Buy a Man a Boat has been set up to help fund real individuals in need of funding and will enable them to set up and continue running their own businesses to provide a long term future.
Buy a Man a Boat is entirely funded through sponsorship of challenges and donations by people to projects they feel are worth while.
An’s Story
The 1st person to benefit from Buy a Man a Boat will be Ann. Ann works on Phi Phi Island in Krabi, Thailand. On the 26th December 2004 he was with some American tourists at Maya Bay on Phi Phi Leh (the location for the film The Beach) after taking them for a trip in his long tail boat when the Tsunami hit.
An not only managed to protect the tourists and take them to safety on a ship nearby but then returned in his boat to the main island of Phi Phi Don to find his friends and family. After spending time fighting his way through the wreckage of the island An managed to find some of his terrified and injured friends. He put as many as he could in his boat and took them back to the mainland. Unfortunately, after days of searching An found the body of his wife on the beach.
Now nearly 6years on lots of the island has been rebuilt and An continues to run trips on the island in his existing boat ‘Fortune’. However, for An life is still difficult. Before the Tsunami he had two long tail boats and was able to run a good business with his friend taking out twice as many customers in one day. Since 2004 An has been trying to raise enough money to replace his boat and get his business back on track whilst supporting his two daughters as a single parent. The increasing price of wood and An’s small monthly wage means that saving this kind of money could take many many more years.
