Many people's first reaction upon hearing of a visit to Thailand's famous Phuket Island or other tourist destinations in the area is "But wasn't it all destroyed in the tsunami?"
They refer, of course, to the massive tidal wave of Dec. 26 last year that swept thousands of people to their deaths and laid waste to coastal areas in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia and Thailand.
Phuket, specifically the west side of the island -- the east coast sustained very little or no damage whatsoever -- wasn't spared the tsunami and the images that stick in the mind are those of unsuspecting tourists in the wrong place at the wrong time.
That was then.
In fact, Phuket and Thailand's five other tsunami-hit provinces were not hit nearly as hard as Indonesia or Sri Lanka, where entire villages disappeared under the wave.
Locals are nearly unanimous in their condemnation of media reports at the time, saying the level of destruction was overstated and that false claims about the loss of life were made.
The amount of media that flew in and set themselves up as immediate experts on all things Thai was quite a circus to observe, they say. Many journalists were based in five-star hotels on Phuket's beaches, yet their respective reports aired footage of Banda Aceh and Sri Lanka, giving viewers a false impression of what had happened in Phuket.
In reality, the island's residents immediately started the clean-up effort and worked days and nights to remove debris from the beaches. They know better than anyone that the island is heavily dependent on tourism and if no one returned to Phuket, their livelihoods would also disappear.
The island's famous Patong, Kata and Karon beaches all sustained some degree of damage, mostly to the tourist-traps and shops along the beachfronts.
The beaches themselves, meanwhile, have been restored to a degree of pristine beauty not seen for many years, and the sand quality and water quality have improved significantly.
Locals are quick to point out that one can now swim at Patong Beach without fear of eye infections and skin rashes.
"The beach is like it was at the beginning of tourism 30 years ago," Somchai Silapananon of the Phuket Tourism Association said before the start of the "Love Andaman" festival held on the island at the beginning of this month.
The festival was planned by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Thai Airways International and the Federation of Thai Industries to restore confidence in the tourism industry and to help Thailand's six tsunami-hit provinces on the Andaman Sea coast.
"Only 10 percent to 20 percent of shallow-water coral reefs were destroyed and most of the prime diving sites now offer even better diving, thanks to the improved water quality," TAT president Wichit Na-Ranong said.
In Patong, the improved water quality could be attributed in part to damaged beachfront hotels currently being closed for rebuilding and redecoration and the resulting reduction in waste-water output.
Fishermen have also noted rises in catches of up to 100 percent and the return of fish species that had not been seen in reef areas for years because of deteriorating water quality. Many of them are saying that the tsunami opened up ancient natural underwater "food channels" and breeding grounds that might have been clogged or sanded up for centuries because of human activities in the region.
RSS