Appeal Target: US$ 417,400
Balance Requested: US$ 296,236
Geneva, 26 January 2012 Dear Colleagues,
Heavy rains from the northern region of Thailand began in September 2011 and led to widespread flooding in the central region including Nakhonsawan, Uthaithani, Chainat, and Ayutthaya provinces. The flood caused the loss of over 800 lives in 28 provinces and affected 3,016,566 families or 9,942,225 individuals.
More than 600,000 people are out of work, causing damage to Thailand’s economy and to the export industry, especially as rice production, which is the main exported product from Thailand, was badly affected by the floods. The cost of the floods in the capital, Bangkok, is estimated by the UN at USD$40 billion. It is the worst known disaster in the last five decades. The World Bank estimates the damage higher, at USD$45 billion. In addition, they estimate the cost of recovery and reconstruction to USD$25 billion.
Since Thailand is a ‘middle income’ country, there is no UN cluster mechanism in the country to assist with rehabilitation. However, some UN agencies have provided assistance.
This full appeal is being issued following the preliminary appeal issued on 28 October 2011. There are several major changes in the full appeal. The implementation period has been increased to 12 months compared to the preliminary appeal planned for three months. The reason for this is to facilitate the process oriented implementation of early recovery activities.
CWS Asia/Pacific is implementing this appeal in partnership with Church of Christ in Thailand (CCT). During the implementation of immediate relief activities, the livelihood restoration activities were properly revised in consultation with the target communities. The strategy envisaged in the full appeal incorporates community based planning.
The preliminary appeal had a budget of USD 301,769, which has increased to USD 430,400 in the full appeal.