Thailand - After the Tsunami
Written August 2005
The questions started before we even left Heathrow in fact whilst standing in line waiting to check-in for the flight to Bangkok... "Oh wow you're going to Phuket AND taking the kids... Are you sure it's OK there now?"
To be honest, I was somewhat taken aback by the question surely everyone knew by now that Phuket was back to normal indeed, most of Phuket itself had been pretty much OK within a few weeks of the tsunami. Clearly with all the best efforts of travel companies like ourselves and even the UK media, who have actually been unusually supportive in trying to persuade people to return to southern Thailand the message still wasn't getting through.
Sure enough, when we returned to the UK a few weeks later, everyone from my mother to the milkman wanted to know the same thing was Thailand really ready for the tourists to come back? It seemed people really DID care and they were just waiting for someone who had been there to tell them the truth. Well here it is...
Phuket
First of all, I'll have to admit that we didn't spend a lot
of time in Phuket itself. For those that don't know, for the
most part, it's a busy, noisy, touristy place – at least it
was prior to 26th December 2004. It's still busy it's still
noisy but there are noticeably a lot less tourists...
When Go Differently seeks out hotels, we tend to use smaller, locally-owned establishments wherever possible but Phuket does have a few really top quality hotels, one of which we visited on our last night – mainly because it was close to the airport! We explored the nearly deserted resort and wandered down to the palm-fringed, deck-chaired beach there was not a single sign – no debris, no unfinished building work nothing to hint at the devastation that had struck in that very place just 8 months earlier and yet there were probably no more than 30 rooms taken in this hotel with over 240 and most of these seemed to be occupied by business people passing through.
On the very southern tip of Phuket island, we stayed in a much smaller resort built in typical Thai style with charming, individual wooden houses set on a hillside overlooking the sea. Like many other hotels we visited, this had escaped untouched by the tsunami as it swept past on the way to wreak its awful wrath on Krabi and Phi Phi islands and yet now, it stood, as empty as the rest just waiting for the visitors to return...
Just an hour's boat ride from Phuket, we made another discovery a 5 star hotel on what felt like its own deserted island with views so breathtaking that we filled our digital camera's memory twice over and still couldn't quite capture it all! And yet, despite its beauty, not to mention the impeccable service that could easily rival any luxury hotel in Bangkok, we shared the infinity pool, the beachside restaurant and the hammocks slung amongst the palm trees with just three or four other couples.
We asked the staff how they had been affected by the tsunami and they were quick to reassure us that hotel residents on that unforgettable day noticed nothing more than the fact that the sea was slightly rougher than usual while only a few miles away in Phuket, Krabi and other nearby islands, the tragedy we have sadly come to know so well was already unfolding...
The staff did not talk much about the family and friends they themselves lost that day, perhaps because we did not have the time to get to know them well enough to share that confidence but also, I suspect, because apart from private moments, they are ready to move on if only the rest of the world would let them.
Khao Lak
We took a local bus and travelled up the coast, north towards
Khao Lak, reassured by the normality, if not by the lack of
visitors, in Phuket and its neighbouring islands, I have to
confess that I was not prepared for the sight that met our
eyes... On the right, a few shops and here and there, a newly
built apartment block, all quite obviously unoccupied but
on the left a far more shocking picture as far as the eye
could see, from the road to the sea (in some places a good
mile or two), there was nothing but red-brown mud. Not a palm
tree or a building left standing just a few stumps and foundations
remained as reminders that this was once a prettily forested
beach resort.
I had thought I was prepared for this
after all, I had seen things in a far worse state earlier
in the year but I was surprised to find tears in my eyes
and a lump in my throat. Now most of the debris has been cleared
– the usable or nearly usable dumped in sprawling piles outside
the houses still standing to be re-claimed by anyone who can
find a use for it – Khao Lak is empty but waiting it's clear
that there is still a long, long way to go before life here
will ever return to some kind of normality.
We continued our journey further north, stopping
off at Kura Buri to visit our friends at the North Andaman
Tsunami Relief project. Against almost insurmountable odds,
this small group of volunteers have been working in the area
for the last 9 months with an emphasis on empowering the local
communities to help themselves as well as creating new job
opportunities for the fishermen who lost their boats and others
who are still simply too afraid to return to their lives by
the sea.
The villagers we met had been forced to flee from the villages of Ko Phra Thong (Golden Buddha) island when most of their homes were completely obliterated by the waves. (When a government assessor visited one of the villages, he refused to believe that it had ever existed, so total was the devastation.)
Khao Soke
After a few days we headed onwards, to Khao Sok. This breathtaking
National Park with its towering limestone cliffs, lakes, rivers
and dripping, green jungle has a uniquely magical, almost
mystical feel to it. It's almost no surprise to see the brightly
painted hippy bars – really no more than dilapidated but warmly
welcoming shacks almost hidden amongst the leafy undergrowth.
Khao Sok also has to be one of the “safest” real jungles in
the world of course, there are snakes and spiders but avoiding
them just adds to the sense of adventure and perhaps best
of all, the area is considered low risk for malaria although
it does have to be said that there is no shortage of mosquitoes!
We spent several days in our wooden house
on stilts sitting on our balcony overlooking the river and
watching the rain come crashing down through the leaves –
there really is nothing quite as refreshing and invigorating
as tropical rain followed by lazy, sunny afternoons tubing
(floating on tyre inner tubes) down the many streams which
meander through the jungle. On one river trip, we came across
a troupe of macaques – mothers, babies and bossy fathers –
relaxing on the rocks in the early evening sun. Fortunately
our guide had thought to bring a pocket full of lychees and
we held these out to be gently taken by the monkeys, watching
as their nimble fingers carefully peeled the fruit before
eating.
With the somewhat unreliable electricity service
in the area (the light in our room was almost too dim to find
the bathroom, let alone to read) we spent our evenings (by
the light of oil lamps on the frequent occasions when the
electricity supply failed altogether) in the cosy communal
bar/dining area, playing cards and exchanging stories with
our fellow explorers.
But hey, you're thinking this article is
supposed to be about recovery after the tsunami what has
this got to do with an inland National Park? And I'd agree
with you it shouldn't have anything whatsoever to do with
it but unfortunately it does. Even here, a good hour's drive
away from the coast, the effects of the wave are still being
felt as tourists steer clear of southern Thailand altogether
If they don't come to Phuket, there is very little chance
that they will ever make it to Khao Soke and here, where the
entire infrastructure is founded on income from tourism the
effects of the reduction in visitor numbers is being felt
more acutely than in the larger resorts where there are at
least some alternative ways of making a living.
In conclusion, we had an unforgettable trip
we found that southern Thailand is more than ready for the
visitors to return As beautiful and as warmly welcoming as
ever Immediately following the tsunami, we supported them
with donations but those lives we have helped to rebuild are
only sustainable if the tourists come back and soon.
If you'd like to know more about the places
mentioned in this article, please contact info@godifferently.com.
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