These workers are mainly women from the province

beach front and coastal businesses in Phuket. One of

of Phang Nga.  The Federation consulted the Labour

the key areas identified by workers in initial meetings

Club members on their needs and desires before

organized to discover their needs, was the ability to

submitting its proposal to ILO.

respond to emergencies, both for their own sake and

for their ability to assist tourists.  It is thought that the

Phang Nga Tourist Association (PNTA)

display of certificates would also reassure the tourists

The Association s priority is to train retrenched workers

and show that the establishment is serious about dealing

and other members of the community in the Khao Lak

properly with emergencies.

area, to provide local manpower for the tourist season

as well as revenues for Khao Lak area residents.

The Phuket Tourist Association (PTA)

 opened a Small

Business Recovery Centre giving advice to small businesses

Responsible Ecological Social Tours (REST)

affected by the tsunami.  It built a database of 200 small

The work has included surveying and selecting three

businesses affected by the tsunami, identifying problems

coastal communities hit by the tsunami as project sites.

and issues.  The PTA project consists of upgrading skills

The project has covered community preparation, training

and/or offering new skills to the staff of member and

needs assessment, professional guide training and

non member organizations who have been hard hit

workshop and training for home stays.

financially in the post tsunami economic slowdown.

The Thaicraft Association

The 

EMPOWER 

project focuses on providing legal advice,

Thaicraft has two part time professionals working with

functional English literacy, sexual and emotional health

80 women in tsunami affected communities. They

education and HIV/AIDS prevention.

have trained the women in producing quality

handicrafts and in addition five have been trained as

LOCATION

production group leaders learning management and

Most of the project s activities are in Phuket and Phang

supervisory skills.  Their activities include product quality

Nga, with some activities extending into Ranong.  Fol 

and design, skills development, production enhancement

lowing a request from the Ministry of Labour the

and marketing.

project added a small programme in Krabi.

Disabled Peoples  International (DPI)

PROGRAMME PERIOD

Their mandate includes a survey and needs assessment

The project was originally envisaged as six months

of persons with disabilities in Phang Nga, peer counsel 

(July to December 2005) but this has been extended

ling, skills training, self help and advocacy, independent

until February 2006.

living training. They have also held a seminar on barrier 

free tourism and methods of hotel and restaurant

RESULTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

reconstruction that allow universal access.

Here are a few examples of the many quantifiable

achievements recorded by ILO and its partners, as of

In 

Phuket

 and 

Krabi

 provinces, project activities are

mid November 2005:

mainly with the formal economy since the tsunami

damaged only 10 to 15 per cent of the facilities, allowing

Phuket Federation of Hotel and Labor Services (PFHLS)

for a quicker return of tourists.

A group of women have been trained in how to

produce batik products and artificial flowers.  A

Examples include working with 

Employers Confederation

workshop has been rented, providing a workplace

S

of Thailand (ECOT)

 on emergency response training for

for the production of batik and artificial flowers;

EXENNA

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