RCoPB Press Coverage

WORD ON PHUKET CHARITIES: Phuket Rotarians raised 270,000 Baht in two days to help flood and Landslide victims in Thailand with sponsored walks on 4th and 5th of April.

The 30-strong group of Rotarian walkers from six Phuket-based Rotary clubs took to the streets of Phuket Town on Day 1, starting from Lan Mongkorn Park and walking to Robinson Department store and along the Yaowarat Road in Samkong before returning to Lan Mongkorn park.

On Day 2 the Rotarians set off from Jungceylon shopping centre in Patong at 9pm for an evening walk along Soi Bangla to gather donations from bar owners and customers, many of whom gave generously.

The participating Phuket-based Rotary clubs included: RC of Phuket, RC of Phuket South, RC of Junkseilon, RC of Patong Beach, RC of Andaman and RC of Tongkah.

Rotary Clubs are out on the streets of Phuket Town this afternoon (April 4), raising donations to help victims of flooding in the upper south of the country, and will be in Patong tomorrow night doing the same.

About 50 rotarians are walking from Dragon Park in Phuket Town along Thalang and Montri Roads. Tomorrow they will be jingling their collection boxes around Bangla Rd in Patong, starting at 9 pm from the Port Zone in Jungceylon.

While cash donations can be made to the walkabout rotarians, anyone wishing to make donations in kind is asked to contact Orachorn Saisrithong of Thongkah Rotary Club by calling 08 1892 2527.

Meanwhile, officials at the Provincial Hall have announced that the continuing provincial drive to raise money for Japan has been joined by another, to raise money for Thai flood victims.

Monetary donations for flood victims can be made either in cash at Provincial Hall or by bank transfer to account number 805-0-39733-5 at the Krung Thai Bank, Phuket Branch. Donations in kind – clothing, dried foods or other useful items – may be made at the Provincial Hall.

The dual campaign will come to a head on Saturday and Sunday (April 9 and 10) in Phuket Town. Starting at 5 pm each day and ending at midnight, the fundraiser will feature a number of music and dance performances on the main stage at Dragon Park, between Thalang and Dibuk roads. Artists on stage will include Jetset’er, Titanium Biz, Ford Sobchai, and Oo-Thanatorn.

There will also be a variety of stalls and activities along Thalang and Krabi Roads, including a tsunami exhibition, clothing stalls and street performances.

Also on April 10, the Royal Phuket City Grand Ballroom will be transformed into a telethon centre to receive donations from anywhere in the country. The event will be broadcast on Channel 11 from 10 pm till midnight.

Donors outside Phuket wishing to give to Thai flood victims should first transfer the funds to account number 805-0-39733-5 at the Krung Thai Bank, Phuket Branch, then call the telethon staff at 076 216 333.

Donations to Japan should be transferred into account number 805-0-41578-3 at the same bank.

Local donors can simply come along and hand over a cheque or cash. All donations will be eligible for offsetting against tax. At the end of the night, the money raised for Japan is expected to be handed over to a visiting Japanese diplomat. Cash and goods for Thai flood victims will most likely be taken after the fundraiser direct to the places where flooding is worst.

Phuket Rotary continues fire relief efforts

Rotary Club of Patong Beach volunteers at the emergency relief center.

PHUKET: The Rotary Club of Patong Beach is continuing its drive to provide relief to about 120 people who lost their homes in the Patong fire last week.

“The club has approved a 50,000-baht emergency fund and collected 6,300 baht from our own membership to help the people who lost their homes,” said Stan Bailey.

“This money is being used to buy mosquito netting and 70 waterproof mattresses that have been given to these people along with donated clothes.” About 40 families, some of them Burmese, were affected by the blaze, he said.

Patong Rotary Club Treasurer Woody Leonhard today told the Gazette, “We’re planning a follow-up trip, probably tomorrow or Thursday, to take all of the items that were donated after the first round. We need to schedule things to have both Thai and Burmese translators.

“The people are gradually getting on with their lives, as you might imagine. Help from the city came at just the right time, and the donations from the Gazette’s publicity brought in clothing, food, toys and kitchen equipment – all things that were, and are, sorely needed.

Mr Bailey explained, “The RCoPB website has been updated with a donation link and description of the current situation.

“If anyone else would like to help, we’ve designated a Rotary Charity account for relief donations: Bangkok Bank account 563-0-64310-3,” he added The account is:

Account Name: Rotary Club of Patong Beach / Charity
Account Number: 563-0-64310-3
Bank: Bangkok Bank Plc., Co., Ltd.
Branch: Patong
Branch Address: 147 Rat-U-Thit 200 Pee Road, Patong Beach, Amphur Kathu, Phuket 83150, Thailand
SWIFT code: BKKBTHBK

PHUKET: Rotary Clubs on the island are joining the Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) in the local effort to eradicate polio.

Rotarians will lend a hand at the PPHO’s upcoming mobile polio vaccination clinics to be held across the island as part of National Immunization Day for Polio Eradication on December 15.

On the day, free polio vaccinations will be available at all government hospitals from 9am to 4pm and at all government schools from 9am to midday.

The PPHO will also send mobile clinics to administer free vaccinations at foreign worker camps and all foster homes on the island.

Ornnida Puttarak, a Public Health official at Vachira Phuket Hospital, told the Gazette, “We have not had any reported cases of polio for over eight years. We have been very good in keeping the disease in check.”

However, she warned that was no reason for health officials to let their guard down. “For countries categorized ‘at risk of infection’, outbreaks of the disease have been found in neighboring countries.

“There are many migrant children here [in Phuket] who may have brought the disease with them, and this may spread to local children,” she said.

As a precaution, the PPHO will freely vaccinate all children under 15 years old, Ms Ornnida explained.

If parents had any doubt as to whether their children had been vaccinated, then do it again, she advised.

“There are no adverse effects of being vaccinated again,” Ms Ornnida said.

USS Peleliu is a Tarawa-class amphibious assault ship, named after the Battle of during World War II.

PHUKET: The USS Peleliu dropped anchor in Phuket today, bringing along a complement of 960 sailors and about 1,900 Marines.

The 5th Fleet support ship arrived straight from the Arabian Sea following 10 weeks of emergency relief work in flood-stricken Pakistan.

The Peleliu, with its 254-meter-long and 40m wide flight deck, helped evacuate nearly 9,000 displaced persons and deliver more than 2,715 tonnes of food aid and relief supplies.

Before their scheduled departure on Wednesday, some crew members will join local volunteers in renovating two schools in Phuket and a charitable foundation in Phang Nga.

“The COMREL (‘community relations’) projects will be at the Home & Life Phang Nga Foundation, just over the Sarasin Bridge in Phang Nga, Wat Thepnimit School in Wichit, and at Wat Sawangarom School in Rawai,” said Brad Kenny of the Rotary Club of Patong Beach.

Mr Kenny was recently awarded the the prestigious Sahataya Naval Insignia and Certificate from the Royal Thai Navy for his participation in over sixty Navy Community Relations “Comrel” and Handclasp projects over the past few years.

Patong Rotary Club volunteers will be assisted by members of the US Navy League’s Thailand Southern Seaboard Chapter, the International Business Association Phuket (IBAP) and QSI International School community, he said.

Repair and safety improvement of playgrounds, painting of classroom buildings, river erosion control and planting of fruit trees all await the US servicemen and the local volunteers taking part in these Comrel projects, Mr Kenny explained.

Over the past four years the US Navy and Marines have conducted 63 Comrel projects in the greater Phuket area, averaging 15,000 baht per project in cash expenditure – plus a lot of manpower.

The Rotary Club of Patong Beach has been the coordinator and sponsor for all the projects, he added.

This is the USS Peleliu’s second visit to Phuket; the first was in June 2006.

(Article in The Phuket Gazette © Saturday, October 9, 2010)

(Article in The Phuket Gazette © Saturday, August 14, 2010)

Phuket Rotary Club organizes relief
for Pakistani flood victims

PHUKET: The Rotary Club of Patong Beach has launched a disaster relief drive to provide aid to some of the 14 million people in Pakistan displaced by devastating floods and in desperate need of water, food, shelter and sanitation.

“As was the case with the Haiti earthquake relief, we’re working with the Canadian shelter box group, newly renamed 'Disaster Aid Canada' (http://disasteraid.ca/ ), to get the most help out on the ground as quickly as we can,” said Woody Leonhard, Treasurer of Rotary Club of Patong Beach.

Mr Leonhard explained that Rotarians Jim Domville and Pat Michel have volunteered to help funnel money through the Canadian organization to take advantage of the best possible exchange rates and their ability to send money directly to Disaster Aid Canada with no banking fees.

“You may recall that Jim spearheaded the single largest Rotary drive for Haiti relief in all of southern Thailand,” he added.

Donations for Pakistan disaster relief are to be made to the club’s charity account:

BANK: Bangkok Bank
ACCOUNT: 563-3-01480-7
SWIFT CODE: BKKBTHBK

“Email me (woody@khunwoody.com) and tell me how much you deposited, and approximately when (e.g. “Saturday afternoon”). That will help us keep track of which donations are specifically for Disaster Aid Canada,” said Mr Leonhard.

“Any money that ends up in that account will go to our charity activities anyway – 100% of all money in that account always goes to our charities – but notifying me by email will ensure that the funds will go directly to the Pakistani Shelter Box drive, taking advantage of Jim and Pat’s connections,” he added.

(Article in The Phuket Gazette © Sunday, February 4, 2010)

USS Nimitz readies to ship out after Phuket visit

USS Nimitz sailors enjoy a game of football with students at the Baan Ao Nam Bor School
in Ao Makham, where they gave the canteen a fresh coat of paint.

USS Nimitz sailors enjoy a game of football with students at the
Baan Ao Nam Bor School in Ao Makham, where they gave the canteen a fresh coat of paint.

PHUKET TOWN: Servicemen and women from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and her two companion vessels USS Pinckney and USS Rentz have been painting the town in recent days, both figuratively and literally.

As part of the US Navy’s community relations work during their current visit to Phuket, a team of sailors yesterday painted the canteen at the Baan Ao Nam Bor School in Ao Makham, not far from where the carrier is anchored off Phuket Deep Sea Port.

Today is their last day in Phuket. Other community relations, or ‘COMREL’ projects in Navy-speak, have taken place at schools in Kamala and Patong.

The events were organized by the Rotary Club of Patong Beach. On Tuesday night members of the Phuket Navy League hosted a welcome dinner for crew members at the BBQ Hut in Patong, where many sailors have been enjoying the nightlife.

Although some 6,000 sailors are now in their final day of liberty on Phuket, there have been no reports in the local media of them having any accidents or getting into fights.

Jimmy Madigan, President of the Phuket Navy League, said. "This has been a great visit, with no major problems. Some minor ones have been taken care of. These young women and men set an example we can all be proud of."

Most sailors would spend 'at least a few hundred dollars’ during their stay on the island, USS Nimitz's Captain Paul Monger said after the vessel’s arrival on Sunday.

A charity party and donations are among the ways Bangkok and Phuket are trying to assist victims of the earthquake tragedy.

Many buildings in Haiti were reduced to rubble by the magnitude 7.0 quake on January 12.

With the memory of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami and the world’s impressive call to action fresh in their minds, the Thai people have made it a priority to return the generosity and support relief efforts in Haiti.

A number of ways to assist the victims have emerged since the 7.0 magnitude earthquake, which left thousands of people dead and 1.5 million homeless, struck on January 12.

According to Bangkok English-language daily The Nation, the Thai Red Cross Society is calling for cash alone, as the logistics involved in sending goods from Thailand to Haiti is very complicated.

Donations can be made directly to the Thai Red Cross Finance Bureau at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital on Rama IV Road, Bangkok or directly deposited at the following bank account: Thai Red Cross Society (Donation), Savings Account No 0452880006, Siam Commercial Bank, Saphakachat Thai Branch.

Meanwhile, popular Bangkok club night Dudesweet has organized a benefit party to be held this Wednesday at Club 808 at 9pm. Admission is 200 baht, with every single baht going to Haiti via the Thai Red Cross.

“You might think we're idiotic for throwing a party to help those in need. But it's better than sitting around and watching them die, isn't it?” Dudesweet organizers said on the group's Facebook page.

Further south, news organization Phuket Wan says the heart-wrenching situation in Haiti brings memories of the consequences of the earthquake and tsunami that struck the region in 2004, but that this disaster appears to be far more intense.

“The 2004 tsunami pounded the Andaman coast but in causing destruction along the ribbon of the beachfront, it left access for volunteers from the rest of the country. And Thailand has a large system of charity foundations. In Haiti, as with Cyclone Katrina in New Orleans, access is far more difficult.”

Phuket Wan quotes Brad Kenny, chairman of the Patong Rotary services committee, as saying:

"The world opened their hearts to us in Thailand when the 2004 tsunami hit".

We at the Rotary Club of Patong Beach have since assisted in other worldwide disasters and will do the same for the recent earthquake in Haiti that has devastated that country. ''Through our natural disaster experiences and extensive research on the situation in Haiti, we have chosen to send aid through a world wide Rotary project called Shelter Box -- a kit providing basic survival equipment including a 10-person tent, water purification tablets, cooking equipment, and provisions allowing a family of up to 10 to have shelter and basic survival equipment for up to six months.

The Rotary Club of Patong Beach will accept donations in any amount, which can be made through the following bank account: Rotary Club of Patong Beach/Charity (Haiti Relief). Account Number: 563-3-014807. Bank Name: Bangkok Bank Plc Co Ltd.

For a full list of organizations accepting donatings via the Internet as well as organizations accepting international currencies, visit CNN’s Impact page.

(Article in The Phuket Gazette © Sunday, January 17, 2010)
Rotarians launch Haiti relief fund in Phuket

A 'Shelter Box' provides equipment that allows a family of up to ten
to have shelter and basic survival equipment for up to six months.

PHUKET TOWN: The Rotary Club of Patong Beach is accepting donations to provide relief to survivors of the devastating earthquake in Haiti on Tuesday that killed tens of thousands and left many more without food and shelter.

Brad Kenny, chairman of the clubs’ services committee, issued the following statement about the project:

'The world opened their hearts to us in Thailand when the 2004 tsunami hit. We at the Rotary Club of Patong Beach have since assisted in other worldwide disasters and will do the same for the recent earthquake in Haiti that has devastated that country.

'Through our natural disaster experiences and extensive research on the situation in Haiti, we have chosen to send aid through a world wide Rotary project called Shelter Box – a kit providing basic survival equipment including a ten-person tent, water purification tablets, cooking equipment, and provisions allowing a family of up to ten to have shelter and basic survival equipment for up to six months.

'We choose to do so through Shelter Box Canada because of the favorable exchange rate and also because it is expected that if one of our local Canadian Rotarians sends the funds in as a Canadian citizen the Canadian Government’s CIDA organization will then match the donated amounts, effectively doubling the contribution.

'The cost of a shelter box is 1,000 Canadian dollars, the equivalent of around 32,500 baht.

'The Rotary Club of Patong Beach will accept donations in any amount, combining them to add to the two shelter boxes our club has already donated. The boxes will be listed as: Donated from the the people of Phuket through the Rotary Club of Patong Beach.'

A list of donors and project updates will be posted on the club’s website.

Donations can be made through the following bank account:

Account Name: Rotary Club of Patong Beach / Charity (Haiti Relief)
Account Number: 563-3-014807
Bank Name: Bangkok Bank Plc Co Ltd
Bank Address: 147 Rat-U-Thit 200 Pee Road, Patong, Kathu, Phuket, 83150, Thailand
Wire transfer SWIFT code: BKKBTHBK

The Phuket Community Foundation (PCF) along with help from the Rotary Club has donated over 1,600 English-language books to schools around the island.

The books were delivered by Patong Rotary Club member Rick Gartland to various schools on Phuket, including Hongyok Bamrung, Wat Muang Mai, Thalang Pranangsang, Baan Bang Rong, Baan Ao Por, Baan Para and Baan Pa Khlok.

Pornwipat Thanatwong, an English teacher of Hongyok Bamrung school said, “These books will be really useful for our children and enable them to practice their reading, writing and speaking skills.”

(Article in The Phuket Gazette © September 28, 2009)
Fun-filled sunset fundraiser on the beach

PHUKET: Catch an earful of live reggae and the latest dance grooves at Catch Beach Club for Patong Rotary Club’s Beach Fun Fest fundraiser on Saturday, October 17.

Reggae band Job 2 Do and a handful of international DJs will be pumping out the tunes at the beach from sunset onwards. Tickets are 1,000 each and include a seafood barbecue and the chance to bid in auctions offering a plethora of valuable prizes.

Tickets are available at Twinpalms, Sandwich Shoppes, and the Phuket Gazette offices.

Money raised at the Fun Fest will go towards the Rotary Club’s Expanded Scholarship Fund.

Patong Rotary Club’s scholarship fund currently supports more than 250 local children who were directly affected by the 2004 tsunami. That fund is being expanded to include other disadvantaged children and those with special needs in Phuket and in Phang Nga provinces.

In conjunction with the beach party fundraiser, Twinpalms Phuket has a ‘Lost weekend’ special offer up for grabs. The 15,000-baht package for two from October 16 to 18 includes accommodation over the three days and two nights, a complimentary barbecue the night before the Rotary Fun Fest, free entry into the beach party and a complimentary Sunday Brunch the next day.

Local sponsors of the Beach Fest include Twinpalms Phuket Resort, the Sandwich Shoppe, 91.5FM Phuket Island Radio and the Phuket Gazette.

(Article in The Phuket Gazette © of June 21, 2009)
Phuket braces for US invasion!

The USS New Orleans navigates through the harbor as she prepares
to arrive in her new home port at the US Naval Base in San Diego.

The USS Comstock, based in San Diego, California,
is assigned to the US Navy's Expeditionary Strike Group 3.

PHUKET CITY: Phuket’s tourism economy will get a much needed boost this week with the arrival of six US Navy ships with a complement of over 5,700 sailors and other military personnel.

Already moored at the Phuket Deep Sea Port since June 17 is the USS Mitscher with its crew of 281.

A group of USS Mitscher sailors yesterday took a bus up to Phang Nga to put a fresh coat of paint on the Home & Life orphanage for children who lost their parents in the 2004 tsunami disaster.

The event was organized by the good folks of the Rotary Club of Patong Beach.

The USS Mitscher is scheduled to ship out tomorrow, but five more US warships are expected to arrive on Thursday for some much needed rest and relaxation. They are:

The USS Comstock dock landing ship, with its its crew of 857. The Comstock is the first US Navy combat ship to have a fully integrated crew of male and female sailors.

The 208-meter USS New Orleans amphibious transport vessel and its crew of 1,059.

The Rotary Club is busy making preparations for crews of the other ships to carry out community relations projects.

It has already been confirmed that members of the USS New Orleans crew will take part in activities at the Barnhem Muang Mai Thai-Swedish Foundation orphanage in Mai Khao and at the Bang Klong Sai School on June 27.

Bar owners in Patong and other parts of the island are also mobilizing their own troops to greet the sailors, well informed sources have told the Gazette.

Four container trucks loaded with relief supplies for victims of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar rolled out from the
Third Naval Commandat Cape Panwa today, bound for Ranong. From there, the supplies will be distributed by Burmese officials.

CAPE PANWA: Stocks of donated food and emergency-shelter supplies today finally began their journey from the Third Naval Command at Cape Panwa to help victims of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar.

Approximately 10 tonnes of supplies were loaded onto four container trucks heading for the Thai-Myanmar Border Fishery Co-ordination Center in Ranong province. From there, the supplies are expected to be distributed to the cyclone victims in Myanmar by Burmese officials.

The Third Naval Command had been the main collection point for the many donations by local businesses, charities and individuals, although the Royal Thai Navy had been waiting for the stockpile to become large enough to warrant transporting the supplies to Myanmar in a single trip.

As the trucks rolled out, US Navy sailors and Marines began disembarking from three US Navy ships – USS Pearl Harbor, USS Dubuque and USS Benfold – which pulled into the nearby Deep Sea Port about midday.

While in Phuket for five days for “rest and recreation”, some of the sailors will lend a hand with some painting at the Phuket Special School in Pa Khlok.

“The school has a vocational training building for tailoring and a bakery. This building is 10 x 30 meters with a roof height of 8 meters, and we plan to paint the entire building inside and out,” said Brad Kenny of the Rotary Club of Patong Beach.

“A heavy task in two days, but the US Navy and Marines have around 90 volunteers signed up for the work and the Rotary Club of Patong Beach is organizing and prepping the site today and tomorrow,” he added.

Mr Kenny went on to explain, “These ships are part of a US Navy amphibious assault group and with their landing capabilities also serve, and are highly trained for, humanitarian assistance during natural disasters. They are in the area to use their disaster-relief capabilities in the event the Myanmar government gives them access up the delta area after the recent cyclone.

“They have on board up to four advanced hovercrafts that can travel up to 75 kilometers per hour with a range of 300 miles, and could delivery 60 tonnes of disaster-relief goods per sortie if allowed,” he said.

(Article in The Phuket Gazette © of November, 2007)

Rotary International awards One-Two-Go hero.

President of the Rotary Club of Patong Beach O.B. Wetzell (right) hands Paiboon Papan
the Family and Community Service Award. The Rotary Club of Patong Beach Sgt-at-arms
Best Wanamakok (left), Scholarship Committee Chairman Larry Amsden (third from left),
and Thalang Trading staff look on.

THALANG: Rotary Club of Patong Beach President O.B. Wetzell on November 20 presented a Rotary International “Family and Community Service Award” to Paiboon Papan, the One-Two-Go flight OG269 passenger who heroically saved the life of expat resident Robert Borland and other survivors of the crash on September 16, 2007.

The ceremony was held at the offices of Thalang Trading Co Ltd , where K. Paiboon works as an air-conditioning mechanic.

“The victim, Rob, he wasn’t a Muslim. He wasn’t a Buddhist. He wasn’t even Thai. But he was a human being who needed help and you [K. Paiboon] answered the call. That is what Rotary is all about.

“Helping those in our community who need help and recognizing those who do a service for their community. That’s why we are happy to recognize you [K. Paiboon] and your accomplishment today. Thank you from all of us,” said Mr. Wetzell.

(Article in The Phuket Gazette © of April 9, 2005)
Rotarians helping "Because we can..."

Villager Ya Supon amid the mangroves:
- We are doing OK now with the help of these "Farangs"-

Rotary Club International is a global organization of thousands of clubs known for their long-standing support of good causes. From Wigan to Washington DC, Rotarians make donations, offer scholarships, run fund-raising campaigns and offer what help they can, to causes local, national and international. But what happens when the biggest disaster of modern times happens right on a Rotary Club’s doorstep?

The members of Patong Beach Rotary Club have proved that they were more than capable of meeting the challenge of ameliorating the misery that the tsunami left in its wake. Rungtip Hongjakpet reports.

On December 28, 2004, two days after the tsu nami, members of Patong Beach Rotary Club traveled around Phuket looking for people and places that needed help. One member, Larry Amsden, drove out of Phuket and into Phang Nga, to Kuraburi, where he found people living in a mosque. They told him they were from the fishing village of Baan Pak Trium, which had been washed away by the tsunami. “I didn’t have any plans,” Larry told the Gazette. “I just drove around, then I found the villagers and it was clear they were in pretty bad shape. I talked to them, then came back and reported to the club, and we started to help immediately.”

Rotarian Brad Kenny, told the Gazette how he would go to the supermarket and load his truck with food, then drive up to the mosque, 3½ hours away. Jeroen Deknatel, another Rotarian, explained that he and his colleagues were happy to help the villagers, because they were trying to help themselves. “And,” he said, “they are sticking together. They have got themselves organized and they are trying to find people to help them.“ Also, they have a strong sense of belonging; if they are Muslim, they have their imam at their center. They have also realized that if they stick together, they will be in a better position to put their lives back together and live in the way they choose.

At first, the Rotarians thought it would be enough just to ask the villagers for lists of things they needed, and supply those items. But they soon realized the villagers would need more than just immediate relief. From Pakawin “Chet” Sangkong, a member of a non-governmental organization (NGO) that had been working with the villagers before the tsunami, the Rotarians were alerted to the plight of the local ethnic Thais. Of Thai origin, these people were born on the Burmese side of the Thai/Burma border. They are not recognized by the Burmese government because of their Thai heritage, but, at the same time, they cannot get Thai ID cards because they were not born in Thailand. Without a Thai ID card, they could not receive aid from the Thai government.

Of the 26 families in Baan Pak Trium, nine were “stateless” (ethnic) Thai. With such a high proportion of its population ineligible for help in rebuilding their homes or boats, the village would plainly struggle to get back on its feet. Before the tsunami, the 119 residents of Baan Pak Trium had lived on a beach at Ao Koi. The village was on a peninsula, surrounded by mangroves, and accessible only by boat. The waters of the tsunami washed right over the peninsula, sweeping the entire village away, and claiming the lives of two children.

Some villagers survived because they managed to cling onto trees and mangroves; others got into their boats and escaped that way. The wave turned the far end of the peninsula into an island. After taking shelter for a week in a nearby mosque, the villagers moved into tents in a camp for displaced people, two kilometers from their former home. Before the tsunami, the villagers’ lives were basic and simple, and they did not have much contact with outsiders. Immediately after the tsunami, they said, they had lots of contact with outsiders, many of whom came and made grand promises of the help they would bring, but rarely delivered on those promises. And this was what they expected of the Rotarians – at first. “It took them a while to trust us,” said Larry. But, with so few of the population eligible for government aid, the villagers had no choice but to give the Rotarians a chance.

The Rotary Club’s main long-term project is to build homes for the 23 remaining families (three families decided to move elsewhere after the tsunami).

Making sarongs is an alternative source of income for the women of Baan Pak Trium.

The Rotarians, the Thai NGO and the villagers united to buy a plot of land where the new village could be built. All 23 families have a share in ownership of the land on which it is being built. The villagers are also designing their own homes, in conjunction with NGO employee Kingkeaw Yomjinda.

Patong Beach Rotary Club President Sam Fauma estimates that the club has spent 5.1 million baht so far on supporting Baan Pak Triam. Around 200,000 baht was spent on aid immediately after the tsunami. Another 207,000 baht was used to buy three months’ supply of food and 100,000 baht went on a water purification system.

Patong Rotary Club has budgeted 2.369 million baht for building houses and 1.585 million for repairing and rebuilding boats, around 306,000 baht for the installation of a water supply and a further 323,000 on a wastewater-disposal system. Somboon Kompal is a member of the committee planning the village’s renaissance. He said, “All the men in the village are working together to build the houses. Four or five men will work together on one house then, when that’s built, they’ll start work on another, and they’ll do that until all 23 houses are built".

The Rotary Club pays the villagers for their labor, and the villagers are being helped by a professional builder, also paid by the Rotary Club. So strong is the community spirit among the villagers, Lama Uoonruan told the Gazette, that although six houses have now been completed, they will remain empty until all 23 houses are ready and the whole village can move in at the same time. It is hoped that this will happen before the start of the season sets in. While the men are working together to rebuild their homes, the women are busy too. One group does all the cooking, for example, while another takes care of the children.

Patong Rotary Club member Jeroen Deknatel (left) discusses boat engines with villagers.
Behind them, construction of homes continues.

The Rotary Club is also helping the villagers to improve their long-term prospects, by making them less reliant on a single source of income – fishing. The villagers have learned from the bitter experience of seeing many of their boats smashed by the waters of the tsunami that it pays to have more than one way of earning a living. So the Rotary Club is helping them set up schemes making sarongs and handkerchiefs for sale.

They may also set up a homestay service, whereby tourists would pay to stay in the village. Villager Ya Supon commented, “In a way, we were lucky, because we didn’t lose many lives here. Yes, we lost our homes and our boats, but we are doing OK now with the help of these farangs. I haven’t really spoken to them, though, because I’ve never had any dealings with farang in my life. They talk with K. Chet, the NGO people and some men in the village. It works just fine,” she smiled.

For Rotarian Jeroen Deknatel, the work in Phang Nga is a way of showing how grateful he and his fellow Rotarians are that they and their families came out of the tsunami so lightly. They are also helping “Because we can”.

No one thought Jeroen Deknatel could do it. For some it was just insane, building a 30m luxury motor vessel in Thailand. Everybody knows that these types of boats are built in Australia. Some even joked that Phuket's best-known dive operator had spent too much time underwater, or joined on too many Hash House Harrier runs.

The building of Ocean Rover was an amazing feat considering a dive boat built to Western safety specifications had never been constructed in Thailand before.

"We did it, and more importantly with an all-Thai crew," Deknatel says proudly. "From captain to cook, dinghy driver to deckhand, all of our crew have special skills that contributed to the construction of Ocean Rover. The input of local people in this project has been invaluable."

When Deknatel arrived in Phuket nearly 27 years ago, recreational diving in Thailand was in its infancy.

"Like many young divers in those early days, I received much encouragement from Dusty Rhodes, who deserves the credit for bringing scuba diving to Thailand and training the first Thai diving instructors," he says. Rhodes is often called the "Godfather of Diving" in Thailand.

With Fantasea Divers, the undisputed dive industry leader in Phuket, Deknatel felt obliged to lead by example. He personally installed and maintained the first mooring buoys in the Similan Islands, threw his weight behind the initiative to open Phuket's first decompression chamber and made several attempts to create a dive industry association. These efforts eventually culminated in the founding of the Dive Operators Club of Thailand in April 2000. The DOCT has since trained, free of charge, many Thai divemasters, thus increasing the participation of local people in the diving industry.

Something changed in Deknatel when he married Phuket-born Apiradee Tantiwit. Phuket was no longer not just a place where he worked and lived; now it was his home. It was the birth of Deknatel and Apiradee's two kids, Janice and Jason, that spurred the dive enthusiast to direct more energy into community projects in Phuket. He sensed an obligation to the community that had given him so much.

He became a charter member of the Rotary Club of Patong Beach and served as club president in 2002-2003. He soon discovered that he enjoyed the feeling of bringing people together for projects.

"I get a lot of pleasure from networking; putting people in contact that share a mutual interest or need," Deknatel says.

After the tsunami struck, Deknatel became incensed with the many exaggerated and erroneous media reports about the situation in Phuket.

"The media were creating an economic meltdown by scaring away tourists." He began writing daily reports on the local situation, both above water and beneath, and posting them on his company websites and sending them out to his many overseas contacts in the dive travel world.

"At one time there were almost as many satellite dishes pointing skyward as there used to be beach umbrellas," Deknatel remarks. "We were appalled at the irresponsible reporting by organisations who reported a 'total destruction' of Thailand's coral reefs within hours of the disaster, well before anyone had a chance to check out what had really happened."

Fantasea Divers responded by inviting underwater photojournalists from all over the world on board Ocean Rover's trips so they could document the situation.

"Since the tsunami we have been back to the Similan Islands many times and it is obvious that all the negative press was totally incorrect."

Once the media situation calmed down it was time for Deknatel to join efforts for intermediate and long-term tsunami recovery.

The Rotary Club of Patong Beach has "adopted" a forgotten fishing community that was badly hit by the waves. The members of the Patong Rotary were impressed by the way these people stuck together as a group and got themselves organised. The recovery plan involves building an entirely new village for 23 families in a new location chosen by the villagers themselves, called Ban Pak Triam.

"I do have some experience in building boats," he remarks with typical understatement, "and this was one way to help these fishermen get their lives back together and take care of their families. They are proud people and do not want to live on handouts."

Not far from Ban Pak Triam another project caught Deknatel's eye: the Kuraburi Longtail Boat Repair Project. This grassroots project is operated by local people with the technical support of the Srivichaya Suvarnabhumi Technological College, whose master carpenters use the boat repairs as a tool in teaching their students advanced skills. "The project was up and running but needed more funding," Deknatel states.

To date over 100 boats have been repaired under the Kuraburi project. Deknatel's networking approach is obviously effective but he is quick to point out that it's all a matter of teamwork with many people involved.

"My rotary club's founder, Senator Paiboon Upatising, has a favourite saying: 'There are people who know what is happening and there are those that make things happen.' I try to be that kind of person, someone who makes things happen."