Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of NGOs in facilitating economic recovery to the tsunami devastated regions in Southern Thailand. This includes large international NGOs as well as small community based or local NGOs and how these organizations engage with one another as well as with government authorities and of course the local community to aid recovery. In particular, focus will be on how NGOs are able to assist local residents, especially those engaged in the informal sector in rebuilding their livelihoods in a region that has been devastated by a natural disaster.

Design/methodology/approach
– The approach taken in the paper has concentrated on analysing the response of various NGOs as well as industry representatives and government authorities in considering how response efforts and recovery initiatives have impacted, and will continue to impact on the lives and livelihoods of those living in affected communities as rebuilding takes place.

Findings
– Given that in Thailand just over 70 per cent of the population is employed in the informal sector of the economy one of the key findings of this paper is that central to economic recovery is the need for policy makers directing recovery strategies to reflect measures that are broadly supportive of the informal sector across different industries including tourism and fisheries, and which provides the basis of economic livelihood for a large proportion of the affected Thai population.

Originality/value
– The paper shows that recovery strategies must engage with and directly involve the community to ensure long-term economic recovery that is able to both build local resilience and provide the basis of livelihood support for the future sustainability of the local population.