1 Year On  26 Dec 2005  Latest Report From Thailand One Year On     I have just returned from a trip to see the latest batch of boats being completed in Krabi.  There were five in total and although I did not specifically ask that they be finished first, all the boats completed were the tributes to Theo van Dort and named in association with him as the boat builders knew of his passing away and what it meant to me. I was unable to personally meet the fishermen (and women) who the boats were donated to, as I was working in Singapore at the time, but some of the other trustees were there to hand them over and took these photographs. Seeing these pictures means a lot to me personally. The thought that Theo's spirit lives on in part through these boats is very poignant and fitting to a man who himself was very much a free spirit.  I was also told that a group of the fishermen have saved up some money and want to hold a service to thank the trust and also remember all those who lost their lives within their respective fishing communities.  It will soon be a year since the tsunami struck, and this will be a difficult time for many of the families.  I have accepted their invitation but also told them at as well as honouring the dead we should also celebrate those who survived. Even after all this time, there is no shortage of fishermen still in desperate need of boats. Every time I visit these fishermen more come and ask to meet me with sad stories of hardship, broken promises from the government to supply boats, and a desperate desire to get back to the life they know.  I am still humbled by their determination to rebuild their lives in a dignified and honourable way.  Many of those who we have donated boats to are alternating the days they use them so it can be shared with those less fortunate. Sometimes it staggers me to see such a selfless community sprit amongst these very poor people. My plan for next year is to visit the fishermen the trust has donated boats to, in order to follow up on their progress. As I will mainly be travelling alone to some remote regions I wanted a GPD map of Thailand to help me find some of the fishing villages. I had heard one GPS map existed but was not available for commercial use, and was impossible to get hold of.   I managed to track down the government department responsible for the map in Bangkok and duly turned up to their offices one morning to ask them to let me have a copy. As I had been warned I was initially politely told to go away. Undeterred I doggedly persevered asking to meet the head of the department. By this time the front desl staff either took pity on me or got tired of listening to my broken Thai and I was duly shown into the office of the General Manager.   At first he was unrelenting until he heard about what the map was intended for. I showed him the website and told him some of what we had been doing. He told me he too had been in Phuket during the disaster supplying the army with the GPS maps to help with the body recovery. He also told me he had heard of me indirectly as one of his cousins had been given one of our boats! Things immediately got better after that, not only did he agree to let me have the map, he also offered to supply me with a new GPS unit free.  He also thanked me for what we had done for his people.  He said many Thai's who had not been affected by the Tsumani had been shamed by what organisations like ours were achieving. Although this is a small story, it just goes to show how far the effect of what we have achieved has reached.   I had imagined that one year on, things would begin to wind down as far as the trust was concerned, but there is no sign of it so far.  Although most of the trust funds have been exhausted, I am determined to continue the work here, I find it impossible to ignore the pleas for help which continue to reach me.

© Thai Tsunami Long Tail 2005