Schoolkids in Thailand
to get help from isles

A nightclub owner will use
donations to build playgrounds
and soccer fields

Gary "Mad Dog" Derks is looking for closure and a full night's sleep.

It's been more than a month since the Honolulu nightclub owner came close to death in a beachside bungalow on Thailand's Patong Beach. Now he's returning to the spot where he narrowly escaped a series of devastating tsunamis to build playground and soccer fields for five wave-ravaged schools.

Derks plans to leave for Thailand today, and has gathered about $2,500 in donations.

Some of those funds, along with thousands more of Derks' own money, went to buying and shipping playground parts to Thailand. "These kids need some playground equipment," he said, adding that he got the idea to build the playgrounds after talking to friends in Thailand.

"We're going to rebuild their playgrounds," he added. "They (the kids) are back at school at least, but they've got nothing to do when they're done."

Derks, who owns Da Dawg House on Kalakaua Avenue, has been visiting Thailand for more than 20 years.

Three days after the tsunamis hit, he was forced to return to Hawaii. Since, he hasn't been able to sleep well.

"Even to this day, when I see a scene of the tsunami on CNN, it just kind of screws my head up," Derks said.

"I left there when the place was in disarray," he continued. "I just got to get back on the horse, and I think it will be easier to sleep after that."

Derks said a loud roar roused him awake on Dec. 26 -- a noise he soon tracked to a wall of water heading toward his bungalow on Patong Beach.

He and his Thai girlfriend were able to escape by climbing on rooftops and slowly making their way inland. Both suffered deep cuts on their feet from broken glass hidden beneath murky waters.

Before Derks gets to Phuket, where he's also part-owner of a sports bar, he's hoping to take a days-long motorcycle road trip through parts of Thailand with friends to gather donations.

He also helped coordinate an effort through Mid-Pacific Institute to gather slippers for tsunami victims.

More than 200 pairs have already been donated. Once the drive is complete, the slippers will be sent to Derks in Thailand, and he will help distribute them.