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A second wave hits Baan Nam Khem

Published on December 13, 2005 - Flood of aid helped villagers rebuild their lives, but has also created a culture of dependence. If you go to Phang Nga's Thai Muang district and ask for directions to Baan Nam Khem, you might find the response a little confusing. Post-tsunami, what was once known as simply Baan Nam Khem is now known by a variety of new names including Baan iTV, Baan Sahaviriya, Baan Washington DC, Baan Everton Chang, Baan Rotary, Baan Thai Red Cross and Baan Supphanimit.

The names refer to the various societies and groups of individuals who have contributed to the reconstruction of Baan Nam Khem, one of the communities hit hardest by the gigantic waves that pulverised the Andaman coast on 26 December last year.

Of the 1,911 Thai nationals who perished, 941 lived in Baan Nam Khem and another 502 are still missing. The wave wiped out over 1,000 homes and damaged another 136. Villagers who survived were deeply traumatised - only around 200 houses were left standing in their village.

Such devastation turned the fishing village into a media hotspot overnight. Donations started to pour in from every direction and continue to do so.

New houses built in eight communities of Baan Nam Khem have also been given names as a public reminder of those who donated the money.

"But even the people who live here are confused by these new names," said Maitree Chongkraichak, coordinator of Baan Nam Khem's recovery network. "I wish we could get rid of these signs and go back to the original names."

Most families in Baan Nam Khem are now living in new houses but their different sizes and designs also denote the differing budgets of the various donators. The most popular design is a one-room cement house, either 4 metres by 9m or 6m by 6m.

Most of the donations provided for housing went towards employing a military engineering unit from Ratchaburi province to design and construct the houses.

"We tried our best to design and build houses which were as useful as possible within the Bt120,000 budget," said team leader Lt-Colonel Jaruek Kaew-pluek. By the end of August, Jaruek and 700 colleagues from the army engineering unit completed building 722 houses in Baan Nam Khem.

However, householder Panya Ananthakul said he found the house built by the military unit was unsuitable for his family's needs. "It's too small and not sturdy enough for living in," he said.

Panya said he wanted to build a new house on the site of his former home, so he could earn a living catching crabs, as he did before the tsunami hit. Panya's was one of 18 families in "Soi Tok Poo" [catching crabs] area almost entirely destroyed by the tsunami.

He and his neighbours say they have been unable to get help from state agencies because the construction cost for houses in Soi Tok Poo is more than the cost of government-supported homes.

"We needed Bt270,000 for each house to be built in an area near the water," he said.
Panya and his neighbours in Soi Tok Poo are building new houses with the support of the Save Andaman Network. The network has provided Bt120,000 for each family, while villagers have received additional budgets for construction costs from other organisations.

Like Panya, many villagers in Baan Nam Khem said they wanted better houses than those provided and would prefer to build their own houses in the same location as their previous homes. "We don't want to live in houses like a matchbox," one villager said.

So, it comes as little surprise that some villagers are shunning these simpler, smaller houses, as they are offered better choices elsewhere.

In a nearby area just outside the village, several hundred much larger and more attractive houses have been built by various organisations for Baan Nam Khem villagers. One of the most popular designs is a house on stilts with a blue tile roof. Some groups have also provided furniture, refrigerators, fans, TVs and radios for the homes.

About two-thirds of the families have moved out to live in these new homes, while still owning the much more basic places in Baan Nam Khem.

"We consider it perfectly reasonable for large families of five members or more to be provided with two homes," said Chamlong Mabamrung, director of Phang Nga Provincial Office of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.

However, many of those families do not want to leave their simpler homes in Baan Nam Khem empty and have posted notices advertising the places as available for rent or sale. Some homeowners are asking up to Bt350,000 for them - but there are few takers.

In Baan Nam Khem's Laem Pom community, villagers say that after the wave wiped away their homes, they were unable to access any help from government agencies. The community was accused of trespassing on the land they have been living on for decades when a private company announced it owned rights to the land and took their claim to the courts.

The tsunami destroyed numerous homes and killed 43 villagers from the Laem Pom community. A further 96 survivors are now building new homes without any support from the government.

"We wanted to build houses for them, but we weren't allowed to do anything because of the land dispute," said Jaruek, from the military engineering unit.

Though Laem Pom community received funding to help rebuild their community in its old location, donors eventually decided to avoid getting involved in the dispute. "Any legal dispute over the land rights could cause us trouble at a later date," one explained.

Sawat Kaew-eiad said the electricity service for the community was also cut off after the tsunami hit Baan Nam Khem and has stayed off because the electricity provider feared being implicated in the dispute.

So, 30 families in Laem Pom were struggling to survive without even basic resources he said. "We have nothing left to lose anymore."

There have been problems elsewhere in Baan Nam Khem too. For almost a year, the village has welcomed a constant influx of aid workers and donations. The assistance helped villagers survive and rebuild their lives, but had caused a culture of dependence and villagers now resent the idea of returning to work, according to Maitree Chongkraichak, coordinator of Baan Nam Khem's recovery network.

Although the first stage of relief work is over and about 40 per cent of villagers are ready for the second stage of community rehabilitation, many families still rely on further help from external sources," Maitree said.

He said his records showed that around 130 different groups and organisations had come to help in Baan Nam Khem.

"But a significant number of visitors also came independently to help Baan Nam Khem and gave money to villagers they met. Some that came later than others paid for motorcycles, fishing boats and other things that the villagers asked for," he said.

Such unorganised assistance led to internal conflicts and also created problems for the community's rehabilitation, said Maitree, adding that unfair distribution had caused problems and changed the way of life within the village.

"So many organisations and individuals offering donations have visited Baan Nam Khem and a lot of villagers have opted not to go out and earn a living, but wait and ask for assistance from these people instead," he said.

Maitree understood the offers of help were genuine, but said that methods of distribution were not always appropriate in helping villagers rebuild their lives after the devastation of the tsunami.

Subhatra Bhumiprabhas
The Nation
Phang Nga