32 patterns for all other villages, are or were pre-tsunami nucleated near the coast
and, less densely, along Route 4.
3.2 Achieving Program Goals
The Post-Tsunami Sustainable Coastal Livelihoods Program strives to increase capacity various levels of the Thai government to design and implement
rehabilitation projects. In order for the Program to meet its objects, the researcher participated in conducting a preliminary appraisal of the situation in the aftermath
of the tsunami and creating a collection of date to use as a baseline for the program. This study assessed attitudes toward fishing, future perspective and perception of
recovery efforts and their relationship to willingness to participate in livelihood rehabilitation projects in the five villages selected for the program. This
information will be valuable for project design and implementation as well as monitoring and evaluation.
3.2.1 Preliminary Appraisal, Baseline Description and Problem Identification
The preliminary appraisal Pollnac and Kotowicz 2005 used secondary information, observation and key informant interviews as described in Pollnac and
Crawford 2000 and Pollnac 1998. The preliminary appraisal was designed to obtain information about the following topics: a description of coastal zone
geography, population, settlement patterns, productive land use patters, occupations, coastal activities, community infrastructure, and prioritized lists of
needs and problems as defined during a Participatory Rural Assessment PRA.
33 For the most part, information was compiled prior to arriving at the research site
and supplemented by key informant interviews and observation to form a more complete picture of the coastal areas and activities. The preliminary appraisal was
used to structure the baseline assessment and problem identification. The researcher resided in Village 7 throughout the preliminary assessment and baseline survey.
Village residence allowed continuous observation of village activities and access to
key informants throughout this period.
Upon completing the preliminary assessment, the researchers collaborated to design the survey to obtain pre- and post-tsunami information on productive
activities, household size and composition. Techniques used to design the survey include those discussed in Berkes et al. 2001, Bunce et al. 2000 and Pollnac and
Crawford 2000. The survey also included questions to examine attitudes toward fishing, future perspective, experience with the tsunami, and perception of recovery
activities. Key informant interviews were semi-structured, to supplement or clarify
information based on a set of open-ended questions or discussion points Bunce et al. 2000:96. These interviews were performed by researchers during the
preliminary assessment to obtain data about types of livelihoods practiced in the villages and other general information. After the baseline survey was performed,
key informant interviews were again conducted to clarify information related to activities that were mentioned by the subjects, especially concerning recovery
activities and proposed livelihood projects. These interviews were also used to validate information from secondary data and the initial assessment. Throughout
34 the study period, residents that wished to share their personal experience of the
tsunami with the researchers were encouraged to do so.
3.3 Sampling Technique
