• 
• 

Published on January 20, 2008

The centre not only provides fishermen in Tambon Lam Kaen's Taplamu village with a place to unload their catches and repair boats, but also somewhere for tourists to book eco-tours and interact with the community.

"May this facility give you the tools you need to rise above the heartbreak and build a brighter future for yourselves, your families and your community," wrote former US president Bill Clinton in a letter read at the opening ceremony by Mark Ward, representative of the Bush-Clinton Tsunami Relief Fund.

The fishing village caught the eyes of former US presidents George Bush Senior and Bill Clinton when they visited it in early 2005.

With a US$264,000 (Bt8.8-million) grant from the fund, Bangkok-based Kenan Institute Asia, with support from the Kenan Charitable Trust and in partnership with Gannon Realty and Cornerstone, oversaw the pier's construction and set up a fisherfolk group to advise on the project and manage the completed facility.

The Lam Kaen Pier includes an airy Thai sala-style boat- and net-repair shed connected to a concrete boardwalk pier.

The pier provides docking for up to 60 long-tail boats and booking facilities, shops and coop offices for more than 100 nearby fishing families.

The pier and repair centre will be managed by a local cooperative and are expected to serve as a training site to address such issues as fish-raising, sustainable catch limits and micro-business practices.

The pier is just south of the Khao Lak resort area and next to Taplamu pier, the departure point for the Similan Islands and their world-famous diving reefs.

Also present at the event were American Ambassador Eric John and Governor Wichai Praisa-Ngob.

"The Long-tail Fishing Boat Pier and Repair Centre will improve the livelihoods of the fisherfolk and help promote tourism in one of the areas hardest hit by the tsunami," the new US envoy said.

The Nation

PHANG NGA