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Some hoping the free ride will last

Published on December 16, 2005 - Saron Salawong, a 58-year-old fisherman, says he does not want to live near the sea anymore. His old hut in Koh Lanta’s Sang kha-au community was destroyed by the tsunami in December last year. Saron has since moved into a new house in the newly built village “Moo Baan Rak Lanta”.

Saron Salawong

The new village was built on higher land, about 10 kilometres from Baan Sang kha-au. But Saron says he does not mind using his bicycle to reach his boat in his old village and the fisherman still goes out to sea every day.

Now living a good distance from the sea, Saron says he feels safe and is very happy with his new, furnished house donated by Khunying Thewee Jiavaranond.

“I like this house. It is larger than my old house,” said Saron.

Saron proudly showed other donors and visitors who were visiting the new village around his new home.

The old man lives alone in his new home. The house has two rooms and came furnished with a television, radio, refrigerator, fan, electronic rice pot and various other household necessities.

Another donor also provided Saron with a bicycle so Saron can cycle from his new house to his fishing boat, moored at his old village, to earn his living from the sea.
“But I cannot go very far out to sea. My boat and its engine just aren’t in good enough condition. So it’s very slow,” he said.

Soon after the tsunami hit and destroyed Saron’s house and boat, a foreign donor came to Koh Lanta. The donor did not know Saron personally but paid Bt30,000 to purchase a new fishing boat for him.

“But it wasn’t a new boat and it wasn’t in great condition so I had to repair it,” Saron said, adding that the fishing gear was also too old to be used.

Saron sold the old fishing gear to a garbage collector, but still hadn’t earned enough money to buy new fishing gear and only had Bt5,000 to buy a new engine for the boat.

“It’s also used and I can’t go very far out fishing. I would be grateful if anyone could provide me with a new boat and new gear,” he said.

The old man says he has asked every visitor who has come to Rak Lanta Village to help him to buy a new boat.

However, Sarong is not the only person waiting for further help from donors, said Parkpoom Witarntirawat, of the Save Andaman Network (SAN).

The network helped build and repair 43 houses on Koh Lanta and supported the building of boatyards and engine workshops to provide boat repairs and construction services to 19 communities on the island.

SAN is the collaborative network of foundations, organisations and individual donors for the rehabilitation of Andaman communities and natural resources.

It does not matter whether villagers want to live in the same location as their old homes or move to new places provided by donors, Parkpoom said, adding that it is understandable that Saron prefers his new house to the old hut.

But he said he had also seen a large number of victims of the tsunami, like Saron, whose expectations had been set too high by the donations, and were now depending on further donations to sustain them.

Donations that are offered without any constructive direction have caused similar problems in a number of communities following the tsunami, said Parkpoom. “It has changed these villages’ way of life and also changed the people. Saron is just one example of these changes,” he said.

Subhatra Bhumipra
The Nation