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Back in business: Villagers make up for lost time
Published on December 16, 2005 - Before the December tsunami, Saee Wansuk was counting the days until he could fulfil his lifelong ambition of ensuring economic stability for his family. He was on the verge of delivering his first fish harvest and fetching a good price for his expected 100-kg yield ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday.
But then came the day when the water around his nine-metre boat turned from turquoise to brown and his 115-horsepower engine struggled against giant waves.
“One minute I was thinking about how great it would be to finally start saving for my sons’ education, and the next minute I was racing back to my village certain that something terrible had happened,” said the 54-year-old, recalling the day the tsunami ravaged the western coast of Thailand.
Saee Wansuk |
Fishing for shrimp more than a kilometre from shore, Saee was far enough out not to be toppled as the waves passed. But he knew something bad had happened when he entered the natural canal emanating from the verdant mangrove forest leading to his village.
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“All the fish traps of my fellow villagers were gone,” he recalled. “I was keeping my fingers crossed about mine, located further upstream. When I got back to the village and heard what had happened, we were all too scared to go back into the canal in case more waves came.”
This artery through the forest had been an economic lifeline for many of the 300 families who live along its banks in Nai Nang village, Krabi province. Its protected, nutrient-rich waters provided an excellent habitat for natural aquaculture practices. The mangrove also functioned as a lifesaver, buffering the tsunami waves, Saee said.
“Without it, many [in the village] would have died.”
The following day, the villagers returned to their boats hoping to recover their fishing equipment. Four kilometres up the canal, all that was left of their gear were mounds of twisted steel and broken bamboo.
“Without realising it, I began to cry,” said Saee. “I had saved for a long time and taken out loans from the bank to start my fish farm. The whole thing cost me Bt70,000, the most expensive investment I had made in my whole life. Now, before selling even one fish, it was all gone and with no foreseeable means to start over.”
Such was the plight of thousands of villagers throughout Thailand’s tsunami-affected areas. Even those who lost their homes and received support for rebuilding still faced major hurdles toward restoring their incomes.
Many people lost their boats, nets and traps, much of it paid for with borrowed money that had yet to be paid back.
The Agriculture Ministry provided only 20 per cent compensation for losses, with a ceiling of Bt20,000. Saee said that unless people had significant savings, this was not enough money for most to get back on the water.
But his family and other communities throughout the tsunami-affected areas will receive grants from the Raks Thai Foundation to establish village-managed, micro-credit programmes to provide the investment needed to help tsunami victims regain their long-term livelihoods.
Saee was among the first group of 80 recipients of the Bt1.9-million foundation-initiated fund at his village. The Bt40,000 loan, combined with the Bt20,000 he received from the government, has enabled him to rebuild most of his traps.
Right now, Saee is just pleased to be back in business, with his dream of economic security still intact, just a little further out on the horizon.
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