THAILAND: The tourism industry in the hard hit seaside resort along the Andaman coast in Thailand is picking up after two years of recovery from the tsunami

Phuket's Patong beach is filled with scenes of tourists roaming around on bright sun reflected beaches. Busy beaches with sea lovers hovering on jet skis, parasailing or just wading through rolling waves were uncommon scenes after the tsunami hit the Indian Ocean coastal area almost two years ago. The tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) expects the number of tourists arriving in Phuket in 2006 to be the same as it was during the pre-tsunami period. Some 4.8 million travelers enjoyed the beaches of Phuket in 2004, before the massive tidal wave hit the island on the morning of December 26 in 2004. The TAT's four regional offices which overlook Phuket's activity said the peak season which starts in November saw a booking of at least 90 per cent of the some 327,000 rooms available in the famous resort island during Christmas eve. The Early Disaster Warning Tower overseeing the beach can be spotted from a long distance and is a reminder of past events for tourists who experienced the disaster such as Irish national, Peter Brennan. "I can see big tsunami coming and I ran, but I didn't make it and it grab me and push me over the trees, in the air, you know." Brennan said he visits Phuket every year and tsunami risks will never get him to change his destination. "Because it is tsunami, if I go to Ireland, I can get tsunami in Ireland, I can get tsunami in America, so why afraid, I'm not afraid, no." The common scene of vendors sneaking through crowds of tourists is an indicator that life is returning back to what it was, but they say there is more to be done. "We should promote for more tourists to come, telling the them that there are a lot of good things here. I hope more tourists will come back," said beach vendor Pinyo Taoleam. In Thailand, the luxury beach resorts of Khao Lak were the worst hit by the tsunami with the death toll reaching 4,225 and 1,655 people missing presumed dead. Hotel reconstruction is still ongoing with only 45 percent of the 5,312 previously available rooms opened to travelers. In 2004, more than 400,000 tourists stayed in Khao Lak just before the tsunami reached the area. Today tourism officials estimate they have reached 58 percent of that figure, with more and more tourists returning to the two kilometers shallow strip of coastal area, which was almost completely wiped out by the wave. Officials say Khao Lak's was becoming a very popular destination before the disaster, with tourist figures climbing at a rocketing rate of 67 percent increase from 2003 to 2004. Although the turnout is still low, local business operators are satisfied with the recovery. "There is a good sign that tourist groups are coming back, we can see the same groups of tourists revisiting here, in average, we have about 40 percent of what we had before the tsunami," says Chuleeporn Sermsirimanond, manager of the Khao Lak Paradise Resort. The six Andaman's coastal provinces in Thailand lost 5,395 lives to the tsunami along with a great loss of profits for the tourism industry in the past two years.

ITN Source | December 24, 2006

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