Phuket - AY Post Tsunami Report - 28 July 2005
Post
Tsunami, Low-Season and Mid SW Monsoon blues...
28 July 2005 Phuket, Thailand.
Allot has been said and done since life in SE Asia was shockingly disrupted by the 26th Dec, Boxing Day Tsunami waves. When the outside media moved on, not much reporting has gone on after the worldwide outpouring of US$$billions being pledged for relief funding to aid the poor and suffering victims, other than a mix up of endless replays on TV of the horrific waves for the first time in history, rolling ashore on Phuket's west coast, just over 7 months ago.
One
of the most damaging things that affects the whole region in the post
tsunami era, are the travel advisories issued by western governments warning
their nationals not to travel to this region for safety sake. In the wake
of the recent London, Spain, Egypt and Turkey bombings plus the ongoing
crises in Israel and the Middle East with the US, perhaps some counter
travel warnings should be issued from here, purely to show how ridiculous
and harmful these warnings are in countries that rely heavily on deriving
their income from serving a vibrant tourism industry.
Now
that the Tsunami early warning system is up and running plus soon to be
online, I wonder how long it will take the world to come to its senses
and realize that the SE Asian region is possibly one of the safest and
best places on earth when considering your next holiday vacation. Even
if your travel agent advises you against it. Only the other night around
midnight there was another earthquake off Sumatra and warnings placed
on TV, Radio and SMS'd to people living in low lying areas to move to
higher ground in case of a tsunami, which most residents including foreign
visitors in hotels quietly adhered to, but thankfully did not eventuate.
Better to be safe than sorry I say.
Having
lived in the SE Asian region for nearly 15 years, I personally find Asian
people to be brought up with strong family bonds and regardless of religious
faith or cultural beliefs, taught to be resourceful, polite, courteous,
overly inquisitive, helpful, especially friendly to tourists and kind
hearted to each other. Hardly a bad word is ever uttered about one another,
even behind closed doors! Unless you commit a cardinal sin like being
drunk or stupid, which is generally frowned upon.
Taking
the time between regattas to do some investigative photo journalism of
my own and follow up on a few leads like the LongTail fishing/tourist
boat aid program and take a look for myself at how the popular west coast
beach side areas have recovered since that fateful day 26/12/04.
Like all trips it starts at the bank in busy Phuket town which is positively thriving after grasping modern ICT technologies to do business with. Fortune Magazine recently posted Phuket as the 4th most attractive retirement place in the world. Wow! No wonder there are so many new housing developments and buildings springing up all over the island. I hear the excellent service and treatment at private hospitals and their short waiting list for surgical work has already become attractive to foreigners especially from the USA.
Business
confidence seems very high despite the slump in tourist arrivals since
the tsunami. As most the island is very hilly, the tsunami damage is only
found in low lying properties along the beach fronts. In the small inland
townships its business as usual. A new road widening program and with
the completion of many government infrastructure projects there is now
many ways of driving around or crisscrossing the island.
First
stop! Kamala Beach in the Kathu district. This was were the waves
did allot of damage and because of the long shallow approaches to the
beach could possibly have been the biggest seen on the island. The village
is mainly built along the coastal strip which took the brunt of the waves
and flooded over into a low lying area behind, right up to the Fantasia
amusement park. Most the debris has been removed and the houses, restaurants
and bars are either up and running or in the process of being rebuilt.
The longtail boats and drivers that frequent a small creek that flows
under a high bridge and up the back somewhere were completely inundated
in waves that wrecked most the fleet and demolished the small coffee shop,
food stalls and dwellings along the way.
One
survivor Mrs Popnthip Pensuk, a Muslim shop keeper nicknamed Yai
(See photo)
showed me the path she took up the hill behind her rebuilt shop and used
again the other night. Her farther was not so fortunate and was swallowed
up by the waves in December. Having received small amounts of aid money,
Yai and her husband have wisely invested in new fridge units, rebuilding
and fitting out the shop, while their house still lays in ruins alongside,
on the banks of the creek.
A few of the more well healed small hotels and apartments nearby have received financial help from their more wealthier overseas customers to be completely renovated and open for business.
I promised Yai to let the world know of her plight and see if any of our readers would like to help her reestablish the family and get their lives quickly back on track. Email news@asianyachting.com
Tied up in the creek was a number of newly built and repaired timber longtails that were kindly donated by Rotary International in a aid replacement package for the local boat boys to take fishing or tourists sightseeing on. Unfortunately the weather is to rough and a lack of tourists at the moment for them to presently do either, so this is when the family and friends share amongst themselves to survive till high season comes along.
A
quick drive over the hills and panoramic coastal cliff route you soon
approach the infamous Patong Bay with over 3 km of beach. Other than a
few obviously washed out areas that are under repair you would not know
that a tsunami had ever been there. Most the clothing, jewelry, nick-knack
shops and restaurants have been restored and the Soi Bang La strip of
girly beer cluster bars is turned into a walking mall after 6:00 pm these
days.
If
anything there seems to be less sand on the beach and one of my favorite
seafood restaurants tucked under the cliffs in south Patong run by the
parents of longtail drivers has been completely washed away.
It's a similar scene over in Karon, Kata and down to Nai Harn Beach in the south. Some of the bigger hotels have decided to take the time during the low season to complete renovations and will be ready for the expected rush come Nov - Dec.
“This year Phuket King's Cup Regatta will mark the full recovery of Phuket province and the Andaman Coast from the Tsunami damage last year, as well as demonstrate the growing yachting industry of Thailand,” said King’s Cup President Santi Kanchanabandhu, adding that "Yacht racing in Thailand has developed from pure sport into a series of annual lifestyle events which attract attention from a much broader audience than before, including an increasing number of Thai sailors.
So
what are you waiting for? If you buy air tickets now there are some incredible
deals going on the cut price or budget airlines if you purchase at least
a month or 2 ahead. The land of smiling faces is ready to greet you despite
the hardships and personal grieving that has been endured.
The Phuket Race Week 05 - AY Website Edition with photos is at: http://asianyachting.com/news/PRW05.htm
View the Quantum Naga Cup web edition with photos goto: http://asianyachting.com/news/QNagaCup05.htm
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Fri
7th Jan 05 Langkawi, Malaysia: A group of local businessmen and
sailors calling themselves Langkawi Wave
of Mercy in association with Global
Sikhs and the Malaysian
Sikh Youth, set sail on 2 ships with 27 medical staff
and 26 crew members containing RM5mil worth of medical supplies and tons
of foodstuffs including rice, water, cooking equipment, cookers and gas.
As the heavily populated North West Sumatra region has a vast coastline
with many small offlying islands there may still be numerous unexplored
areas with thousands of survivors in need of help. "We have asked
the US army in Aceh to help in the relief work and now established a base
in the port town of Sabang on Pulau
Weh at the local hospital while the vessels sail along the
coast looking for more such villages".
They will report back to Langkawi on local conditions and urgently need
funding for supply boats to ferry out volunteers, staff and carrying additional
medical supplies so desperately needed. Volunteers are required to help
with communication and coordination can call 03-22833713 or donate to
Maybank a/c no. 514123434833 payable to Sikh Naujawan Sabha Malaysia-Tsunami
Relief.
12th
Jan 2005: Although several yachts sunk and untold damage
was inflicted to a couple of marinas, all of the yachties managed to survive
the Tsunami in Langkawi.
As
they are slowly getting over the nightmarish experience a website has
been set up to record the events of the day and some individual stories
of survival have been posted for all those that have expressed concern
around the world.
Rob
Williams at Yachtpro (Thailand)
have decided to run a Charity Sailing Day
on Sun 30 Jan at the Yacht
Haven Marina found in the north of Phuket to: Raise
funds for the locals devastated by the Tsunami and draw attention to the
fact that Phuket is open and the marine industry is fully operational.
Acc
Name: Yachtpro (Thailand) Co.Ltd. Tsunami Recovery
Although
the shirts are priced for pick-up in Phuket town they will cover the delivery
costs but ask you to increase your donation commensurately.
Please fax or email the order to 
The
latest survey on Saturday 8th Jan of the primary sailing areas around
Phuket reveiled:
Ao
Nang - Krabi 
Our
heartfelt condolences go out to everyone who has suffered as a result
of the tsunamis coming ashore and thank all the people that have generously
donated to supply urgently needed help for the
survivors in these remote regions during their times of need.
The
unprecedented nature of Tsunamis occurring on South Asian beaches has
caused a massive emotional wave of out pouring to reverberate across the
globe. First TV glimpses held in disbelief appeared of shocked
survivors at popular west coast holiday destinations
describing the initial trauma of clearing through the debris and
getting over the grief
of losing their loved ones. Then as news of the widespread carnage
unfolded in worst hit areas of Sri
Lanka, the Maldives,
India,
Andaman Is
and Indonesia came in, a flood
of International
aid and UN humanitarian assistance is now rapidly flowing
in to help pick up the pieces and hopefully rebuild their shattered lives.
As these Indian
Ocean nations are amongst
the poorest
and
densely populated in the developing world, which at best only supports
a basic infrastructure and in many cases
are coastal fishing villages usually found under
the swaying palm trees, the final death toll will never be known.
Although
the off lying islands around Phuket, Langkawi, Penang and parts of the
mainland have been affected, there is a growing concern in these popular
tourist destinations that International news agencies are disproportionately
reporting the extent of the damage in these more developed regions compared
with elsewhere.
Eleven
days after the tsunamis and the respective national emergency services
have swung into action taking care of the injured plus proceeded rapidly
with a clean up and enough time to arrange immediate relief funds for
other countries most affected, all while the International news services
are still focusing on the grisly aspects of the disaster despite a general
desire to get on with life as quickly as possible. As a consequence, they
could be destroying the survivors very livelihood as thousands upon thousands
are expecting to earn their living from tourism over the coming months.
Once the immediate impact is over and the reporters go home, many people
may face unemployment with no income to sustain their families.
Grenville
Fordham at Image Asia Events reports that "The
majority of hotels, beaches and tourist facilities in Phuket, Krabi and
Koh Lanta remain untouched and are operating normally. Many tourists have
decided to stay on. As each day passes more and more can be seen sunbathing,
swimming, dining out, drinking and making the most of the rest of their
holiday". Their website newsletter paints a clearer picture of the
situation around Phuket at 
Whole
villages and some towns have been completely flooded and swept out to
sea. The majority of those killed in this natural disaster are coastal
dwellers with the survivors now facing a rising death toll and a possibility
of spreading disease. Help is needed for the daunting tasks lying ahead
of identifying missing persons and burying the dead from this catastrophe
while others go about trying to get their lives back on track again.
What's
amazing as the extent of the tragedy unfolds is the number of miraculous
survival stories and acts of camaraderie surfacing after being washed
away or clinging on to whatever they could to stop themselves being swept
away from homes or popular tourist resorts in Phuket, Thailand, the Andaman
Islands and as far away as Sri Lanka, India, the Maldives and the African
Coastline.
CNN
First reports - Tsunamis in Southeast Asia...
Sun
26th Dec. Phuket, the Andaman Islands and a number of other coastal
locations in the region have suffered considerable damage from tsunami
waves as a result of a series of earthquakes in the region.
Paul Sholten In Langkawi Malaysia 
MARINERS
SHOULD BE WARNED OF THE HUGE INCREASE IN DEBRIS NOW IN THE WATER AND CRUISERS
ARE BEING ASKED TO DELAY VISITING THE REGION UNTIL RESCUE EFFORTS ARE
COMPLETED.
Andaman
Sea Rally Announcement
We are safe. Our families are safe. There was only relatively minor injuries
to the Thai people and expats within the Yon Bay community. A number of
homes closest to the beach were destroyed. Most of the businesses along
the beach have sustained substantial losses, especially the pearl farm
at the west end of the beach. Most important though: As news trickles
in we think that all of our friends are alive though some are injured
and others have lost homes, cars and businesses, etc.
What
can WE do to help?