Phuket's booming tourism industry has caused an increase in the amount of young boys and girls that need to be rescued from poverty, say child protection workers on the frontlines of effort on the popular Thai island.

"The demand I believe is higher and higher," said Vilaiwan Dienel, a director at the Phuket Sunshine Village Foundation.

"The parents are getting poorer and they cannot support their children — especially at the moment with the economic crisis."

The foundation in Koh Sireh, on the opposite side of Phuket's more famous beach and tourist hot spots, takes care of up to 100 children from the ages of 2 to 18.

Tourism has become the region's biggest industry, driven by more than 3 million visitors every year. But it isn't just foreigners that come to Phuket.

Thais from across the nation were drawn to the island looking for jobs, but they soon found that the same industry that created jobs pushed prices up.

Locals said Phuket prices are on par, if not higher than the capital, Bangkok.

"Workers from other poor areas move to Phuket," said Ms Dienel. "They stay in a camp and when they start to work here, they [sometimes] find out that they cannot to take care of their kids."

That is being reflected in the children currently under care at Phuket Sunshine Village.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 3 minutes 2 seconds 3 m 2 s Thai children falling through cracks between low-paying tourism jobs and withdrawn aid ( Iskhandar Razak ) Download 5.6 MB

While some of the children are orphans or have been rescued from abuse, 54 have been abandoned by their family, or have a single parent unable to provide for their little boy or girl.

The economic effect of tourism was not the only reason why the foundation said more and more children were in need of help on the island.

It said many of the charities that once existed for the needy have closed down.

Post-tsunami orphan crisis

Phuket Sunshine Village was founded in the wake of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.

After Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India, Thailand suffered the most casualties with almost 5,400 confirmed deaths, 2,800 missing and 8,400 injured.

Boxing Day 2004 tsunami toll Country Estimated toll Displaced Indonesia 167,799 500,000+ Sri Lanka 35,322 516,150 India 18,045 647,599 Thailand 8,212 7,000 Sources: US Geological Survey; earthquakespectra.org; World Socialist; tsunamimemorial.or.th; Prehospital Disaster Medicine

"The idea was to deal with the orphans of the tsunami," said Franco Ferri another director of the foundation.

Mr Ferri said there was a wave of international aid and charity for Thailand after the tsunami, but in the years since, funding has withered.

"There were plenty of foundations growing out of the earth like mushrooms. The Phuket Sunshine Village is one of the last of those foundations still alive after ten years," he said.

"We had 25 to 30 foundations after the tsunami. On the island, we talk about 4 or 5 that are still here and operating. All others had to close."

The closure of other charities for the needy also meant extra strain was carried by the remaining aid agencies.

The foundation said it occasionally refuses people that come looking for help because it does not have enough room.

Concerns the sun will set on Sunshine

The foundation, like many other aid agencies on the island, relies on donors to continue operating.

The Red Cross helped set it up and it continues to receive support from the local Thai community.

But Ms Dienel said local support was not enough, and unless things change the foundation may be in trouble.

Children that have lost their parents in a variety of ways are raised by the foundation. ( Supplied: Phuket Sunshine Village Foundation )

"Phuket is not big. We only have a limited amount of [local] people who can afford to donate," she said.

"We can see how much we spend and how much we get from donations, and frankly I have to say we have had to touch our reserve funds, which shouldn't happen at all."

Mr Ferri said he understands that people want to donate goods, toys and food instead of cash.

But without financial support, charitable organisations cannot work.

"All the small foundations [that closed] had a lot of back-up, a lot of people donating goods and items, but they didn't get cash," he said.

"So they couldn't pay for their electricity, water and staff. That's why they had to close. It wasn't because there wasn't demand any more, no. There is huge demand."

Vilaiwan Dienel said most of the children it cared for after the tsunami were now either teenagers or young adults.

But if the foundation closed it would be a tragedy for the many other children in desperate need of care in Phuket.

"Our hope, is we can help this new group of kids be good kids," Ms Dienel said.

"The future of this place depends on how much support we get from people around here and overseas."