TigerNews | SE RESEARCH

February 2006

TOP-Thailand       FOLLOW-UP REPORT  

TOP came back, as promised, to Khao Lak in southern Thailand to follow-up with the tsunami survivors. We arrived in Phuket on 2-16-2006 to be met by familiar faces from last year. Our translator from last year, Kwan, has been an invaluable resource in this follow-up trip. With her boundless energy and enthusiasm as well as her knowledge of the local community, we relied on Kwan and two of her staff for logistics, transportation, and translation. It was very important to use Thai people from the south as we attempted to locate the tsunami survivors we worked with last year. The southern dialect and in-depth familiarity with the local context helped the success of our project. It also helped put much needed money into the local economy.

We were able to locate approximately half of the individuals (adults and children) we provided SE treatment to last year. If we had been able to stay longer, we would have located more. 

 The survivors we met greeted us one year later with tears in their eyes. They were very touched that we came back. We talked with them, their family members and others about what the last year has been like. We checked on the symptoms that had been reported and observed when we worked with them in the temporary camps last year. In a couple of cases, the people were still living in the camp. Most, however, have settled back in their villages (mainly Nam Kem village) or in re-settlement housing that has been built by an assortment of foundations.

The people we interviewed who are living in Nam Kem village at the edge of the Andaman Sea described the false tsunami alarms (seven, thus far) that cause panic and terror when the siren sounds. Many people choose to sleep at the new school (built far from the water) at night and return to their homes in the daytime. World Vision Foundation has provided mats for sleeping at the school.

Nam Kem waters are again filled with fishing boats, large and small, and the village is full of new houses and businesses. Nevertheless, nearly everyone we talked to described sleep problems. The false alarms keep people in a constant state of vigilance.

Wherever we went we were greeted enthusiastically and gratefully. Many westerners came for brief times and left without returning. It seemed to mean a lot to the survivors to see us again.

In addition to re-contacting the individuals we treated last year, we met with the directors of three schools; including a boarding school that has been newly built for orphans and troubled children. Several schools have agreed to allow our Thai translators to conduct a brief PTSD interview with the children. This will help us learn the extent of traumatic stress symptoms one year post-tsunami in school children. The information can help us in designing our follow-up programs for treatment and training.

We will also be implementing this brief PTSD interview door-to-door in the re-settlement villages and in Nam Kem village. We are hoping to collect information from at least 200 people.

It is our intention to return to Khao Lak in September 2006...and, hopefully, every 6 months for the next couple of years. Building the capacity of local people to provide trauma services is an essential part of TOP's mission. We have felt privileged to continue TOP's efforts here in Thailand.

 Submitted by: Laurie Leitch

Research Director
Foundation for Human Enrichment

TOP Team -Thailand Follow-up

Laurie Leitch, Team Leader/Researcher, New Mexico

Pam Burnham, New Mexico

Ellen Elgart, New Mexico