I’ve been spending a lot of this morning looking for information on how Thailand is recovering from the Tsunami. I have been impressed with how quickly they are putting things back to normal. Most of the local websites I’ve found have had been quite unhappy about the tone of the news reports coming out of the area, and are trying their hardest to dispell rumors of the area’s total destruction. This website is loaded with day-by-day photo updates on the cleanup process.
Of course, there are areas that have been hit very hard, particularly Phang Nga Bay, which is a very popular tourist spot in Phuket. Several thousand people lost their lives there. However, the message from Southern Thailand is very clear: things are rapidly being cleaned up, and the best way to help is to come visit for a holiday. They seem most concerned that the Thai people will suffer more from lack of tourism, which keeps them employed. In a lengthy update article, Sawadee.com had this to say:
The weight of human loss and loss of livelihoods that it has wrought, and that which is still yet to come to light, is of course immeasurable. To all those people affected, we send out our most heartfelt condolences. We know you are many and we hope that we can be as strong as you and stand beside you in the months to come.
It is the Thai people who, in what would be considered overwhelming circumstances for many westerners, are quietly, stoically, cleaning up and beginning the rebuilding work on Phuket. It is a scene repeated up and down the coast. There are no scenes of wailing desperation, so beloved of CNN and BBC, despite the enormous tasks that face them.
Where foreign tourists have fled the ÂterrorÂ, the Thai people are still here. Despite their losses  and thatÂs not just a few suitcases of clothes  there are no mercy flights to whisk them away. They will be here throughout all that is to come. The Thai people of Phuket, Krabi and Phang Nga are the heroes here, for it is they who have lost the most and they will be the ones who take on the task of rebuilding the Pearl of the Andaman.
I’m looking forward to my visit to the area. I think it will be so much more meaningful than just a sunny destination now. Seeing people bounce back from tragedy and move on with courage is very inspiring.
that’s so awesome. I was telling my brother you were going to Thailand, and my friend Dan thought it was a bad idea 😐 he was all saying it’s going to be a depressing place to visit, etc. etc. I told him that probably what they need most of all right now is for people to still want to come visit.
you’re right! was dan also the guy who said i shouldn’t take your photo because i might be some scary internet stalker guy?
I knew before the tragedy that you would come from this experience with something huge.. I had no idea then how huge..
This is certain to be an incredible journey for you and an amazing lesson on humanity. It’s going to open your eyes in ways you never thought possible.
I’m excited for you and I can’t wait to hear all about it. :hug:
every problem (and even disaster) really IS an opportunity in disguise eh?
oooh i will be flamed now 😛
lol this is a flame-free zone :lick:
lol, no, Dan’s not that guy 🙂 Actually, the fellow who thought you might kill me based soley on the fact that i met you online, would probably think a trip to Thailand right now would be a truly awe inspiring thing to do…and he would also probbaly think you’re not really going to thailand, but you want people to think that so you can kill us in our sleep and not be suspected because you were in thailand. He really has very serious paranoia issues with people who are met online 😉
hehe tell him to lock the door to his bedroom at night because i’m coming to put him in a sack and throw him in the river. 😛 no wait. don’t. he’d believe you…