebuild and restock shops and receive their necessary tools of the trade, enabling them to once again to provide useful services. Coastal management and seaside infrastructure should be carefully reorganized, but with enough flexibility to provide for independent self-employment initiatives. Local residents applying for work should be given preferential consideration; expanded skills training programs should be offered; and low interest loans should be facilitated. There is still hope amidst the gloom. The Tsunami incident triggered a form of borderless humanitarianism. Valuable lessons can be learned to avoid the pitfalls experienced as a result of the unexpected Tsunami. Out of this catastrophe the authorities should be able to draw up a management guide to be prepared based on shared experiences and strategies on how to cope with major disasters management. Keywords: Tsunami, Sea-gypsy, alert system, mangrove forest, indigenous survivors, orphaned children, recovery and rehabilitation. 29

Introduction The 26 Dec. Tsunami disaster has taught many that unity and sympathy were all that was needed to overcome a tragedy of this magnitude. A hundred days after the Tsunami swept away thousands of lives, great stories of generosity and perseverance continue to emerge in its aftermath. Scope and Objectives The scope of this paper is limited to recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction. The range of this study is listed below: Houses not suited for Tsunami victims Many survivors face resettlement Rebuilding the dream island of Phi Phi Tsunami orphans Body recovery and identification Tourism industry recovery Boat operators decry compensation scheme Evacuation plans Coastal Ecology December quake 2 nd largest ever Managers needed to rebuild the Andaman coast Restoration of livelihood Flaws seen in Tsunami rehabilitation efforts Tsunami alert system Houses not suited for Tsunami victims Thousands of new houses being built for Tsunami victims could go to waste if survivors abandon them. Some residents are unhappy about the designs. They say the houses are cramped and do not suit their lifestyles. They stand in contrast with the spacious houses in which the so-called sea-gypsies, have designed and building for themselves. She says, It s so narrow and dark. It must be really hot in there. I want the one being built on the pillars such as the Moken are building, but army engineers say they can t change, said one resident. She referred to a shop house measuring four by nine meters with one bedroom, one multi-utility room and one toilet. It is one of three designs available on a budget of 120,000 baht for villagers who opt for houses designed by the state. The houses of the Moken people or socalled sea-gypsies are building are elevated on pillars. They use the open areas underneath give natural cooling. A spokesperson, of the network for development of southern communities, said people should be allowed to choose their homes. We give only technical support and advice to the Moken people. No one knows better than they do. Houses built by state agencies following the Krathun floods a few years ago were eventually abandoned by survivors who left to rebuild their own community. For donors, the Moken houses are cheaper as they pay for the materials only. Labor costs are spared because the Moken build their own houses themselves. An official from the Social Development and Human Resources Department said villagers can still build to their own design, but the houses must come in under budget (Hutasingh 2005). Many Survivors Face Resettlement Today the white sand and calm blue waters offered no hint of destruction the deadly Tsunami caused by the huge earthquake off Sumatra; brought to the affected islands and beaches along Thailand s western coastline. Some local residents believe it should be kept that way. Urban planners, tourist operators and powerful property developers are hoping to transform crisis into opportunity by rethinking development priorities along the beaches (Katharangsiporn 2005). As it was on 26 December, the sky above the Ban Khao Lak village beachfront on Saturday was clear and fresh. But the atmosphere at the two-month commemoration service for 26 villagers lost in the Tsunami was sobering. As Buddhist monks chanted, about 100 survivors from 23 families pondered their fate. They ve been told that their land is no 30

longer theirs. They cannot rebuild their village. And that s now the fate of at least 32 villages within the six Tsunami-affected provinces. Local administrations are, says social activists Vichote Kraithep, bowing to pressure from the tourism industry to clean-up the land and put it to more economic uses. For several decades, beachfront villages have been steadily disappearing at the behest of the tourism industry, but the Tsunami has created unprecedented activity. A villager of Ban Khao Lak, was furious to learn that the land on which he was born no longer belongs to his family. Although he and his family successfully outran the giant Tsunami wave, they returned to the remains of their home a few days later to find that the poles that once supported their home were replaced by red concrete blocks demarcating new ownership. He said, Let them know that I will fight to take keep my land. But he s facing an uphill battle. Technically the land in dispute does not belong to him. His father, who settled on the land four decades ago, did not acquire land rights. This lack of legal land title is a common problem. His neighbors at Ban Khao Lak along with communities at Ban Thung Dap, Ban Ta Phae O, Ban Pak Chok and Ban Ko Ra in the nearby Khura Buri district are erased from the map. Nearly 200 families at Ban Nai Rai in Thai Mueang district recently found the land they have lived on for generations was registered in somebody else s name. Laem Kaen Tambon Administrative Organization (TAO) does not seem to agree with the villager s claim. The chief administrator of Laem Kaen TAO declared, The beachfront is public property managed by TAO. Now that the [Ban Khao Lak] village was swept away, we want to keep the area empty so it can be accessible to the public, she said (Tangwisutijit 2005). Giant waves forced seaside villagers to take refuge at relief centers. Now a rising wave of development is keeping them away from their old village sites (Hutasingh 2005). The Phang-nga s Thung Wa Tambon Administrative Organization (TAO) had determined that the sea-gypsy village of Thung Wa were wiped off the map by the Tsunami, it would be opportune time to expropriate the land for a hospital to be financed by the German government. Prasit Ketrai and his neighbors quickly erected their sign, stating that the sea gypsies had been settled on the land for nearly a century. They may have lost 42 of their 281- strong community to the giant wave, but they were not about to part their land on top of it, the sign read. The German Embassy acknowledging the villagers concern met with Prasit two weeks ago and told him that while they planned to fund a new hospital, it would not take over previously occupied land, especially that of an ethnic minority (Tangwisutijit 2005). After the Tsunami, it was reported that landlords had reclaimed their land in 40 villages. Ownership will be determined by the courts, a government official said (Hutasingh 2005b). Rebuilding the Dream Island of Phi Phi For the first few weeks after the 26 Dec Tsunami, the Thai island of Phi Phi is eerily quiet. More than 6,000 people died in Thailand alone and the backpacker haven of Phi Phi was one of the worst affected areas. In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, all those who survived were encouraged to leave the island. But now, nearly three months on, Phi Phi is a hive of activity. Local Thais works alongside foreign volunteers clean out partially destroyed buildings and bring this beautiful tourist island back to life. But much remains to be done. Huge piles of rubble need to be shifted, and most of the islanders are still living in temporary shelters in the nearby mainland town of Krabi. Perhaps most importantly, the government has yet to decide its long-term plans for Phi Phi, making it difficult for people to begin rebuilding. The government s decision is due by the beginning of May, but many people are not prepared to wait until then. Instead, they determined to press on with the clean-up operation. Many of the islanders face unsettling problem in their quest to return to Phi Phi. They have heard rumors of a government proposal to ban houses from the beach area, and turn the island to a luxury resort a plan they say will deprive them of jobs. Many local 31

people were worried they would never be able to return if the rumored plans were true. The vice-governor of Krabi province denied that plans to turn the island into an exclusive resort were on the table, but he did say big changes were needed. The government is considering making the beach area of Phi Phi a special area. (bbcnews.com. 2005). Tsunami Orphans A new survey has found there are more Tsunami orphans than originally thought who urgently need long-term professional psychological support, psychologists said yesterday. The survey by the mental health department found 1101 children were made orphans by the 26 Dec. Tsunami that damaged six Andaman coastal provinces, an increase from 800 reported last month. Most were residents of Phangnga s Takua Pa district, where more than 20 communities were destroyed (Treerutkuarkul 2005a). The Ministry of Public Health has set up a war room at the Hospital in Amphoe Takua Pa in Phang-nga province that is called the Center of Public Health Surveillance and Relief after the Tsunami. Every Wednesday highlevel public officials hold a meeting there at which they hear reports of what has occurred during the previous week. Then plans are made to deal with the problems that have arisen (Sukphisit 2005). A spokesperson of the ministry said, One problem involves people who come from various places like Bangkok to help the children in the schools that had been set up for the victims children. In these schools, all of the children study together, regardless how the Tsunami affected their families. The people who come to help want to separate the children according to the seriousness of their personal experience, so they will ask all children who lost both of their parents to come out and form a line, and those who lost just one parent to form a separate line. Who can imagine how heartbroken these children are? They may follow these orders, but no one knows or seems interested in how sad they are. The ones who are sending people in must be told that their personnel should avoid asking questions that can have a damaging effect on the victims minds, or that make them more upset than they already are, she said (Sukphisit 2005). Body Recovery and Identification About 50 multinational forensic experts, police officers, and ambassadors joined an emotional farewell ceremony to Wat Yan Yao in Takua Pa district yesterday, ending their three-month forensic operation to put names on several thousands of Tsunami victims. The international Disaster Victims Identification team (DVI) at Wat Yan Yao, involving Interpol, Thai police, doctors and forensic experts from the Netherlands, Australia, Germany, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, has carried out the task shortly after the 26 Dec. catastrophe and completed the collection of post-mortem data of the last batch of about 1,100 bodies yesterday. The DVI team, headed by Dutch forensic expert Arie de Bruyn, also handed over the data of the last batch of about 1,100 bodies to the Royal Thai Police s Tsunami victims identification team. Wat Yan Yao will forever remain a symbol of the catastrophe, a symbol of cruel sudden death, a human vanity in the light of destiny, and also of hospitality of the abbot, the monks and a whole people towards all the victims from all over the world, said the German ambassador in his speech marking the DVI s accomplishment. The abbot of Wat Yan Yao, said he was relieved the temple would be returned to its normal environment (Samabuddhi 2005). It may take up to five years to put names to the 2,547 unidentified Tsunami victims in Thailand, half of them thought to be foreign tourists, a senior official said. The official toll in Thailand stands at 5,395, of which 1,953 are believed to be foreigners. Another 2,929 are missing. The senior official said families of people reported missing were slow to produce sufficient ante mortem data for matching against samples taken from the corpses (Anon. 2005c). 32

Tourism Industry Recovery Three months after the Tsunami, tourism is gradually returning to Thailand but there is still a long way to go. Phuket s famous Pa Tong, Kata and Karon beaches are recovering from the damage left by the 26 Dec Tsunami and now ready to welcome back tourists in large numbers. The good news was passed on at a function held here yesterday by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Thai Airways International (THAI) and the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), to rekindle confidence in the tourism potential of the six Tsunami-hit provinces on the coast of the Andaman Sea. More than 700 tourism operators and journalists from all over the world heard from the TAT governor, who said damage to tourist attractions were moderate, and sea water was cleaner. Only 10-20% of shallow-water coral reefs were destroyed. About 80% of hotel rooms in the six provinces could reopen for visitors, she said adding that the occupancy rate in Phuket was now at 40%. Mega-events such as the Miss Universe beauty pageant and major sport tournaments should draw more tourists from the Asian region, she said. The Phuket mayor said Pa Tong beach had quickly recovered, and seven broadcasting towers for early disaster warnings were being built along the beach. The deputy mayor of Karon municipality, said Kata and Karon beaches had been rehabilitated, businesses there had recovered and people were now waiting for the return of tourists (Chuenniran 2005). Boat Operators Decry Compensation Scheme A provincial fishery official said about 30 million baht had been paid to fishermen who lost 550 fishing boats to the Tsunami. However, the provincial fishery chief, said the operators of many large boats were unhappy with the scheme, saying state aid was too low. The state paid 700,000 baht for repairs to large boats and 200,000 baht for general expenses plus 250,000 baht for boats that had to be salvaged from the sea. Operators say average repairs cost 0.9-1.2 million baht, while some reach 10 million baht (Chuenniran 2005. Five projects in line for US private sector cash. (Chuenniran 2005b). Smiles Return to the Faces of Local Fishermen Two months after the 26 Dec Tsunami disaster, smiles have again returned to the faces of local fishermen in Ban Nam Khem, one of the hardest-hit areas in Takua Pa district. The reason: They have been handed the first batch of 10 new fishing boats. On 26 Dec, the Tsunami struck 418 seaside villages and damage 3,304 fishing boats in six Andaman coastline provinces. Ban Nam Khem received the biggest battering where more than 400 small fishing boats and between 40-50 big trawlers were lost. All the 1,500 families there survive on fishing. The residents looked happy and lively again yesterday when the new boats were released by the Deputy Prime Minister Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh who had promised them that he would push for a 300-million-baht fisheries development fund for fishermen in the Andaman provinces. A 28-year-old fisherman who survived the Tsunami catastrophe but lost his house and a fishing boat, said he was happy to have started earning again after he and his neighbors had to pool all their talents to fix the boats and boat engines that were not too badly damaged (Suksamran 2005). Klaus D. Orlik, a German member of the international non-governmental organization Poseidon Crus Alders which also bought 20 new fishing boats for the villagers there, said his group would buy 80 more fishing boats for the locals so they could do their beloved job again. A spokesman for the fishermen of Ban Nam Khem, said what the fishermen here needed most was fishing tools because there were enough fishing boats, some of which are newly bought with donations and some were fixed with loans borrowed by villagers who did not want to wait for help. 33

Another leading villager, called for the dredging of water channels as the three-rai Pha Island which had been used as a shelter for fishing boats were also destroyed by the tidal waves (Suksamran 2005). Evacuation Plans A director of the Mineral Resources Department s Environmental Geology Division, conceded relevant agencies were too slow to put in place evacuation plans, particularly for Phuket s Pa Tong beach and Ban Nam Khem in Phang-nga s Takua Pa district, resulting in chaos during the Sumatra earthquake evacuation on 28 March 2005. According to department estimates, Pa Tong residents should be evacuated 500 meters from the sea, while in Khao Lak and Ban Nam Khem they must move up to 2km inland to ensure safety from waves. Town planning in Pa Tong, Kao Lak, and Ban Nam Khem must also be altered to facilitate transportation during evacuations, he added (Samabuddhi 2005). At last the foundation stone was laid on 29 March 2005 for the country s first evacuation building at a model village in Phang-nga s Takua Pa district. The building is part of an evacuation system being devised for coastal villages that are at risk from Tsunamis. The model village will also feature evacuation routes, a news distribution tower and landscaping designed to cushion the impact of tidal and seismic waves. Also at the model village is a camp for the mental and emotional rehabilitation of children who survived the deadly Tsunami on 26 December (Anon.2005a). Coastal Ecology A recent study has concluded that much of the coral reef around Mu Ko Surin damaged by December s Tsunami is ecologically healthy, despite eyewitness accounts to the contrary. Damage to reefs around the popular tourist island in Phang-nga province is considered low to moderate with an overall mean (damage to hard coral) of 18.2%, the study said. Conducted by a team of British and Thai researchers since the end of February, the study concentrated on six main areas covering 1,424 sub-transects of the 28 km of reef around the island. Much of the reef area was considered to be ecologically healthy with 274 species of fish and 70 species of hard coral being identified during the study, said James Comley, a British scientist and director of Coral Cay Conservation Ltd. s (CCC) Marine Science Department. However, some key sites had high levels of coral damage, especially Mae Yai Bay, he said. The study also found damage at different study sites and differing shallows of seawater at each area. Detailed assessment of information from the use of satellite images and the site survey revealed that the damage caused by the Tsunami might only be 8% and that most of the damage was man-made, another British scientist said. The researchers said the reef could potentially recover fully if there is no destructive activity. Leave them alone [for the natural recovery] and grow more mangroves along the coastal area, said David Bellamy, CCC president and well-known British conservationist. Dr. Thorn Thamrongnasawasdi, a Thai marine scientist who conducted his own study at Mu Ko Surin, said that more studies were important but it was even more crucial to help recovery. Current information about the damage and impact to the reef is sufficient for further action. We should move forward to action now, action that would lead to sustainable tourism development in the area, he said. We have already made more steps at Mu Ko Surin by closing worst sites that were hit seriously by the Tsunami and opening three new sites for diving instead. Thorn s study revealed that the worst critical sites are Torinla and Ao Phak, both of which need to be placed out of reach of humans (Sukin 2005). As reports from Tsunami stricken nations filtered in last December, a pattern 34

emerged: Communities lying behind a fringe of shallow-water mangroves, like parts of India s coastline, or behind an intact coral reef, as in the Maldive Islands, suffered less damage and loss of life than places exposed directly to the brute force of the waves. Mangrove forests and coral reefs had proved their worth once again, helping deflect the enormous energy unleashed by the Tsunami (O Neil 2005). December Quake 2 nd Largest Ever In a reassessment of the 26 December earthquake that unleashed the Indian Ocean Tsunami, scientists say the tremblor measured 9.3 on the Richter scale more than twice as powerful as originally estimated and the second biggest quake recorded. The quake split the ocean floor northward from Sumatra along 1,200 kilometers, the longest on record and twice as long as previously thought, according to their research, which appeared yesterday in Nature, the weekly science journal. It was initially thought to be 9.0 in the Richter scale. But an evaluation of very low frequency data from seismograms shows that the quake was in fact 9.3 magnitude. As the Richter scale is logarithmic, the difference between 9.3 and 9.0 is 2.5 times, said the study by geologists Seth Stein and Emile Okal of Nothwestern University in Illinois (Anon. 2005b). The recent devastation caused by the Tsunami waves has heightened the need for awareness of natural disasters and how to cope. Cracks under the sea, sink holes, landslides these are only the geological phenomenon that have popped up after the Tsunami hit Thailand s southern shores on 26 Dec.. A team from the Department of Mineral Resources led by Director-General Somsak Potisak, is trying to find answers. They are exploring every nook and cranny of the South to pinpoint areas that might pose a danger to villagers and tourists. The team has investigated many districts. So far, they have found 29 sinkholes, landslides in more than 70 places, and many cracked caves. Another task of the team is to make a new geological map across the Southern region because the Tsunami has changed the previous landscape and formed a new geological landscape. Some islands have disappeared. A new coastal map is also needed because many shores were eroded (Trakullertsathien 2005). Managers Needed To Rebuild The Andaman Coast The 26 December Tsunami may be referred to as a killer, but ironically it seems to have restored life to the waters and beaches in its path. Long-time Pa Tong residents say the water is of the same clarity and the sand the same whiteness that made the beach famous 20 years ago. Now people can go swimming without worrying about eye infections and skin rashes they say. Those sentiments are echoed by a coastal biologist in Krabi. Now that the Tsunami has cleaned things up for us, keeping it this way should be a major goal of any recovery program, he stressed. But like everyone else, they expressed frustration that what they see is only temporary. Once all the businesses return, it will be hard to preserve the pristine condition, they said. One hotelier said, We survey our guests every year about what they don t like, and the answers are always the same. They don t like the pollution, the garbage or the mosquitoes. We report this to the authorities, but things never seemed to improve much. And efforts to preserve the environmental windfall are markedly absent with reconstruction getting underway. For example, there are no plans to start up Pa Tong s wastewater treatment system, which has never been fully used since completion in 1991. The same is true of the never used but nowdamaged plant on Phi Phi Island. Khao Lak, another hard-hit area, had no central treatment system, nor any plans to build one. Pa Tong s tourism businesses blamed the increasingly polluted condition of the beach before the Tsunami on inefficiency and lax controls on the part of local authorities. Hotels and businesses have long been allowed to get away with simply dumping wastewater into the sea. 35

We need a stronger will and better technology and management, said a spokesman of the Phuket Tourism Association s Tsunami-recovery center. (Tangwisutijit 2005). The rehabilitation of the Tsunami-hit coastal areas of Phuket, Phang-nga and Krabi would probably proceed more professionally and at a much faster pace with a full-time manager or managers coordinating the effort. The responsibility should not be left solely to administrators, who are geared towards preserving the status quo and bureaucratic normalcy. Rebuilding the Andaman coastal areas is a major challenge that requires special attention from decisive, creative officials. It will soon pass the 100-day mark since the Tsunami wreaked havoc in the otherwise prosperous coastal areas of Phuket, Krabi and Phang-nga. What has emerged as the greatest impediment to the rehabilitation effort that sprang to life during the past three months has not been a lack of money, but a lack of people with the authority to take charge of day-to-day problems and to exercise leadership. The need for such people is driven home when one surveys the battered beaches of Phuket. The debris still dominates the physical appearance of Kamala Bay. The impression is that everybody is doing their own thing rather than working together. The bay looks like a war zone. Pa Tong could also use some housekeeping to ease the melancholy and bring order to the shabbiness (Janviroj 2005). The provincial governors should remain doing their official duties. The challenges posed by this situation, need a technocrat manager to work with the governors. These managers must have the managerial skills both to envision the bigger picture of the overall response to the calamity and to get down to the nitty-gritty of the particular details of the myriad reconstruction projects. The six Tsunami affected provinces needs an excellent manager or managers. They need leader/leaders to give people hope and to encourage teamwork and community management and participation. These provinces need someone to manage the chaos. 36 Furthermore, such a manager ought to be able to find the balance between quantity and quality-something which cannot be done with rules and orders. This balance comes from conviction. Ironically, a prime example of the kind of manager needed is Khun Banharn Silapaarcha. His city management skills are as recognized as his ability to fight for state funds. His home province of Suphan Buri is neat and orderly. This isn t a question of money alone, but a constant attention to detail, whether we re talking about garbage collection, public gardens, canals or commercial activities. Banharn s is the kind of discipline that is in such short supply. Of course, Khun Banharn is no longer available for Phuket since he is in the opposition (Janviroj 2005). The Tsunami disaster could be a blessing in disguise if reconstruction is carried out with a long-term view of sustainable development (Ashayagachat 2005a). Head Chosen for Baht 190bn Disaster Fund Indonesia s president named former minister of mines and energy, Kuntoro Mangkusubroto to head the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Body for the Areas of Aceh Province and Nias Island, North Sumatra, of areas affected by the Tsunami and other recent disasters, in a decree obtained on May 1, 2005. The appointment of Mangkusubroto comes after Indoneasia issued regulations aimed at preventing graft and other abuses in the management of the funds. Foreign donors and independent groups have called for prudent use of money earmarked for disaster survivors in Indonesia. Local Indonesian media have described Mangkusubroto as one of the country s most respected and skilled bureaucrats with clean track record (Anon. 2005d). Restoration of Livelihood Three months after the Tsunami, aid organizations and survivors of the disaster are struggling together on a new venture, creating new careers for the unemployed.

Unfortunately, a micro entrepreneur cannot be made overnight. Free lunches for the needy cannot last forever. Aid organizations have gradually ceased their assistance for survivors from Tsunami ravaged communities in Phangnga provinces, either because they have used up the funds earmarked for this project, or they thought it was time for those survivors to try to get back on their feet. This could be the most painstaking time for Tsunami victims that have lost their assets. For those from fishing families living in temporary shelters set up for Tsunami survivors in Ban Nam Khem areas, aid organizations, both governmental and nongovernmental, have already encouraged them to embark on new occupations beside fishing. Before the 26 Dec. Tsunami, fishermen in Ban Nam Khem community owned about 300 small trawlers. Until now (31 March 2005), only 17 fishing families at the displaced community have been given new trawlers from aid organizations and are ready to go back to the sea. A trawler is not cheap nor easy to build, said a community co-ordinator at the shelter center for Ban Nam Khem survivors nearby the office at Bang Mueang Tambon Administration Organization. A small trawler costs at least 100,000 baht and one important obstacle making the building of trawlers so slow is the shortage of skilled trawler makers in the Tsunami-hit provinces. There aren t many boat builders in this region, and building boats cannot be done overnight, he said. The shortage of funding is another factor. Many organizations that promised to give financial assistance for the construction of trawlers have yet to disperse the funds, he added. According to him, about 1,700 people have squeezed together in 300 makeshift shelters for three months now, and made his shelter center their homes. Some who are fed up waiting for aid have grouped together and started up some income generating activities. These new occupation groups at the shelter center are rather conventional. They include dress making, handicraft and souvenir production, fish culture, traditional coffee and bakery stalls, fishery tool production, boat building, and taximotorcycle services. But the only group that has really made some headway with their products is the dress making one, said the shelter co-ordinator. World Vision Foundation has supplied the group with sewing machines and materials for their operation (Hemtasilpa 2005). A 100 days after the Tsunami disaster and 200 small operators in Pa Tong Beach area have yet to see any of the promised financial aid to help them restart their livelihoods. In Khao Lak alone, more than 50 hotels and resorts suffered losses of baht 20 billion. Most of them had been in business for only one or two years. Some borrowers did not get their applications for soft loans approved because they had no business plans. Also a bank spokesperson said, We tried to help them out but their businesses are risky because they have very short leases remaining on their premises. Without a fresh injection of funds, they cannot reconstruct their facilities and welcome holidaymakers again (Srimalee 2005). Although 1 st May 2005 is labor Day, workers in Tsunami-hit provinces have little to celebrate they are still struggling to pick up the pieces of their Tsunami-ravaged lives (Ekachai 2005). Flaws Seen in Tsunami Rehabilitation Efforts A hundred days after the Tsunami hit Thailand s six Andaman coastal provinces, academics say most recovery measures carried out by the government are focused on physical, environmental and tourism aspects, while little attention is paid to life and social recovery. The Dean of Chulalongkorn University s Faculty of Political Science, said despite several panels being set up for rehabilitation tasks, work remained weak at community and individual levels and needed more comprehensive planning. Some committees were set up specifically to revive tourism in the Andaman coastal provinces, but tourism is not the only problem we re facing. A lot of people were killed in the disaster and it is important for the government to take social recovery into account, she said in a workshop entitled 37

Sharing Japan s and Thailand s Experiences of Community Recovery from Naturel Disasters, organized by Chulalongkorn Univ. and Japan International Cooperation Agency. Affected villagers complained too little state assistance actually reached them. More importantly, most of the government s recovery measures showed little respect for their cultures and dignity. A spokesperson from Ban Nam Khem in Phang-nga province, said most of the measures implemented failed to answer the locals basic needs. New houses provided by the state were too small and inadequate, and villagers were not allowed to have a say in their design and construction, he said. We were forced to choose between two designs the 4x6 meters or the 6x6 meters, or take 30,000 baht and find our own places to live in, he said. Also he said the reconstructed villages still lacked mapping and basic facilities such as sewers. Many of the locals were fishermen but some of the new houses were located too far from the shoreline and no space was provided for them to keep their boats, making it impossible for them to continue their fishing occupation. We had asked the state to suspend the reconstruction and think about community mapping so as to avoid future disasters, but they didn t listen, he said. Some private organizations had promised to build new boats for them but nothing happened so far, he added. A representative from Save Andaman Network, said Thai society did not realize there were still problems since they were rarely addressed by the state authorities who acted as if everything had already returned to normal. Also in carrying out the recovery measures the government just did what they wanted to do, without respecting the dignity of the victims, he said. Jin Sato, an expert from Tokyo University, warned that assistance for the victims could give rise to problems if it created a sense of inequality and poverty. We shouldn t be concerned too much about the amount of aid, but the appropriate channel and coordination to deliver it to the people, he said. Haruo Hayashi, from Kyoto University s Disaster Prevention Research Institute, said a long-term holistic recovery must comprise of three aspects physical recovery through infrastructure restoration and housing, economic recovery, and life recovery to empower the victims. Thailand must also remember the Tsunami threat was real, and that the country could be hit again in less than 100-150 years, said Mr. Hayashi. This fact must be taken into account while the country went about rebuilding communities and set up a recovery system, he said (Assavanonda 2005). Ronald Waldman, an expert on health policy at Columbia University, at a World Health Organization conference held in Phuket criticized the poor disaster relief response to the 26 Dec. Tsunami catastrophe and urged that better measures be put in place to keep the number of casualties low when major disasters strike again in future (Treerutkuarkul 2005b). Conclusion: Tsunami Alert On The Right Track A major earthquake occurred off the coast of northern Sumatra at 11.09pm Bangkok time on Monday 28 March 2005. Government agencies, including the Meteorological Department, the Department of Geology and Mineral resources, the Interior ministry and state-run television and radio networks delivered warnings through broadcast media, while civil defense officials were dispatched to coordinate the evacuation of atrisk areas in six Andaman coastal provinces (Anon. 2005a). Thousands of residents of low-lying coastal areas were asked to take shelter on high ground and in secure public buildings in a relatively orderly manner. The evacuees were asked to remain in these safe places until the Meteorological Department announced an allclear two hours later at 2 a.m. on Tuesday. A Tsunami evacuation drill, the first of its kind in Thailand, went off without a hitch on 29 April 2005 at Pa Tong beach with about 2,000 people, including members of the diplomatic corps, taking part. 38

The evacuation exercise, presided over by the prime minister, began with a tidal wave warning over a public announcement system. He then sounded a siren, prompting participants to scurry along evacuation routes to designated areas. Pa Tong municipality was selected by the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, which is drafting a master plan for Tsunami evacuations. Seven evacuation zones were demarcated in the area, but only Zone 5 and Zone 7 were used during the drill. The exercise was observed by the governors of five other Tsunami-ravaged provinces which are expected to stage their own evacuation drills soon. The prime minister said regular drills would help restore tourists confidence and eventually revive the tourism industry (Chuenniran 2005c). Summary The Tsunami disaster could be a blessing in disguise if reconstruction is carried out with a long-term view of sustainable development, according to a United Nations Development Program seminar held on 18 January 2005. Certainly, the massive seismic waves have put several Asian countries backward but with generous international assistance together with efforts by national governments and local civil society organizations, like universities, the wellplanned reconstruction could be crafted to enable them to reach sustainable development, said Dato Lee Yee Cheong, co-author of the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) final report submitted to the UN Secretary-General on Monday (Ashayagachat 2005). Since the Tsunami, many affected governments are pursuing safe areas strategy with renewed impetus. This aims, through a process of voluntary resettlement, to concentrate populations on safe areas, and stronger buildings, and buffer stocks of provisions and would incorporate measures to protect against future disaster and mitigate its effects. Concentrating populations in this way would also allow for economies of scale in the provision of social services, including schools and health clinics. The safe areas strategy takes a new meaning with the opportunity of turning enforced reconstruction into a well thought out development program. Nonetheless, such a strategy would also need to safeguard the lifestyle of its fishing communities and helping people back on their feet to lure back the tourists and each countries natural beauty, the cornerstone of their vital tourist industries. References Anon. 2005a. Tsunami alert on the right track The Nation, Editorial, 30 March 2005. Anon. 2005b. December quake 2 nd largest ever. The Nation, 1 April 2005. Anon. 2005c. ID operation may take 5 years. Bangkok Post, 8 April 2005. Anon. 2005d. Head chosen for baht 190bn disaster fund. The Nation, 2 May 2004. Ashayagachat, A. 2005. Disaster A blessing in disguise. Bangkok Post, 9 January 2005. Assavanonda, A. 2005. Flaws seen in Tsunami rehabilitation efforts. Bangkok Post, 6 April 2005. bbcnews.com. 2005. Rebuilding the dream island of Phi Phi. 18 March 2005. Chuenniran, A. 2005a. Bad debt fears in wave region as cash pours in. Bangkok Post, 23 February 2005. Chuenniran, A. 2005b. Phuket back on its feet, ready for tourists. Bangkok Post, 6 March 2005. Chuenniran, A. 2005c. Wave evacuation drill goes off without a hitch. Bangkok Post, 30 April 2005. Ekachai, S. 2005. Labour Pains. Bangkok Post, 30 April 2005. Hemtasilpa, S. 2005. Last hope for survival. Bangkok Post, 31 March 2005. Hutasingh, O. 2005a. Survivors caught on land disputes. Bangkok Post, 16 February 2005. Hutasingh, O. 2005b. Greedy landlords reappear. Bangkok Post, 28 February 2005. Janviroj, P. 2005. Managers needed to rebuild the Andaman coast. The Nation, 30 March 2005. Katharangsiporn, K. 2005. Pa Tong s future in balance. Bangkok Post, 10 January 2005. 39

Longstreath, D. 2005. Geographica Special Tsunamis Where Next? National Geographic, April 2005. O Neil, T 2005. Environmental Defense. National Geographic, April 2005. Prasertson, C. 2005. A holistic approach needed for rebuilding the Tsunami-hit South. The Nation, 17 February 2005. Sakboon, M. 2005. Recovery action Plan. The Nation, 18 February 2005. Samabuddhi, K. 2005a. Emotional farewell as DVI closes center. Bangkok Post, 25 March 2005. Samabuddhi, K. 2005b. Seismic experts call for evacuation plans. Bangkok Post, 1 April 2005. Srimalee, S. 2005. Small firms still await financial aid. The Nation, 4 April 2005. Sukin, K. 2005. Much of Mu Ko Surin reef healthy. The Nation, 25 March 2005. Sukphisit, S. 2005. Helping or hurting? Bangkok Post, 28 February 2005. Tangwisutijit, N. 2005a. More than 30 villages could disappear. The Nation, 28 February 2005. Tangwisutijit, N. 2005b. Environment shining in wake of disaster. The Nation, 2 March 2005. Trakullertsathien, C. 2005. Preparing for the worst. Bangkok Post, 3 March 2005. Treerutkuarkul, A. 2005a. More wave orphans than thought. Bangkok Post, 1 March 2005. Treerutkuarkul, A. 2005b. Expert criticizes poor disaster relief response after Tsunami. Bangkok Post, 7 May 2005. Wongruang, P. 2005. Fishermen head back to sea. Bangkok Post, 21 February 2005. 40