Charity project in Thailand

A future for the children of Chao Thai Mai

On December 26, 2004 a tsunami destroyed large parts of South-East Asia, leaving thousands dead and hundreds of thousands homeless. A great wave of global support followed the disaster. ZWILLING
J.A. HENCKELS was among those international companies that helped the troubled region – and is actively continuing to do so.

Instead of simply donating money the German manufacturer of knives, flatware, cookware and beauty products has decided to bundle up its financial resources to support one specific project: the school in Chao Thai Mai, a little village in southern Thailand, about 50 km away from Phuket, that was recently re-opened.

Thanks to ZWILLING J.A. HENCKELS the children of Chao Thai Mai are benefitting twofold: Apart from their rebuilt primary school, they can now also attend the village’s first ever high school to further their education for another three years. Up until now this was beyond the children’s reach because they could not even afford the necessary bus fare to attend another school.

The success is already measurable. The project started with 147 children, now there are 197, 65 of them in the secondary school. “To give children and teenagers in need a chance for a better future in their familiar surroundings seemed to us the most rewarding long-term concept” explains CEO Claus Holst-Gydesen the decision to support the school.

And the German company is going to keep up the good work. “This is not a one-off contribution but an ongoing project” says Claus Holst-Gydesen. “We are actively exploring further possibilities to help the people in this part of the world getting a better future. Future involvements could for example include accommodation for the students, extending the canteen or the sponsoring of teachers but this is early days and no decisions have been taken.”

With its support for the school ZWILLING
J.A. HENCKELS is also supporting the Moken Sea Gypsy Community, a local tribe that has for generations been suffering from extreme poverty and has only limited access to education. The tsunami has further reduced the poor means of income of the gypsies who live on their fishing boats. 70 % of the students of Chao Thai Mai School are Moken.