To mark the fifth anniversary of the Indian Ocean Tsunami of December 2004, TVE Asia Pacific has just released excerpts from an in-depth TV interview with its Director Nalaka Gunawardene.

This wide-ranging interview was originally filmed in November 2005 in Bangkok, Thailand, by Thai journalist and film maker Pipope Panitchpakdi. Excerpts were used at the time for a Thai documentary to mark the first anniversary of the tsunami.

Selected segments of that interview, in its original English, can be viewed on TVEAP’s YouTube channel, while their transcript is published on this website.

Nalaka, a noted science writer, development journalist and new media activist in the Asia Pacific region, recalls his impressions of the mainstream media’s coverage of the Asian Tsunami and its aftermath.

He also explains why his non-profit media foundation, TVEAP, embarked on the path-breaking Children of Tsunami media project: to capture and amplify the many recovery stories of tsunami survivors in India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Zooming out from the tsunami and response, Nalaka also offers his views on the nexus between media, communications technologies and sustainable development, on which he has written, lectured and blogged extensively.

In the aftermath of the tsunami, Nalaka originated Children of Tsunami, one of the most ambitious projects undertaken by TVEAP during its 14 year history.  

Pipope headed the Thai team of journalists and producers who tracked and reported on the progress of two survivor children and their families for much of 2005. At the time the interview was recorded, he was Head of Documentary at Nation TV, Thailand. He has since turned freelance director and producer.

Read interview transcript

Photographs TVEAP Image Archive