THAILAND: Tourists return to tsunami-hit beaches but full recovery is still months, if not years away

Record ID: 312184

  • Title: THAILAND: Tourists return to tsunami-hit beaches but full recovery is still months, if not years away
  • Date: 24th December 2005
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF GUESTS AT LE MERIDIEN KHAO LAK RESORT AT TABLES ON BEACH /SITTING IN HAMMOCK
  • Embargoed: 8th January 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Thailand
  • Country: Thailand
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Travel / Tourism
  • Reuters ID: LVABYPOPDI07UKCG7KWRFEDXOW2Z
  • Story Text: One year after the deadly Indian Ocean tsunami
    killed thousands of people along Thailand's pristine
    western shores, tourists are gradually returning to Phuket
    as hotels and bars reopen for business.
    Peak tourist season is in full swing on Patong beach,
    where about 250 people died in the December 26 disaster
    last year, with thousands of visitors escaping the
    Christmas chill in Europe and America to enjoy a sunny
    festive season.
    Despite initial fears of a tourist backlash, the
    multi-million dollar industry has recorded a robust
    recovery with around 12 million visitors spending their
    holidays in the region this year.
    Thirty-seven-year-old Australian Samantha Page says she
    did think twice before booking her vacation to southern
    Thailand but did not want to let fears of another tsunami
    ruin her dream holiday.
    "Before I left my son, who's nine, said to me 'Mum, I
    don't want you to go because there might be another
    tsunami'. But when I thought about it, no, I don't think
    you can live life like that, you've just got to go and do
    what you want, yeah," she said while sunbathing on a deck
    chair in Patong Beach.
    The tsunami all but crippled southern Thailand's
    tourism business, causing damages and losses of up to 84.5
    billion baht ($2.05 billion), according to the Asian
    Disaster Preparedness Centre.
    Since then the government has worked hard to restore
    confidence, spending at least 70 billion baht ($1.7
    billion) on reconstruction and assistance.
    The investment appears to be paying off. Some local
    hotels are already clocking up occupancy rates of 85 per
    cent this season.
    Visitors from Britain, Germany and Sweden are making up
    the bulk of travelers with many consciously spending their
    tourist dollars here to help the recovery.
    "In a way, we thought that we could support Thailand in
    our own way by spending money," said Swedish tourist Ceddy
    Nilsson who came to Thailand to celebrate his 40th birthday.
    In Khao Lak, the worst hit area where the majority of
    Thailand's 5,395 victims died, a few luxury hotels are
    reopening their doors with better than expected results.
    Le Meridien Resort and Spa was the first five-star
    international hotel chain to welcome guests after
    completing its reconstruction in October.
    While initially aiming to fill 18 percent of its 243
    rooms, the hotel is close to reaching its pre-tsunami
    occupancy rate of 45 percent.
    General Manager, Achim Brueckner, attributes the
    success to heavily discounted promotions and tough safety
    measures to guard against any future catastrophe.
    "We have put in place very strong emergency procedure
    for tsunami and we're offering at the moment very
    attractive rate on the Thai market and on the international
    market," he said.
    Almost 300 guests were staying at the hotel when the
    tsunami struck without warning last year, killing 20
    tourists and staff, and damaging 50 percent of the
    buildings.
    Reconstruction has cost $18 million, but Brueckner says
    tourists will not return in force until the Thai government
    informs people about its tsunami early warning system.
    "It's a bit difficult to get the proper information.
    Who is going to inform you in case of a tsunami. Can we
    rely on the source where let's say a phone call comes from
    and informs about the tsunami disaster. There are a lot of
    open questions that needs to be answered," he said.
    Despite these lingering questions, Brueckner is
    optimistic about the tourism industry's recovery by the end
    of 2006.
    But with many local hotels still damaged and deserted
    along Khao Lak's beaches, smaller businesses are not sure
    they can hold out that long.
    Faced with a massive debt of 300,000 baht ($7,329),
    local clothes vendor, Worachanok Saelim, says she is not
    sure if she can survive the current slump in tourism.
    "Nowadays, we sell less than 1000 baht a day. Before it
    was totally different. We only earn enough now for food,"
    she said.
    Worachanok is not blaming tourists, but local hotel and
    flight operators who are still waiting to rebuild.
    The UN World Tourism Organization reports that only 500
    of Khao Lak's 6,000 rooms have reopened.
    Regional airlines, like Hong Kong-based Dragon Air, and
    charter flights from Europe, which suspended flights to
    Phuket last December, have yet to resume services.
    As a result, international arrivals to Phuket airport
    are down an average of 60 percent this year compared to
    2004, according to the Pacific Asia Travel Association.
    The only lifeline for small business owners like
    Worachanok is the army of foreign volunteers that are
    helping to rebuild the communities and spending what little
    money they can to prop up local shops.
    Close to 300 foreigners have so far volunteered at the
    Cape Pakarang Boathouse to build boats for fishermen whose
    communities were wiped out by the giant waves.
    Travelers from South Africa to New Finland have worked
    under sweltering conditions to construct more than 40 boats
    with a waiting list of at least 70 more.
    Each vessel costs 150,000 baht ($3200) to build and
    volunteers and local craftsmen are churning a boat out
    every five and a half days.
    The project also provides 25 full time jobs to
    villagers who would otherwise be desperately unemployed.
    Run by American engineer, Scott Carter, this fully
    donor-funded project aims to give fishermen back their
    livelihoods.
    Carter himself closed his lucrative engineering
    business in South Carolina and sold his home to continue
    volunteering in Thailand after initially committing for
    only a month.
    Almost a year on he says he has no regrets about giving
    up his comfortable life in the United States to do some
    hard labor in Thailand.
    "Money comes and money goes. Yeah, I could make a very
    comfortable living at home and maybe I'd be happy, but
    maybe I wouldn't. But I really believe that the measure of
    your wealth in this world is the good that you do and I can
    do so much more good in this time than I could ever think
    about at home."
    Carter says even though he gets homesick sometimes, he
    will continue to work at the Boathouse until the funding
    for the project dries up, or until there is no longer a
    need for him to remain.
    ENDS
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