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People Who Need People
Sandra Scott

I didn't know what to expect when my husband and I arrived in Phuket, the area of Thailand that received so much media coverage when it was hit by the tsunami.
We started planning our 10-week Asian trip before the tsunami and Phuket was part of the plan. We decided not to make any Phuket reservations until we arrived in Bangkok and could assess the situation.

Our friends cancelled their trip. People we met along the way said, "Why would you go to Phuket with all that tragedy?" Or, "Wasn't it all destroyed."

When we reached Bangkok six weeks after the tsunami the mantra was: "Now we need tourists more than money." Thai Air offered half-price tickets so we booked a flight to Phuket.

Phuket, Thailand's largest island, is about 30 miles long and 15 miles wide. The 40-minute drive from Phuket airport to the waterside resort Cape Panwa gave no evidence that anything unusual had occurred. Cape Panwa Resort was not damaged, neither were 90% of Phuket's other resorts. However, now everyone is effected because the lack of tourists has led to high unemployment. Now the suffering is a financial one.

One evening we were the only people in the resort's lounge. The singer said, "I sing just for you," and sang "People Who Need People" and "New York, New York."
It would have been easy to stay in the cocoon-like existence provided by the resort but we could not ignore the tragedy. We contacted a friend, Claus Beeck, a German who has lived in Phuket for six years.

With Claus as our guide we visited Patong Beach, the area so prominently featured in the media. The long sweeping beach was lined with lounges and colorful umbrellas, people were water skiing and swimming, and vendors were plying their wares. Everything appeared normal. During lunch at a beachside restaurant Claus explained the dynamics of the tsunami and how it had wiped everything away in the area where we were eating. He, too, was impressed with the speed of the recovery. The debris is gone, much to be recycled, but five resorts along the beach will be closed for several months. The infrastructure was never affected. In fact, Claus, who lived a mile from the beach did not even know the tsunami had occurred.

After lunch we drove north to Kamala Beach, which was harder hit than Patong. While not as far along in the cleanup progress, they too will be cleaned up in a month or so.
Any talk of recovery is not intended to downplay the tragedy. Thai newspapers run a count of the dead, injured and missing. The dead in Thailand stands at about 5,000 with more than 3,000 missing. Some people are still without proper housing. Many of the fatalities, injuries and missing are in the Khao Luc area to the north of Phuket where the land is flatter and the wave covered more area. Recovery will be much slower in Khao Luc.

A two-hour ferryboat took us across the calm Andaman Sea to Phi Phi Island, the Eden-like tropical island featured in "The Beach." The island was very hard hit.
There was a sign on the boat that said, "Help Phi Phi Island by visiting and bringing your friends." Five resorts, including Phi Phi Natural, are open but were knocked out of the 5-star category, however the picturesque coves, white sand beaches, and karst scenery are still 5-star.

Phi Phi Island is a long narrow mountain ridge that rises out of the tranquil emerald water. Two narrow gaps in the ridge allowed the wave to rush through destroying everything in its path. Construction on a new resort is continuing, repair on other resorts is progressing, and barges are removing the debris, but it will be April or May before it is all cleaned up and some places are gone forever.

In Ton Sai, Phi Phi's only town, the spirit of survival is evident everywhere. The wave wiped half of the 7-Eleven store away but in the area that was the entrance, now merely a shell, a vendor was unpacking new t-shirts that had just arrived on the ferryboat. Every business was damaged but the air was filled with the sound of construction and cleaning. A few before-and-after pictures showed the amount of work that has already been accomplished. Tourist boats are arriving but most passengers do not get off the boat, they just look and continue to a snorkeling spot. A small sign in one of the shops said, "Do not be a disaster tourist. Buy something from the locals."
It may their only sale this week.

After a couple of days on Phi Phi we took a ferryboat to Lanta Island which was he least effected resort island. They are calling themselves, "Lucky Lanta." The loss of life could have been worse. The tsunami hit the morning of December 26 and many people were taking it easy the day after Christmas and were slow to arrive on the beach. Also, many of the schools are near the beaches and they were closed for the holiday.

We saw no memorials and were surprised at the lack of signage drawing attention to the tsunami. In Kamala Beach we did see a large "Thank you" sign. Everything is in a "Let's go forward" mode. However, the tsunami is never far from anyone's thoughts. Tears well up when they recall that fateful morning, people have trouble sleeping, but the big problem now is the lack of employment. The Thais in the tsunami area are "people who need people." Most businesses and resorts are trying to stay open so they do not have to let their help go. A few tourists are returning but most places, even those untouched by the tsunami, are operating at ten percent to thirty percent. Mary Bird, a tourist from England, said, "I don't want to be disrespectful, but it is nice having the resort and beaches all to ourselves." One evening, during dinner we chatted with a family of four from Norway. They are tsunami survivors. The first morning of their vacation, while they were still in their room, the wave hit. The whole family survived. The only physical injury was to seventeen-year-old Ida Stenshorne who was cut by glass when the wave crashed through the sliding glass door. Like most survivors they have difficulty sleeping.

They decided to return to "clear their mind." Plus, Ida said, "We want to show support for the Thai people for their kindness and help." The tsunami came and was followed by a wave of cancellations, which is seriously affecting an economy heavily based on tourism. The "trickle-down" effect due to the lack of tourist money is evident in every area of the economy. After the clean up is finished, the next big job will be to replace the images of destruction with the typical ones of long sweeping beaches and tranquil emerald seas.

Sandra Scott is a freelance travel writer and educator based New York

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