UNICEF/ HQ05-1650/Palani Mohan

THAILAND: Wanpadet Srisukgaew, 8, squats on a bench, smiling, at Baan Bang Muang school in the southern Pang Nga Province. Wanpadet has attended a UNICEF-supported psychosocial recovery program, as well as received a UNICEF education grant, following his mother’s death in the tsunami. The school was not physically damaged, but suffered the most tsunami-related deaths – and has the most orphans – of any school in the country. UNICEF has also provided the school with a water and sanitation system, funds for electricity and water bills, books and sports equipment. (#2 IN SEQUENCE OF THREE)
In October 2005 in Thailand, recovery is well underway nine months after the 26 December 2004 earthquake and subsequent tsunamis that devastated coastal areas in more than eight countries. In the six southern provinces affected by the tsunami, 5,000 people were killed, 3,000 people are still missing and 3,000 reside in temporary shelters. Basic services, including health, education and water and sanitation, have been restored and upgraded. More than 85 per cent of tsunami-affected children, including those who lost parents, have returned to school. UNICEF has also supported the distribution of sports and play equipment to 100,500 children in schools and young child development centres, and helped train some 1,500 teachers, social workers and counsellors in psychosocial recovery counselling. About 9,000 people have benefited from the delivery of UNICEF supplies, including water purification equipment and the construction and repair of latrines and drainage systems.