Khao Lak Community Appeal | Charity Projects in Khao Lak Thailand

Yaowawit School

Yaowawit School
Yaowawit School is a charity project for children affected by poverty, marginalization, disease and those without family care including children from the 2004 tsunami. The foundation was registered under Thai law in February 2006 and is managed under Thai and German leadership.

Yaowawit School was set up after the tsunami by Professor Jurgen Zimmer (a teacher of pedagogic at a university in Berlin and he also runs the School for life in Chang Mai) and Philipp Graf Von Hardenberg (an entrepreneur in Hamburg).

After the Tsunami, Chang Mai’s ‘School for Life’ came to help at Nam Kean Village; the destruction was so great in Nam Kean that many children were left orphans or with a parent that could not look after them. The survivors of this area were mostly people who had lived in small huts and used to be fishermen, the majority had never been registered nor had any documentation on their houses or property, therefore, were not entitled to any kind of financial support by the government. None of them had any kind of insurance. Suffice to say, this area suffered greatly from the event. Yaowawit School was set up to help the children from this area. It was built in land (a half hour in from Takuapa) as the general consensus was that many of the people had not overcome the tragedies of the tsunami and were afraid of the sea.

Yaowawit School has approximately 135 children who are educated under the Thai education system, but who are also taught practical vocational skills such as eco-farming and tourism, with an emphasis on language skills.

Yaowawit aims to grow and make their School as self-sufficient and sustainable as possible; it does this through a number of ways including a fish farm, a rubber tree plantation, planting and harvesting their own rice crops, vegetable and fruit gardens and by using the income of a small guest house.

Funding is also provided by a child sponsorship programme (all money raised through this benefits all children) and a sponsorship from SEG, the Swiss Education Group. SEG not only provide a generous donation each month, but also send their graduates to Yaowawit School to volunteer as the hotel manager.

Although Yaowawit has regular income from it’s sponsorships, it still runs on a tight budget. It has been set up to be as self-sufficient as possible, but there is little to no room in monthly spending for improvements and repairs. Hopefully in the future, with these improvements in place, there will be excess income which can be put aside for necessary repairs etc when needed. Yaowawit strives to be as self-sufficient as possible.

The Khao Lak Community Appeal supported Yaowawit with a few projects that would help them with some urgent maintenance work and help them to prepare their palm plantations, another scheme of theirs to reach self-sufficiency.

Water Pump and Guttering
The school has a very efficient water pump system in place, it is gravity fed so water only needs to be pumped up when the tank is empty. This minimizes both overworking the pump system and helps reduce the cost of electricity.

Their main pump was broken and too expensive to fix, so they had to rely on their reserve; the situation wasquite urgent as if the reserve pump had broken down, they would have been left without water, meaning no showers, cleaning or cooking. This would have been disasterous in a school for 135 students plus teachers.

The Khao Lak Community Appeal donated a new pump system to replace the broken one, as well as guttering as an alternative way to collect water; this will make them independent from any breakdown in the future.

Palm Oil Plantation
Approximately three years ago, Yaowawit planted 1000 palms with an expected full harvest either this year or early next year. They have come up against a number of barriers given the climate in Kapong with the high rainfall. The palms are constantly sitting in water; this means that they may only be able to harvest 300 trees instead of the expected 1000. A couple of months ago they had their first Palm Oil harvest of 680 kg, from this they received 6,800 baht.

Khao Lak Community Appeal donated the funds to buy enough fertilizer for the first four months and to rent the equipment to dig out the creeks needed to make this an efficient and profitable palm oil plantation for Yaowawit School. After the renovations have been made, the income from future crops should cover expenses for fertilizer in the future, as well as giving the school an income to help with general maintenance costs.

Home and Life Orphanage

Home and Life
Home and life is a children’s foundation. It was founded in the Thai Muang District, PhangNga, two years after the tsunami. It started with 23 children who were affected by the tsunami and now it is home to almost 30 (tsunami, economical and aid’s orphans).

Home and Life set out from the very beginning to be a safe and caring home where children can grow and learn. It is also where they can feel the security of a family to give them the confidence to study and develop into successful and caring adults.

Initially the orphanage was funded predominantly by the Tsunami Volunteer Centre, but since that has finished Home and Life have relied on donations from individuals who have visited the place and fallen in love with it, donors that the directors have found and the Rotary has also been a huge contributor.

Bakery Renovation Project
The foundation tries to live sustainably as much as possible without relying on donations. A way of doing this is through the Home & Life bakery. Visitors to the orphanage and Tourists passing by can buy bread and cakes; these products are also for sale on a Home and Life stall at the weekend market during high season. This means that the cooking area needs to be kept clean and hygienic as it is a commercial business.

Previously the bakery kitchen was an open plan kitchen with only half walls and open to the elements. It meant that it was prone to mosquitoes, bugs, flies and small animals that could get in easily. This was very unhygienic; the animals could be carrying infectious diseases, and mosquitoes made it an unpleasant place for working.

The Khao Lak Community Appeal donated mosquito screens for this kitchen. It is now a convenient, clean and animal free place to bake. KLCA also donated a sliding door and display cabinet, making access secure and easy and cake displays inviting for visiting customers.

Kitchen renovation project
Many utilities at Home & Life need to be renovated and one of the most important is the Kitchen area. This kitchen is where food is cooked for up to 30-35 people daily, this means it needs to be clean, tidy and hygienic.

The kitchen area is an open walled design, which is good for circulation butthere are many flies, insects and rats, which can cause illness amongst the staff andchildren. It is also located next to the vegetable garden which has big pools of water – a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Mosquito screens were essential for this area for health and safety and also for convenience.

The Khao Lak Community Appeal donated mosquito screens for this kitchen too; the staff can now cook in comfort and there is little chance of food being contaminated by insects or rodents.

Bakery Equipment donation
As previously stated the foundation tries to live as sustainably as possible without relying on donations. A way of doing this is through the Home and Life Bakery, where visitors to the bakery and passersby can buy bread and cakes. The workers of Home and Life, with some of the children, also visit the large weekend market on Saturday’s during high season to sell bread, cookies and cakes. This activity can earn up to 3,000Baht a time; however is just one day a week and only for 4-5 months of the year – it is hardly a substantial contribution to the running costs of the orphanage (which are about 90,000Baht/Month).

Home and Life would like to be as self-sustainable as possible; they would like to build upon their income from their bakery, possibly becoming a small commercial outlet for local and Khao Lak businesses. They have the staff and the know-how, and they also have a couple of small businesses who would like to use them as a supplier (Home and Life’s bread is notoriously good). They also have a western chef who owns a local deli helping them with recipes, set up and project planning. All that they needed was the equipment.

The Khao Lak Community Appeal donated a commercial mixing machine, Bread Slicer,bread forms and racks and shelving, amongst other equipment, to get them started on their new project. Home and Life even managed to find the equipment at a cheap price and so could use remaining money to purchase ingredients to get them well and truly set up.

Home and Life Water Sanitization Project
Many utilities at Home & Life do not function properly. One of the most essential of these isthe water system which is used in the kitchen, toilets, washing room and garden.

Previously the water system was originally made using clean, low quality materials and it was more than 3 years old. This may not sound old, but up to 35 people were using it daily (this included children, staff and volunteers) and the substandard equipment was under constant strain and would break easily.

Water would frequently run out at busy times of the day and sometimes it would take up to an hour to return. The toilets were unclean when there was no water, which could lead to health problems and the children could not wash which causes poor hygiene. Other health issues were also pertinent, such as kitchen health and safety. With no water it was impossible to wash up dirty dishes and equipment attracting flies and insects that could spread bacterial diseases.

The tank had poor filtration too, meaning that the water used for showering, cleaning and food preparation was not good quality. Clothes could not be washed efficiently; often the water would cut out through a cycle meaning it would have to be started again. This would result in an unnecessary use of electricity and of course higher electricity bills.

The Khao Lak Community Appeal donated an entire new water system for Home and Life. The platform for the water tank was rebuilt; a new water tank, water filter, pump and all pipes were purchased and installed. A water pump was alsobought; this will be a vast improvement for water facilities at the home, as the previous pump often struggled and therefore was less energy efficient and more expensive.

All equipment was fitted into a pump house to ensure security and durability. The money also went some way to purchasing a drinking water filter for the kitchen (Rotary Phuket paid for any outstanding balance) this will also go some way to cutting costs for the orphanage.

This donation from the Khao Lak Community Appeal will not only assist Home and Life with a more convenient, healthier and long lasting water system, but it will also help to cut running costs for the foundation. This means that more donations and income from the bakery can be spent on, amongst other things, food for the children and transportation costs to and from school, essentially meaning that the orphanage can become more self-sustainable for the future.

Home and Life School uniforms
In April 2011, at the start of term, the Khao Lak Community Appeal donated school and sports uniforms for all 26 children at Home and Life Orphange.

August 2011 Flooding, Water Donation to Bang SaiVllage

Late August 2011 saw the worst flooding PhangNga has seen in 7 years. Every rainy season (May – September) some areas of this province flood badly, homes are damaged and people’s possessions are ruined. This year the floods were so destructive that they severely damaged most of the houses in an entire village and 2 young children tragically died.

The water came up to the ceiling of the ground floor in Bang Sai Village, near Takuapa, meaning that possessions were lost or destroyed and everything was covered with dirt and became unsanitary. In lots of houses pipes were broken and water tanks were filled with the muddy water, this meant that people were left without water for cleaning, showering or cooking.

The Khao Lak Rescue team, a team of volunteers supported by the NarenthornOrganisation, and who KLCA had donated an ambulance to, had been taking donations of bottled water to these people since the flooding. The Khao Lak Community Appeal suggested buying refillable water bottles instead of smaller drinking water bottles, as it would be more efficient and a lot easier to replenish. On 3rd September KLCA donated 53 large refillable water bottles, one to each of the houses in one of the worst affected villages. We visited Bang Sai village with the Narenthorn team and the village leader and saw some of the damage that the water had done to the environment and to people’s houses.

Fund Raising Event

In February 2011 the Khao Lak Community Appeal were offered the opportunity to host a fundraising concert in Khao Lak. A Pink Floyd cover band, The New Machine, from the UK were touring Thailand, playing the famous BurupaPattaya Bike week and Phuket’s International Blues Rock Festival. The New Machine kindly accepted to come to Khao Lak and play for free, and Zantika (a local night club) offered their venue, equipment and 20% of drink sales to the charity.

With only 3 weeks in which to prepare, market and organize the concert, we had a tough challenge ahead of us, but we were certain we could make a successful event. Lots of volunteers helped to make the event what it was, and local businesses helped to spread the word. Few people had seen an international band play before in Khao Lak, let alone a Pink Floyd Tribute band, so it was an exciting addition to the high season entertainment lineup.

In the end we raised approximately 35,000THB, about 750 GBP, we had a good turnout of local ex-pats and tourists, and the band enjoyed the event so much they said they would like to come back again! For the Khao Lak Community Appeal’s first fundraising concert in Thailand, this was a huge success!

Land Donation

The Khao Lak Community Appeal has donated 50% of land costs to the Foundation for Education and Development. This land will be used to build a Learning Centre for 150-200 Burmese migrant Students.

Access to education for the children of Burmese migrant workers in Southern Thailand is very difficult for a number of reasons: such as poverty, inability to speak the Thai language, fear of discrimination and a very basic educational level. Despite the governmental policy that states that all children have the right to education in Thailand, it is very difficult for Burmese children to attend school in Southern Thailand. The principal reason is that many Burmese children are unable to read or write Thai, so they cannot keep up with the lessons at school. Another obstacle is that legal Burmese migrants are unaware of the fact that their children can attend school. Thai schools also fail to reach out to Burmese communities due to the language barrier and lack of resources. In addition, migrants usually are unable to afford the school tuition fees, transportation fees, uniform costs and other continuous costs.

Foundation for Education and Development (FED) is a Thai registered charity that has been set up to work to provide a safe and equitable environment for underprivileged workers, whilst promoting education and development opportunities for children and adults.

Since they started in 2005 they have opened 5 learning centre, 4 mobile learning centres, 2 nurseries and 1 teenage high school project. Their education programme provides education to approximately 500 children, however until now, FED did not own any of their education facilities, they were all rented.

Renting on short term lease and being subject to fluctuations in rent and sentiments of landlords does not offer stability for the learning centres, and thus for the children. Many disruptions to the teaching can be detrimental to the children and their ability to learn.

In 2010 the Khao Lak Community Appeal donated 50% of land costs to be bought in FED’s name. Annika Linden Foundation donated the remaining 50% of land purchase costs and Child’s Dream donated to funds needed to build a unified Learning Centre, specifically for FED and their 500 children that are located around PhangNga. The benefits of having their own United Learning Centre are that it will cut transportation costs, the children will have a stable environment to learn in, the charity will have stable expenses to budget for and therefore be able to plan more efficiently for the future.

One part of the objective for the Khao Lak Community Appeal is to help improve health care facilities in the Khao Lak area. On 9th April 2010 the Khao Lak Community Appeal donated an ambulance truck to the area of Khuk Khak, Phang Nga.

After researching the situation with emergency Health Care in the area, it became apparent that emergency response vehicles, although available, were either inadequate, far away or belonged to private hospitals (making them an expensive option for locals). We spoke to a local volunteer team from the Narenthorn Organisation to find out a bit more about the situation and they informed us that they were using their own pick up trucks for this work – clearly not an ideal situation.

The Narenthorn Organisation is a non-profit charity working with the government to provide an emergency rescue service to the whole of Thailand. Their objective is to get victims to hospital as quickly and safely as possible. In Phang Nga province Narethorn organization covers 90% of the area for emergency response care. There are 9600 cases every year, however, the organization can only respond to 10% of these due to lack of development and volunteers.

In April 2006 the phone number ‘1669’ was introduced to Thailand, as the emergency response contact number; this connects directly with the Narenthorn Organisation and today most Thai people will use this in an emergency. The Narenthorn Organisation is structured to take great care in placing trained and professional volunteers to rescue centres. Narenthorn works together with Hospitals, both private and public, Health Centres, Charity Foundations and local governments to provide an effective and efficient service. Trainings are provided by hospitals and there are regular meetings between Volunteer teams, Rescue Teams, Call Centres and the Narenthorn centre. The management team, which includes doctors from the ministry of Health, regularly attends meetings to discuss and deliver policies to Rescue Team staff and Volunteers. This provides a good foundation for exchanging knowledge and experience. Rehearsals are also regularly held, the Tsunami was an experience that taught the organisation that this is a priority.

The Khao Lak Community Appeal decided that by donating a vehicle to be used by the Narenthorn Organisation we were contributing to Emergency Health Response in the best way that we could.

On Friday 9th April the Khao Lak Community Appeal Foundation was privileged to be able to donate a new ambulance truck to the Phang Nga province Health Office, to be used by the Narenthorn Organisation. It was donated on a special day held by Phang Nga province and the Ministry of Health to honour emergency services in the 5 provinces of Phang Nga, Phuket, Krabi, Trang and Satun. More than 1000 people were in attendance from a broad spectrum of emergency service departments. The day was held just before Songkran, Thai New Year, to remind people of road safety at a time of year when roads are particularly busy.

The Ambulance was formally handed over by Ms. Vikunda (Boom) Quilty and Ms. Anna Pering, on behalf of the Khao Lak Community Appeal, to the Minister of Heath, Khun Jurin Laksanawisit, who was the master of ceremony.

The ambulance truck donated by the Khao Lak Community Appeal is an essential additional to the area as the truck is well equipped and due to its shape and size is ideal for navigating the narrow rural roads throughout the Khao Lak area. Dr. Kajornsak Kaewjaras, the Director of Health for Phang Nga province wishes all districts to be equipped with this kind of vehicle in the future. The Khao Lak Community Appeal is delighted to be able to make such a significant contribution to the community, and to be able to help Dr. Kajornsak on his way to achieving his goal.

Background
On December 26th 2004 a tsunami hit the coast of Thailand in many places. The West Coast, in particular Phang Nga province, was one of the worst affected areas in the country. This was a catastrophic event, which was to have a huge effect on the area for years to come. People lost friends, family, possessions and livelihoods. The Khao Lak Community Appeal decided to help the community in Khao Lak by improving facilities at the largest local school in the area, Watkommaneeyakhet.

Watkommaneeyakhet is one of two schools in Khao Lak catering for children between 5 and 16 years old. The tsunami did no damage to the actual school itself; however, the facilities were desperately inadequate. Watkommaneeyakhet School had very poor sports facilities, an old science laboratory in very poor condition and insufficient IT facilities. In past years the school was not able to replace 8 teachers due to lack of funds. Furthermore there was no swimming pool or swimming instruction available for the school children at this school or in the wider local community.

The Khao Lak Community Appeal set out to help with some of these problems and built a substantial facility including the following:

A fully equipped IT Room with 43 computers, projector and air conditioning
A fully equipped Science Laboratory
A Thai Dance and Arts Room
A half Olympic sized swimming pool
2 Tennis Courts and Tennis equipment
Changing rooms for boys and for girls, complete with toilets and showers.
A Thai Dance Teacher
An IT Teacher
A sports Teacher
An English Teacher

To make the project partially self sustainable we also included:
A small restaurant
A small ‘tuck shop’/convenience store
12 Accommodation rooms
Staff to look after all facilities

The Khao Lak Community Appeal recognises the importance of English as a second language and IT skills for these children, many of whom will go on to pursue a career in the tourist industry. The swimming pool will also help locals to learn to swim and dive, providing jobs in the diving industry. Diving is an important part of the tourist industry in the Khao Lak area and nearly all the diving jobs are currently filled by non Thais.

In April 2008 the swimming pool, tennis courts, classrooms and all other facilities were handed over to the school to manage; Watkommaneeyakhet School now takes care of these amenities and is using them to help sustain and develop the educational equipment at the school.

This school is located between Khao Lak and Bang Niang and has approximately 157 students aged between 5 and 12 from the area. As with many schools in Thailand, the facilities here are not perfect – up until recently the school had only 6 working computers (although 11 in total) in a computer room that was previously open to the elements. This meant that the computers were vulnerable to the very dusty and often damp atmosphere of the area, meaning that they broke regularly

The Khao Lak Community Appeal has donated floor tiles, windows and air conditioning so that the computers will keep in much better condition. This is a vital addition to the school and community as they will no longer have redundant computers and will be able to take advantage of this technology far into the future!

The headmaster of the school has said “Thank you so much to the Khao Lak Community Appeal for this donation”. He awarded The Khao Lak Community Appeal a certificate for the donation at an awards ceremony held at the School at the end of the 2009.

The school has also just received the budget from the government for another 10 computers, so the improvements to this class room will really make a difference.

The Khao Lak Community Appeal currently sponsor 3 teachers; one at Bang Maruan School (a few miles north of Khao Lak) and two at Watkommaneeyakhet School in Khuk Khak.

Teacher sponsorships are important as not all schools can afford to fully staff all classes.

Teacher Au
Au teaches at Watkommaneeyakhet School; she teaches English and helps the Headmaster with any translation work he has. She is a very hard working teacher who has been there since the Khao Lak Community Appeal built the swimming pool and tennis courts. She said she really enjoys her job and hopes to continue in this role well into the future. One day she would like to be a government teacher and is studying at the weekend to pass a qualification for this right now.

Teacher Ruk
The second teacher sponsored by the Khao Lak Community Appeal is Ruk; he is the Sports teacher at Watkommaneeyakhet School. Ruk is really enjoying teaching at Watkomanneeyakhet School; he said he is very pleased that the students are continually improving. Ruk teaches Volley Ball, Kabaddi and swimming (another teacher teaches tennis). He already has a government certificate but would like to continue in this role supported by the Khao Lak Community Appeal.

Teacher Surin
The teacher in Bang Maruan is called Surin, he teaches Thai, Science, Social studies, P.E., boy scouts and English. Surin is a recent addition to the School.

After the tsunami The Khao Lak Community Appeal committed to putting 12 students who lost one or both parents in the tsunami, through education. A scheme was set up which gives the students money for educational expenses each year, and also allows them to save for higher education or future plans after their schooling .

One student, Eil, finished school early and before her scholarship had finished, so The Khao Lak Community Appeal used the remaining funds put aside for her to help her family with equipment that they could use for their fishing business. The money was also used to buy food, clothing and necessities for her baby.

Kommaneeyakhet Temple is located in Khuk Khak, a village a few kilometers north of Khao Lak, and is the centre of community life in the area. The tsunami wave did not cause any damage to the temple, but affected the lives of everyone in the surrounding villages; it was also central to the recovery efforts in the weeks preceding the tragic events in December 2004.

In the early days after the tsunami the temple also helped people that were affected by the tsunami by providing food and accommodation. In the Khao Lak area the official death toll was believed to be approximately 4567 people, however, it is believed that the actual figure exceeds 10,000. This fact alone demonstrates what an impact the tsunami had on the whole community, and therefore shows the importance of a community meeting place, especially a place of worship.

The Khao Lak Community Appeal donated educational equipment to Kommaneeyakhet Temple, which will be used for educating young people and for disseminating information throughout the community. This equipment includes a photocopier, a laptop computer, a projector, a sound system and loud speaker. All items will be a great use to the majority of people in this area who use the Temple as a central meeting place, place of worship and as an educational institute too.

An estimated 100,000 undocumented ‘illegal’ migrants, most of whom are Burmese, currently live in the Phang Nga region of Southern Thailand. They are unable to access the Thai health care system due to fear of deportation and an inability to pay the fees. Many migrants do not have a work permit and so they are denied a Thai health insurance card which would allow them to access treatment at little cost. These migrants live in isolated communities within rubber plantations, fishing villages, construction sites or sawmills. These jobs are termed the 3 D’s; dirty difficult and dangerous.

This project supports 13 Community Health Workers with a budget to carry out their work and the vital medicines that these Burmese migrants need for basic health care. The aims of the project are:

The Community Health Worker Project has been implemented in the Phang Nga Province of Southern Thailand. The purpose of the project is to provide over 1000 more Burmese migrants with access to health care, even in very remote locations. Training of the community health workers was completed in March 2009. The total budget for 13 community health workers for one year is 1,100,000 Thai Baht. The project is continually assessed and all needs of the health workers and patients are reviewed and documented.

Pratuang Patgho (nicknamed ‘Tuang’) lost his leg from the knee down in the tsunami. He is married with 3 children, but he also lost 2 in the tsunami. At the moment the family has one income; Koh Tuang works in his garden (rubber plantations) and from time to time builds furniture. Koh Tuang is also assisted by the government with only 500฿ a month (Approx. 10GBP).
Pratuang Patgho was given a prosthetic leg, but it is a very basic model and is not convenient at all times, especially for moving around the house. Pratuang improvised his mobility himself by using an office chair to move around, but these are not durable and definitely not very convenient!

The Khao Lak Community Appeal has given Pratuang Patgho a wheelchair so that he can now more around more freely than before. This will help him when he is at home and in his workshop.

Marisa’s family is Moken, this is the name for sea gypsy’s who have a long history with the sea and the majority gain their income from fishing. The tsunami was especially disastrous for many Moken people, as their boats and possessions were destroyed or swept away. Marisa’s father was one of these sea gypsy’s whose livelihood and possessions were taken away; he later turned to drink and would frequently hurt her mother and one day Marisa witnessed her father kill her mother .

Now Marisa lives with her brother who, with the help of his wife, looks after their 3 other siblings (including Marisa). The family lives in a donated house in Thap Tawan, and survive off the income from the eldest brother who is a fisherman. The brother’s wife worked in a resort until she became pregnant and was asked to leave; she now takes care of her baby and the other children.

The Khao Lak Community Appeal has agreed to help them with a monthly sponsorship for Marisa for school costs, including transport, food and tuition.

The Khao Lak Community Appeal has also bought new doors for Marisa’s house, as the donated house that they live in had weak doors made of some form of cardboard and had already deteriorated.

Palm has a serious blood disorder, Thalasemia. This means that he had to go to school in Takuapa (45 minutes away) so that he could get to the hospital easily for appointments and regular blood transfusions. Consequently living costs are high for this family.

Volleyball Sponsorship
While at Watkommanneyakhet school the Khao Lak Community Appeal sponsored the Volley ball team for a few months – during this time the Sports teachers team came first in a tournament for the Thai festival Loi Krathong.

Moken Football Team Sponsorship
The KLCA sponsored a moken (sea gypsy) football team with T-shirts during a local competition.

Thai National Children's Day
Childrens day is a day in Thailand to honour children; children are given presents and lots of activities are put on for their benefit. The Khao Lak Community Appeal often contributes to children’s day events, and always gives our sponsored children presents for this occasion. In 2006 we donated money for food and drinks to Watkommaneeyakhet school and in 2010 we donated food and drinks to the moken community’s festivities in Thap Tawan.

Guy's Operation
Guy is a little boy that The Khao Lak Community Appeal sponsors under our scholarship scheme. When he was just 4 years old he suffered from a hernia and needed an expensive operation to remove it. The Khao Lak Community Appeal paid for this operation for him which he had at Phuket Internation Hospital. Guy is now fit and healthy and as cute and cheeky as ever!

Craft Shop

The Khao Lak Community Appeal has also contributed to setting up a non-profit Craft shop in the Khao Lak area, ‘CommUnity Crafts’. The office space we have in Bang Niang accommodates this small shop which will sell hand made items for different community groups, orphanages, schools and charities. So far we have 9 groups represented in the shop: