41086 September 2007 T-LAC Helps Protect Rights of Tsunami Victims in Thailand T-LAC staff members and volunteers giving legal advice to tsunami victims in Phang-Nga KRABI, September 2007 ­ What would you do if the worst natural disaster in "There were a lot of unmarried couples memory has killed dozens of your relatives, destroyed your house, and ruined your with children in tsunami-hit areas. parents' livelihood? If one of the pair died in the tsunami, the other couldn't become the child's Many people would be crushed. Laddawan "Fada" Jundang got right back up and custodian because legally he or she began to look for ways to help people even wasn't the child's parent. Many needed worse off. help resolving land disputes or simply filing for government restitution." The December 2004 tsunami wrecked havoc on Fada's life, as it did to several thousands of other victims in Thailand. "I'm happy to help other people. I have Fada began with the simple act of joining been through the same thing they have hundreds of volunteers to clear the beach been through. I know how they feel just of Phi Phi Island near her now-destroyed looking at their faces." house. Then she joined the "Hi Phi Phi!" volunteer group that provided short-term T-LAC stands for the Tsunami Rights humanitarian relief to the victims and and Legal Aid Referral Center, which ­ looked after the "tsunami orphans." But you guessed it ­ works to protect the legal when she discovered T-LAC, she spotted rights of those affected by the tsunami. It a long-term opportunity to make a real is part of the tsunami recovery program, difference. supported by the $5 million grants from the Japan Social Development Fund "I'm really happy to be working with (JSDF). T-LAC," Fada said with a smile that brightened a grey monsoon season day. Continue on page 2 Page 1 Continued from page 1 The grants are administered by the World They can hardly be blamed. Many of the Bank office in Bangkok, which monitors tsunami victims are fisher folk or low- the overall progress of the JSDF program, income islanders who had rarely had any including how the money is spent. contact with government prior to the The program on legal services for tsunami disaster. Some of them were without birth survivors receives $1.82 million in funding certificates or marriage registrations, as from the JSDF grants. It is implemented Ampika has pointed out. Many of the by The Asia Foundation in Thailand, survivors are also children and women, which has begun providing legal support the more vulnerable groups of the to tsunami-affected individuals since the population in many societies. early stage. The Asia Foundation uses the JSDF fund to support the operating costs of T-LAC and pay for a wide range of free legal services in four tsunami-affected provinces ­ Krabi, Phang-Nga, Ranong and Satun. These include workshops and frequent field trips to remote islands and villages to explain basic legal rights to tsunami survivors. T-LAC also pays for everything relating to the cost of legal proceedings, including the lawyer's fees, the cost of DNA testing, welfare assistance during the trial, case referral, and transportation, among others. Fada Jundang, a tsunami survivor who now helps other The tsunami and its aftermath has raised tsunami survivors to protect their rights a wide range of legal issues, big and small. For example, there were a lot of unmarried To make the survivors aware of their rights couples with children in tsunami-hit as well as the necessary legal process to areas. If one of the pair died in the resolve tsunami issues, T-LAC has tsunami, the other couldn't become the organized workshops on introduction to child's custodian because legally he or she basic legal rights in Krabi, Phang-Nga, wasn't the child's parent. Many needed Ranong and Satun. It also sent a team of help resolving land disputes or simply lawyers to provide legal counsel inside the filing for government restitution. affected communities. "I'm happy to help other people. Since March 2006, T-LAC has counseled I have been through the same a total of 5,275 people who have been affected by the tsunami in various ways. thing they have been through. It has accepted 1,029 cases covering a I know how they feel just looking wide range of issues for further legal at their faces." assistance, such as declaring someone dead or missing, appointing the custodian "Not many tsunami survivors truly of a child orphaned by the tsunami, understood the whole legal aspect of being prosecuting a child's rights violator, and a survivor of a natural disaster," said claiming ownership of property. T-LAC Ampika Saibouyai, a staff member of has helped the victims to receive financial T-LAC. "A lot of them just thought that assistance or compensation to which they you don't go to court unless you sue are entitled, as promised by the someone else or get sued." Government. Page 2 However, providing legal aid to thousands of people has not been easy in the areas where legal experts are scarce, T-LAC has found. To solve this problem, the Center started training volunteers to serve as "paralegals" ­ the profession's term for lawyer's assistants. During the training, T-LAC staff members introduce the volunteers to the basic law and specific legal rights of the tsunami victims. Volunteers also learn about the legal aid provided by the Center, and data collection as well as interview techniques. After completing the training, they go to Fada during a recent door-knock campaign on Phi Phi Island the tsunami-affected communities to run she explained. "After the workshop, the "door-knock" campaign, a door-to- I decided to join T-LAC as a volunteer door operation to identify the survivors in paralegal. Having a lot of orphans around need of legal aid. me made me want to help other young Many of the volunteers are the tsunami victims." victims themselves, such as Fada, now To date, 124 volunteer paralegals have 27. The tsunami has destroyed her father's been trained, 25 of whom can now work boat and her mother's food shop, as well without supervision of a lawyer. They not as her house near Ao Ton Sai pier on only help T-LAC fulfill its mandate, they Phi Phi Island. Around 50 of her relatives are able to empower themselves and their were killed. communities through their improved "A lot of my younger cousins have become knowledge of legal rights. orphans because of the tsunami," she "The essence of this project is helping the said. people to protect their rights and the rights With another house in the city to move of their communities," said Ruengrawee into, the Jundang family wasn't as Ketphol, a senior consultant of the Asia desperate as other victims who had lost Foundation in Bangkok. everything. Fada herself has been more "After we have moved out, these people fortunate than other survivors her age. will still be able to continue doing what Her parents were able to afford higher they have been doing while we are on the education. When the disaster struck, she ground," she added. "This project has has just graduated with a degree in social armed them with the knowledge that they development from a teacher's college in can use to help others in the community. Krabi. This is an important part of community "I have studied the basic law before, so development." I was able to pick up quickly during the For more information on the Tsunami T-LAC workshop for tsunami survivors," Rights and Legal Aid Referral Center, please visit www.tsunamilegalaid.info "The essence of this project is For more information about the World helping the people to protect Bank's tsunami program, please contact their rights and the rights of our External Affairs Officer, Pichaya Fitts, email: pfitts@worldbank.org, their communities..." or (02) 686-8300 Page 3 August Events Thai Society through Young People's Eyes ­ An evening with Dr. Pichet Durongkaveroj, Executive Director of the Knowledge Network Institute of Thailand, who is also an adviser to the Commission on Higher Education. During this event, members of the World Bank Youth Club exchanged their views on a wide range of issues, includingwheretheythoughtThailand would be in 10 years' time, the quality of education in Thailand, changing youth lifestyles, and the impact technology has had on human interactions. This informal exchange followed a series of World Bank-sponsored events aimed at encouraging more dialogue between youth and policy-makers. Roundtable Talk on Carbon Credit ­ EverwonderwhattheKyoto Protocol is all about? What is "Clean Development Mechanism"? And why several dozen Thai companies are paying a lot of attention now to "Carbon Finance"? Well, those who joined us at the roundtable talk on Carbon Credit on August 24 will already have the answers to these questions! This event, supported by the World Bank, was organized by the Energy Research Institute (ERI) of Chulalongkorn University. It aimed to improve public understanding of the benefits of Carbon Finance, a mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol designed to reduce emission of greenhouse gas. World Bank Specialist on Carbon Finance, Dr. Nat Pinnoi, joined the panel to discuss the Bank's role in addressing global warming. Other panelists were Dr. Dawan Wiwattanadate, Deputy Director, ERI, and Khun Natee Sithiprasasana, Deputy CEO of AT Biopower, whose biomass power project has helped the company earn extra income from Carbon Credit. Page 4