Phuket Reports

Sex workers and tourists search for light in the darkness

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE in Phuket

The island is sombre as New Year approaches but some tourists are trying to salvage their holidays - if only to show solidarity with Thais in the tragedy.

Far from causing offence, Phuket's businessmen say these tourists are being labelled as "admirably brave" by locals whose livelihoods have been swept away.

At the Kangaroo bar, on devastated Patong Beach, patrons drink beer by candlelight as the owner repaints bar stools. Metres away, bulldozers are clearing tangled wreckage.

The normally smiling barmen and sex workers join westerners on barstools in downing whisky and chain-smoking.

One girl chokes back tears as she runs to the rest room while another collapses in grief at the bar.

"I did not work for three days after my best friend Ning was crushed to death by two cars over there," said Lek, a sex worker, pointing to the remains of a massage parlour.

Her friend had been cleaning rooms on Sunday morning when the tsunami struck.

Lek said while many local workers were still grieving for the dead or searching for the missing the hope was that tourists would start returning in large numbers, and quickly.

"What can we do, we have to work. Have to live again."

Nodding in agreement a few bar stools down, American tourist Brian Keith said he had decided not to cut his trip short.

"It's not a holiday now and I will not be celebrating New Year but I can't go, it feels like a duty," he said.

"I was on high ground when it struck so I'm lucky, for sure, but the Thais thank me for staying."

Patong hotelier Bob Gray, who was almost swept away by the second of at least six huge waves that struck the island, said local residents were trying to separate the suffering from the fact that lives must be rebuilt.

"The Thai word that is being used the most about this translates as `to fight'," he said.

"There is no social security here, so even as people cremate their loved ones they are having to focus on rebuilding their lives.

"For most this means trying to clean things up and keep the tourists here."

Regulars have continued to arrive and he says occupancy is around 60 per cent.

But New Year will nonetheless pass silently for most.

"We are realistic and know we may have to sell what we have and somehow start again," Mr Gray said, while voicing gratitude for the support from guests.

But for other tourists who choose to remain through the New Year there will be no keeping up appearances.

British tourist Ben Seyried has been looking for his friend Piers since he was swept from sight on Phi Phi island.

Carrying a picture of his friend at Phuket's town hall, which has become the nerve centre of the relief effort, he said he had forgotten New Year was even approaching.

"We have searched every hospital and put up pictures," he said, dressed in clothes donated by Thai relief workers.

"There is still hope and as long as there is hope the search will go on."

Australian embassy officials said even as tourists fly out, other foreigners are flying in to try to find missing friends and relatives.

The only consistent thread among local workers, residents and tourists is hope for the future.

"I can't think what will happen tomorrow," said Lek, gazing around the nearly empty bars along the partly demolished Patong Beach entertainment strip.

"All I want to do right now is take these pictures of the drowning from my mind and make things better here again."

first, i hope all are safe. I know of several people who have not returned my emails and I am worried. The images on TV are mindboggling to me. It could of been any of us.

Anyways, I hope you find this article thought provoking. I found it quite sad.

[url]http://nationmultimedia.com/2004/12/30/opinion/index.php?news=opinion_15927884.html[/url]

There are quite a number of hotels of all categories that were undamaged and by March I think even most of the damaged ones will be in business again. There's a Phuket-based divemaster on Lonely Planet's Thorntree that said people were diving again 2 days after the disaster. I haven't heard yet about how the dive sites have been altered by the tsunamis.

To Vaugan, Alistair and others who jumped on Trav Man: I know your hearts are in the right place but the Thais almost unanimously disagree with you. What happened was terrible but even the affected people want to get on with life and we should help them. They won't be helped one bit if we sit in a dark room wimpering for the next 90 days. Trav Man maybe could have worded things a bit better but his business will help people more than postings on a web site.

[quote=vaugan]dunno about the rest of you guys, but i'm speechless.[/quote]


beyond the sadness and all fairness, thailand really needs toursits dollars.
i had asked similar questions and for diving anyway, there are many areas that were not effected by the tsunami. look everywhere except southern thailand and you will find some very nice places.

this is what the board is for, so postings related to enjoying thailand should always be welcome.

the best long term way to help these areas is to spend your money visiting them. tourism is the largest single source of gnp for thailand

Suprised that everybody think its business as usual in Phuket. Of cource they want to recover as fast as possible, but many places in Phuket are destroyed after last weeks damage.

Over 5000 tourists from western Europe died there...many dead bodies in the water etc. I know that most of the damage came little bit outside Phuket, but the whole city is recovering right now.

We express our deep condolances to the victims of Tsunami disaster.

We will arrive Phuket tomorrow noon. For our friends in Phuket and Southern Thailand, please contact us in Phuket-WHO Control Centre or PM us in WSG forum. Hope all of you safe and peace. We urge to meet all of you. Blessing you. Be safe.
_______________________________________________________________

For All our good friends,

Please contribute whatever you could to HELP our Thai friends. They really need our supports and sympathies. WE ARE ONE ON THE WORLD.

Agencies reaching out to help the victims:
_________________________________________

ActionAgainstHunger - 212-967-7800 - [url]http://www.aah-usa.org/[/url]
American Jewish World Service - 800-889-7146 - [url]http://www.ajws.org/[/url]
ADRA International - 800-424-2372 - [url]http://www.adra.org/[/url]
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC Crisis Fund) - 888-588-2372 - [url]http://www.afsc.org/[/url]
Catholic Relief Services - 410-625-2220 - [url]http://www.kintera.org/htmlcontent.asp?cid=41794[/url]
Direct Relief Services - 805-964-4767 - [url]http://www.directrelief.org/index.html[/url]
Doctors Without Borders - 888-392-0392 - [url]www.doctorswithoutborders.org[/url]
International Medical Corps - 800-481-4462 - [url]http://www.imcworldwide.org/index.shtml[/url]
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies - PO Box 372, CH-1211 Geneva 19, Switzerland - [url]http://www.ifrc.org/[/url]
International Orthodox Christian Charities - 877-803-4622 - [url]http://www.iocc.org/[/url]
Lutheran World Relief - 800-597-5972 - [url]http://www.lwr.org/[/url]
MAP International - 800-225-8550 - [url]http://www.map.org/[/url]
Mercy Corps - 800-852-2100 - [url]http://www.mercycorps.org/splash/[/url]
Network For Good - [url]http://www.networkforgood.org/[/url]
Northwest Medical Teams - 503-624-1000 - [url]http://www.nwmedicalteams.org/[/url]
Operation USA - 800-678-7255 - [url]http://www.opusa.org/[/url]
Relief International - 310-478-1200 - [url]http://www.ri.org/[/url]
Save The Children - 800-728-3843 - [url]http://www.savethechildren.org/[/url]
United Nations World Food Program - 202-530-1694 - [url]http://www.wfp.org/[/url]
United States Fund for UNICEF - 800-486-4233 - [url]http://www.unicefusa.org/site/pp.as...LRI8O0H&b=25933[/url]
World Concern - 800-755-5022 - [url]http://www.worldconcern.org/[/url]
World Relief - 443-451-1900 - [url]http://www.wr.org/[/url]
World Vision - 888-56-CHILD - [url]www.worldvision.org[/url]

[quote=vaugan]dunno about the rest of you guys, but i'm speechless.[/quote]

so am i.

'terrible sunnamis' - what an insensitive blockhead (trav man i.e.)...

I agree theat the original post came across as insensitive but I really do believe that the best thing we can do is get back there as soon as they're ready and start spending our money again, after all who's in more need of it right now the Thais or Tenerife for example?

I first came to SE Asia (I live in Indonesia now) as a result of just such a situation. I was living in Australia a few months after the Bali bomb and saw travel agents offering phenomenally cheap deals to Bali. My first reaction was how heartless it would be to take advantage of such a deal, but everyone else told me no, spend my money there don't let the brave Balinese go under. When I arrived I was amazed at the friendliness and generosity of people who wanted nothing more than that they could get their lives back to normality after such an awful experience.

I'm due to make another trip abroad in mid-February, my initial plan had been China, but when I heard the news I thought China could wait. I had too many friends who need whatever little help I can give in Phuket. My pathetic gesture might only be buying a few extra beers, taking more tuk-tuks, buying a couple of tee-shirts I don't need; no sacrifice for me but a bit of help on the way to recovery for the magnificent people of Thailand. Think about it, if you had a business which had a fire or flood, initially you would try to sort out the damage and welcome whatever charity friends and neighbours could provide but afterwards what would you want, to sit around in a state of dependency or would you get together what you could and try to start running your business again? The Thais are a very proud people, they will not appreciate us dropping a coin in a begging bowl and then going on to spend big money with someone who right now is not in such dire needs.

I'm going to be watching this forum for the next few weeks, it would be of great assistance to us all if posters there - after helping with the immediate relief and rescue effort of course - could let us know how recovery is coming along. Please keep us informed of when our Thai friends are ready to welcome back guests.

You have to wonder how many tragic fiascos will continue to happen on Thaksin Shinawatra's watch. He seems to bounce from one botched and/or poorly handled calamity to another. When the government leaders are asleep at the switch people die.

Does anyone know if one of our poster M.S. Clive is ok? He had poated earlier that he would be in Phuket on Dec. 26 and haven't seen any reports from him. I sincerely hope he is ok.


S&M
If the hotel is on a hill, it is most likely unaffected as the waters affected the low lying areas only.

Duniawala, let's give him a couple of days. If he was there, I am sure that it is very difficult for him to get online, and I know this board won't be one of his top priorities. I am worried about him, too. But right now all we can do is wait until we hear from him and pray for the health safety of him and all the others who were affected by this tragedy. I wish him the best, and I hope he is ok.

Dorman, your post did sound a little bit insensetive, but I do agree with you 100%. We do have to get back there and start spending our money. It's one of the best things we can do for them right now. A lot of tourists are cancelling plans to travel there. They are expecting to lose a great deal of money because of this. The least we can do is head there and spend money and try to have a good time. I am planning to head to LOS in March, and this is the first time I will go to Phuket. I know things will not be the same as they were before, but the least I can do is go stay in their hotels, eat in their restaurants, drink in the bars, etc. They need my cash, and they need the customers. I think we should give them our support. Dorman, I would imagine that Phuket would be ready for us about the end of January. Things should resemble normal by about then. Guys on the ground in Phuket, let me know if my assumtion is correct. Thanks. PS: For those who might want to flame me, I know it is not business as usual. But there has to be business for Phuket to be able to stand up again, so I feel we should spend as much of our tourist dollars (or pounds, or yen, or whatever) there as soon as we can. They need the cash and the business now. The donations are helping the hungry, homeless, and injured people. But the hotel, restaurant, and bar owners need cash right now, too. If we don't support them also (by patronizing their establishments), they might be forced to fold. So by all means, donate to the relief organizations, but consider spending tourist dollars in Phuket, also. I am sure they will be happy to have you there.

Yesterday Swedish government declared National Mourning Day. According to the Swedish newspaper, a conservative estimate of about 3500-4000 Swedish still missing in Andaman areas. Less than 100 bodies have been recovered and positively identified as Swedish nationals.

A country of less than 9 million population with about 4000 deaths. It seems like everyone in Sweden knows someone lost life in the tsunami.

We really give our deepest condolence to Sweden and all the families all over the world who lost their love ones. This tragedy really tear up so many happy families, so many close friendships. But its warm to see people all over the world pull together to rescue and reconstruct in this desaster. Hope the whole world will be even closer after the catastrophe.

Called a mamasan friend at a bar in central Patong Beach area. She said that even though the town was a mess with dirt, debris and, sadly, a few bodies, that they were opening for business three days after the tsunami.