We have launched an appeal of $5 million to assist children & families affected by the floods
The heaviest monsoon rains in decades have caused massive floods across countries in southeast Asia including Thailand and Cambodia.
In Thailand, 5.15 million people have been affected, 1.7 million of these are children. Across the border in Cambodia close to a quarter of a million children have had school cancelled due to the floods. We're bringing much needed aid like food and water to children and their families.
You can support children and families affected by disasters like the Thailand and Cambodia Floods by donating to our Children's Emergency Fund.
We have reached over 20,000 children and their families affected by the flooding in Thailand
We are ensuring the safety and wellbeing of flood-affected children in evacuation centres. Child Friendly Spaces have been established at evacuation centres in six provinces in Thailand Ayutthaya, Nakhon Sawan, Pathum Thani, Nakhon Sawan, Nonthaburi and Nakhon Nayok.
We are assisting to improve the living conditions of flood affected families. Food, education kits, diapers and mosquito nets have been distributed over 8,300 people.
We are helping children return to school by providing education kits to both teachers and students.
Cambodia
We have distributed 12,826 relief kits (food and non-food items) to 12,826 most affected families (64,740 people) in Kampong Cham and Prey Veng provinces.
Save the Children in collaboration with Provincial Health Departments has set up Mobile Health Stations in Kampong Cham and Prey Veng provinces. So far, 7359 people have received health consultation and treatment.
In collaboration with Kampong Cham Provincial Education Department we have established 418 Temporary Learning Centres, in 4 provinces (Prey Veng, Kampong Cham, Kampong Chhnang and Siem Reap) reaching 12,027 children.
Media Release: Battle to save Bangkok risks leaving children in north without needed aid
Blog post: Thailand: Children falling ill as flooding reaches capital
Thailand Children Day - Stories from Upstream
Despite the recent flood crisis in Thailand, Save the Children decided to organize something special for children affected by the flood to mark national children's day.
Originally it was meant to be a drawing competition but the event evolved into an art therapy workshop titled The Stories from Up Stream. Save the Children invited children and teachers from schools in the most severely affected provinces of Chainat, Ayutthaya, Bangkok and Pathumthani. In total 31 students and 6 teachers attended the event. Some local celebrities also attended to open the workshop.
Photo Diary
Those affected by the floods
Human Stories
Tay
Tay, a mother of 4, is one of the more than 1 million people who have been affected by the worst flooding in Cambodia in over a decade. Both short-term and long-term food security is a major concern for millions of Cambodians.
She told us that while she is relieved to receive food, she is worried about the ability to provide for her family in the future in particular the ability to pay back loans that her family relies on. "My family will have hygiene water to drink and food to eat at least for one month, but how I am going to pay for the loan?"
Tay had borrowed 2 million riels (about US$500) from a bank ahead of the planting period in order to buy seeds, fertilizers and pay for labour by securing her land title. She was planning to pay back this money after this year's harvest , but now that her two hectares of rice crops have been damaged by the floods she does not have the money to pay back the loan.
Tay, 44, her husband and 4 children live in the province of Prey Veng. They are among the 1.6 million populations affected by the floods that began in August 2011. The floods displaced thousands of families, killed 250 people , damaged about 10% of Cambodia's annual rice crop and inundated roads, schools and health centres in 18 of Cambodia's 24 provinces.
The water rose to floor level at Tay's wooden old house built 2 meters above the ground on stilts in Pnov 2 village in Prey Veng province. Tay says, "The floods had inundated my village for about two months. We could not go anywhere besides fishing for food. My children could not go to school as it was closed. My 2 hectares of rice field and the cassava plants behind my house were destroyed by the floods."
According to Pnov 2 village's chief, more than 250 families in the village have been affected by the floods, most of them are farmers. More than 400 hectares of rice and other subsidiary crops were damaged.
Struggling with food shortage and worried about paying back the loan, Tay's husband left to look for work at a rubber plantation. He could earn 20,000 riels (about US$5) a day to support his own living over there and the family here. However this is not enough particularly to pay for the debt and interest rates that seem to fluctuate every day. Mrs. Tay is pinning her hopes that her elder son, who is 22, and who has worked for nearly a year as a factory worker in Thailand and her elder daughter, 18, working as a maid in Cambodia's capital city Phnom Penh will be able to send some money home. Tay says, "My children told me that in the cities they have to spend a lot, but they try to save some for me to pay for my debt every month."
Save the Children will begin to provide unconditional cash delivery and cash for work to over 13,000 vulnerable families in the two provinces for livelihood recovery and small scale rehabilitation of water, sanitation and hygiene rehabilitation in the communities as water recedes.
Noo and Kanya
Noo, 24, is one of many Cambodian migrants living in Thailand forced to flee their flooded homes, stranded in the country, now staying at whatever shelter they can find. In Noo's case, she shelters at a local football stadium with her daughter Kanya, 13 months.
"I have been living in Thailand for almost five years. I used to work at a small restaurant near Thammasat University - I worked there until I got married and then pregnant."
Noo went back to Cambodia to give birth to her daughter Kanya, and then returned to Thailand to rejoin her husband six months ago. The family lives in Patum Thani, just south of Bangkok, but has now been forced to abandon their home since it is submerged beneath floodwater. Noo tells us that when floodwater came up to her thighs, she felt she had no choice but to seek shelter elsewhere and leave her home behind.
"My husband is still working at the restaurant near the university. He is the only breadwinner now. He's still going out for work every day and comes back to the centre every evening." Noo is left alone during the day to care for her baby, and is counting on her husband's income to make ends meet. With floodwaters rising, her husband doesn't know how long the restaurant will remain open - or how much longer he will still get paid.
"I'm not sure how long he can go out for work, because the water is getting higher in this area. He said that he could not deliver stuff for the clients recently because of the water's height. He may have to stop working very soon", Noo explained.
"I'm worried that if my husband has to stop working, we will not have money to buy our baby's diapers. We need at least 2-3 a day." Noo is trying to keep Kanya clean and healthy, but is running out of diapers. Instead she is using cloth nappies, washing them and hanging them out on the stadium fence, where families now hang the little clothes they have, out to dry - a constant challenge as rains continue to fall.
Noo is also anxious about being stuck at the shelter if flood levels rise higher. I'm scared about getting out if it starts flooding here. I would like to go back home to Cambodia, but as we do not have money for transportation, we can't leave."
Save the Children works with the hardest to reach families affected by the flood, who haven't been able to access the official evacuation centres established by the government, private sector and civil society.
Read more stories about the children and families affected by the Thailand and Cambodian floods.
We need your help to make sure children affected by emergencies have access to food, water and medical assistance so they can survive. Please show your support by donating to our Children's Emergency Fund today.
In Thailand, 5.15 million people have been affected, 1.7 million of these are children. Across the border in Cambodia close to a quarter of a million children have had school cancelled due to the floods. We're bringing much needed aid like food and water to children and their families. 
Tay
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