THAILAND: NIGHTLIFE AND BUSINESS AT PATONG BEACH STRUGGLES AFTER THE DEADLY TIDAL WAVE.
Record ID:
648051
THAILAND: NIGHTLIFE AND BUSINESS AT PATONG BEACH STRUGGLES AFTER THE DEADLY TIDAL WAVE.
- Title: THAILAND: NIGHTLIFE AND BUSINESS AT PATONG BEACH STRUGGLES AFTER THE DEADLY TIDAL WAVE.
- Date: 6th January 2005
- Summary: (W2) PATONG BEACH, THAILAND (JANUARY 6, 2005) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. PAN/NIGHT: TRANSVESTITES STANDING ON STREET. 0.09 2. SCU/NIGHT: TOURISTS LOOKING ON. 0.13 3. VARIOUS/NIGHT: OF TRANSVESTITES DANCING ON STAGE. (3 SHOTS) 4. VARIOUS/NIGHT: OF EMPTY BARS. (3 SHOTS) 1.00 5. MV: SIGN READING "BAR FOR SALE" 1.06 6. WS/NIGHT: MORE OF EMPTY BAR. 1.14 7. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) SWISS BAR OWNER, ALFRED KELLER, SAYING: "Right now, we suffer very much. We sell about 10 percent from what we did last year at this time." 1.24 8. MV/NIGHT: TOURISTS AT BAR. 1.29 9. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) KELLER SAYING: "At the disco we have about 50 people and it's very difficult for them now to find another job." 1.36 10. VARIOUS/NIGHT: MORE OF EMPTY BAR/ THAI GIRLS STANDING BEHIND EMPTY BAR. (3 SHOTS) 2.00 11. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) DUTCH TOURIST SEVERIN DE WIT, LAWYER FROM THE HAGUE, WHO ARRIVED IN PHUKET WITH HIS WIFE, DAUGHTERS AND SON ON DECEMBER 26 SAYING: "It's very strange because if you've been hundred metres from here, life looks devastated. It's no life, it's dark, it's empty, it's almost scary. It says as if this place doesn't exist anymore. And one metre, Thais start their lives as if nothing happens. But the tourists are missing, the Thais keep on going but we don't because we feel that we should go back, because this is so horrible, I cant stay here. I can't just drink beer and go after girls, because i should be going home, telling the people how devastated everything is. But the Thais they keep on picking up their lives. They keep on starting rebuilding the things, they've been, well they try to be as normal as life can be under the circumstances, but look what happens, I mean this is not normal. And maybe it shouldn't be." 2.53 12. MV/NIGHT: GIRL SITTING IN EMPTY BAR. 2.59 13. CU/NIGHT: SIGN READING: "SHARKY'S BAR" 3.02 14. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) THAI WOHRAWUTH PONGPAOW, 23-YEAR- OLD DOORMAN SAYING: "Some people say two or three weeks but I don't think so. I think it's going to take a long time, two or three years." 3.12 15. WS/NIGHT: OF TRAFFIC IN DESERTED PATONG BEACH STREET. (2 SHOTS) 3.32 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 21st January 2005 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: PATONG BEACH, PHUKET, THAILAND
- Country: Thailand
- Reuters ID: LVA7URNMXH33GYHPQAMXIAWKBGU5
- Story Text: Lights remain dim in the devastated Patong Beach as
businesses struggle to bounce back after the deadly tsunami.
Standing on the side of an almost deserted street, a
group of Thai transvestites try to entice a handful of
tourists into their cabaret shows.
"Welcome to Thailand," says one of the heavily made-up
transvestites.
A few feet away, dancing to Sister Sledge, three more
are up on stage, dancing the night away.
But the thumping disco-music can't disguise the sad
reality. The seats are empty. Bored Thai bar girls stare
aimlessly into space, desperately waiting for a customer to
party with them.
"Right now, we suffer very much. We sell about 10
percent from what we did last year at this time," said
Swiss Alfred Keller who owns the Boom-Boom Swiss Bar, Happy
Night Bar and half of Crocodile Disco - all located down
the same alley that houses hundreds of bars and discos in
Thailand's Patong Beach.
Tourists travelling to the exotic resorts in Thailand's
southern Phuket island often make their stop at Patong
Beach. This area used to be packed with thousands of tourists,
wanting to have a taste of Thailand's bustling nightlife in
go-go bars and discos.
Tourists have stayed away following the December 26
tsunami which devastated the area.
While thousands of tourists have cut short their
holidays and volunteered to help, there are those who are
helping by staying on and getting on with their holidays.
"It's very strange because if you've been hundred
metres from here, life looks devastated. It's no life, it's
dark, it's empty, it's almost scary. It says as if this
place doesn't exist anymore. And one metre, Thais start
their lives as if nothing happens. But the tourists are
missing, the Thais keep on going but we don't because we
feel that we should go back, because this is so horrible, I
cant stay here. I can't just drink beer and go after girls,
because i should be going home, telling the people how
devastated everything is. But the Thais they keep on
picking up their lives. They keep on starting rebuilding
the things, they've been, well they try to be as normal as
life can be under the circumstances, but look what happens,
I mean this is not normal. And maybe it shouldn't be," said
Dutch lawyer Severin De Wit who arrived in Phuket with his
wife, two daughters and one son on the day when the tsunami hit.
Hardest hit are the thousands of Thais who work in
these bars and discos.
Despite reassurances from the government that all those
affected by the tsunami will be looked after, not too many
locals are optimistic. Instead, they are bracing for rough
times ahead.
"Some people say two or three weeks but I don't think
so. I think it's going to take a long time, two or three
years," said Wohrawuth Pongpaow, a 23-year-old Thai who
works as a doorman.
More than 5,000 have been killed by the tsunami in
Thailand, almost half of them foreign tourists who had come
to visit the white-sand beaches scattered all over the region.
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