Tsunami survivor wants to help in recovery

Businessman hopes to provide jobs, education in Thailand

It’s been almost five months since Lawrence businessman Tom Van Holt was snorkeling off the coast of southern Thailand with other tourists when the giant tsunami that devastated much of southern Asia struck.

Though Van Holt knew something was wrong because of disturbances in the water, he didn’t understand what had happened until he went ashore. He was not prepared for the horrific sites that confronted him. The experience upset him so much that he sought counseling after he returned to Lawrence.

“I still get weepy about it,” Van Holt said. “I’ve been moody pretty much since that occurred.”

Van Holt now is developing a plan to assist relief efforts in Thailand by starting his own nonprofit organization to provide jobs for adults and pay to educate Thai children who are tsunami victims. His plan calls for what he describes as a multicultural service operation and a miniature Peace Corps.

“This is not going to be something where we go over there and just throw money at people,” said Van Holt, owner of Starving Artists Moving.

Van Holt’s plan calls for coming up with money from donations or other sources to pay Thai victims who can make crafts and other artwork. The arts and crafts would then be sold in the United States and the money returned to Thailand to help relief efforts where needed, such as building a school. There are corporations that already exist for similar ventures elsewhere in the world and Van Holt said he hopes some type of partnership can be worked out with one of them.

A second part of Van Holt’s plan calls for recruiting groups in the United States to “adopt” children to pay for their education over a several-year period. Those groups could be churches or community or professional organizations and clubs.

Van Holt’s relief efforts would center on hard hit areas along the southern west coast of Thailand in the areas from Ranong south to Kuraburi and Phuket. Those areas were very reliant on tourism dollars and those who survived have seen their livelihoods severely hurt by the tsunami, Van Holt said.

Daily life in Thailand, as shown here before the December tsunami, has yet to return to normal. Lawrence businessman Tom Van Holt, who was in Thailand when the tsunami hit, plans to return to the country to provide long-term assistance.

Thus, a third part of Van Holt’s plan would be to send Thai-Americans who can teach Thais to speak English. Knowing English would be an additional benefit for their tourism-related businesses, he said.

The United States and various relief agencies, including the International Red Cross and Red Crescent, have supplied millions of dollars in supplies to tsunami and earthquake stricken areas in southern Asia. The U.S. Department of State referred inquiries about tsunami relief to its Web site and to that of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Most of the aid has gone to Sri Lanka and Indonesia, according to USAID. As of a report dated May 6, USAID listed total U.S. government assistance to Thailand at $1.06 million, used mainly for restoration of fisheries and fishing industry infrastructure.

Van Holt said he will return to Thailand early next month for at least a couple of weeks to tour the areas he wants to help and talk with Thais about their needs, he said. He hopes to go back again later this year and stay longer to get his organization up and running.

“I’m prepared to spend at least $10,000 of my own money in advertising costs and to get this going,” Van Holt said. “I want people to know where their money is going.”

Van Holt has already come up with a name for the organization: Waves of Relief. He said he has hired an assistant here in Lawrence and has lined up a Thai translator to travel with him when he is in Thailand.

“My dream is that this will be a long-term effort,” Van Holt said. “We do need to sustain the relief efforts because so many people are still living under very precarious circumstances. The Thais are very easy people to fall in love with.”