Yaowawit is a government approved welfare boarding school opened in 2006 by the German entrepreneur and philanthropist Graf Philipp von Hardenberg together with Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand. Initially, the school was built to help tsunami victims but has grown and expanded, and is now responsible for the education and wellbeing of 120 children, ranging in age from 3 to 17. All of them come from very poor and broken families, which were otherwise unable to support them emotionally or financially.