UN Thailand :: Media Monitoring

Impact on Thailand

Overview

Emergency response

UN appeal

Recovery support:

   - Social protection
   - Livelihood recovery
   - Environmental
     rehabilitation
   - Disaster preparedness

Six Months On

Challenges and achievements six months after the tsunami

Useful links

UN Agencies in Thailand

Media Centre

Media Monitoring

Sources: Bangkok Post, MCOT, and ThaiNews

25 October 2005:

Disaster workshop opens
The first international workshop on management of the dead and missing in disasters is organised by the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC) in a response to the last year tsunami. About 30 participants from 10 Asian countries are expected to attend discussions which include lessons learned from the tsunami, disaster preparedness and management procedures for dealing with the dead and missing.

26 October 2005:

Over 14,000 guests expected to join govt
sponsored tsunami commemoration
According to Deputy Prime Minister Suwat Liptapanlop, an estimated 14,000 Thai and foreign guests including survivors and immediate relatives of tsunami victims and 60 heads of state and other VIP guests are expected to show up for the first anniversary tsunami remembrance ceremonies. All invited guests are offered free return air tickets and two nights' accommodation. Some 4,000 hotel rooms in Phuket and Phang Nga have been reserved for the guests along with local Thai residents' houses for alternative accommodation.

28 October 2005:

Thailand unveils Development Assistance Database,
or DAD Thailand
The compilation of DAD, a database on aid to tsunami victims and rehabilitation at www.dadthailand.mfa.go.th represents a joint effort of over 30 international organisations for relief that has so far drawn US$ 61 million in contributions. The DAD will function as a mechanism to monitor projects and contain latest information at district and provincial levels.

29 October 2005:

Phuket launches English-Thai website for remembrance
An official English-Thai bilingual website called www.phuketremember.com would provide a personal-tribute section for people who want to pay respects to victims, survivors and rescuers as well as events' calendar covering the memorial period. Visitors can sign the guest book and submit photos to be posted.

30 October 2005:

Sport called in to help heal tsunami victims' trauma
The seminar entitled "Rehabilitation through Adapted Physical Activity and Sport for Children and Youths Affected by the Tsunami in Southeast Asia", is being held in Bangkok with a hundred participants from tsunami-affected countries who hope to take home a creative way of introducing sport into rehabilitation work. Recreation activities, such as volleyball are introduced as a way to help heal mental health of those affected by the last year Tsunami.

31 October 2005:

Koh Phi Phi to go up-market
Tsunami-ravaged Koh Phi Phi will be transformed into a "boutique island" under a development plan, said Deputy Prime Minister Phinij Jarusombat. The plan which is now being drafted involves upgrading tourism facilities, including hotels and restaurants, to world class standard and limiting the number of tourists. Phi Phi would as a result, welcome fewer visitors each year, but revenues would double because after the facelift it would cater more for high-end tourists. Mr Phinij also said the facelift was necessary to prevent the island turning into a slum with problems of wastewater and garbage.

31 October 2005:

Krabi opts for a simple event
Authorities in Krabi are planning a simple event to commemorate the first anniversary of last year's tsunami, while the Japanese community has pledged to fund a monument in Phuket. Meanwhile, the process of identifying corpses is still far from being completed as provincial authorities claimed not to have relatives of foreign victims' contact details.