State of Phuket Updated 2/1/05 - part 1

[thien]

Things on Phuket are returning to normal at a remarkable rate after Boxing Day’s tsunami hit the coast. Much of the island’s administrative and emergency services were untouched by the devastation and it is likely that this is one of the chief reasons why the island has been able to bounce back so quickly from this terrible ordeal. All major roads are still open and water and electricity supplies – except in a few small areas where damage was heaviest – are continuous and strong.

Since the afternoon after the tsunami, Artasia editors have been touring the areas of the island hit by the wave. Below is an area by area breakdown compiled from these reports. Artasia will continue to update these as the days pass and new information comes to light.

PHUKET INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Though seawater did breach the protective wall and initially flooded the runway at Phuket International Airport when the wave – in fact waves – hit, airport emergency crews quickly brought everything under control and it was re-opened by early Sunday evening and receiving flights from Bangkok, including one carrying Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who came to personally supervise the early stages of the rescue and clean-up efforts.

Since then, there have been no signs of the chaos and madness some news agencies have been reporting. There is more an air of mild perturbedness and it's a little busier than usual for a high season. It's as busy with people arriving as leaving. While some of these are people here to search for lost relatives and friends and the rescue workers arriving from Bangkok and international agencies, many more are holiday-makers who have checked with their hotels and found them to be fully operational.

NAI YANG BEACH

Nai Yang Beach, just south of the airport, is decimated, however the two major hotels – Crown Nai Yang Suite and Pearl Village – set some way back from the beach – have received only nominal damage and will be back in full operation within a week or two, though the latteris not currently recommending bookings. Nai Yang Beach Resort is closed until further notice. Along the road closest to the beach, there is not a single shop, bar or restaurant that has not been destroyed – some are simply not there anymore. On the Thursday after the wave the clean up operation was in full swing. Some places have even started rebuilding.

NAI THON BEACH

At Andaman White Beach Resort the day after the wave, staff from the hotel had returned the beach to its usual pristine condition. When the wave hit here staff had already removed all of the guests from the beach and they were safely back in the hotel, which is set fairly high up the hillside. The only damage was to the resort’s dive centre and new beach bar – both at beach level – the latter, ironically, only having opened on Christmas Day.

The new Trisara resort received only nominal damage to its beachfront pool and buildings.

LAYAN BEACH

While there was significant damage to the beach area – with seawater surging back some 400 metres from the beachfront, there is little development on or near Layan Beach and so, fortunately, little damage except for the downing of a few electrical poles. Layan Beach Resort is set well back from the beach and received no damage whatsoever to the rooms, but some water damage to there beach front buildings.

BANGTAO BEACH

Despite claims that it was totally destroyed in some TV news broadcasts, the internationally renowned Laguna Phuket complex, which fronts onto the centre of Bangtao Beach, has reported that only fifty of its 1100 rooms have been put out of action by the wave. One guest was killed when the water hit the resorts.

The five hotels are reporting that they will be fully operational in less than a month with damage restricted to ground floor rooms close to the beach and a number of their beachfront restaurants and pools. At Laguna Beach Resort the day after the wave, many guests languished not in misery but upon sun-loungers, baking beneath the clear blue skies.

The south end of Bangtao Beach was not so lucky and took a huge hit. Bill O'Leary – an Aussie who runs the famous Aman Cruises operation from here – reported a surge of two metres plus, that did not withdraw for well over an hour. Everything is damaged, much beyond repair. To describe the power of the wave at Bangtao, after it had smashed across about 200 metres – through trees, holiday bungalows and hotels – it ripped layers of tarmac off of the road and flung great chunks of it into the shops and bars behind. Eddying waters did further destruction, eroding large sections of the waterfront and causing further property damage and loss of life. Many of the bungalow operations and hotels in this area will not be fit for tourists for several months. Some may never re-open as they are just not there anymore.

Fifteen of the bungalows nearest the waterline at the Chedi Phuket resort were damaged, management believe they will be able to re-open these to guests in about two months. Rydges Beach Resort had water damage to between 10 and 15 of its rooms closest to the beach that will require a week’s work to repair.

SURIN BEACH

Surin Beach is back to business as usual. Two days after the wave hit, the detritus on the beach had been neatly swept into large piles and the quaint rows of wooden bars, restaurants and food vendors were open to a busy stream of tourists.

The new Twinpalms resort nearest the beach received no damage whatsoever and is operating at full capacity. While flooding destroyed the Amanpuri’s gym, and beach and tour counters, the rest of the resort is operating normally and the lives of guests’ safe thanks to the work of quick-witted employees.

KAMALA BEACH

Kamala Bay Terrace Resort, Kamala Beach Resort and Kamala Dreams resort are all closed until further notice; however Kamala Bay Garden Resort received no damage and is still open.

Kamala received the heaviest and most widespread damage of any of Phuket’s beaches. Much of what was there isn’t anymore and the central beach area – once filled with happy bars, restaurants and shops – is today barely recognizable. Only the police station stands relatively undamaged at the centre of a crushed community. The waters destroyed virtually everything as far back as the main coast road, with flooding reported in the Phuket Fantasea compound. The roads closest to the beach are still closed to traffic and crews are working hard to restore basic amenities.

Many people died at Kamala, and accurate figures are not yet available. Thai locals and some tourists, seeing the tide go out over three hundred metres very quickly, ran onto the beach with buckets to collect the fish that were flopping around on the sand. Though the wave did not come for over fifteen minutes, many were caught out on the sand when it did and were lost.

KALIM BEACH

While none of the major Kalim hotels have reported damage, except Residence Kalim Bay which suffered some water damage but is otherwise open, two major real estate offices and the local school, which sits across the beachfront coast road, were hit hard by the wave. There is also some damage to the road itself, but – as of Thursday – this was under repair.


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[thien]

PATONG BEACH

Most of Patong beach road was open to traffic by Saturday, except where damage was heaviest around the Impiana Phuket Cabana. Khun Wallee of Cabana reported that damage was so widespread at her absolute beachfront resort that it will not re-open until October ’05. Two guests were killed but no staff lost. Khun Wallee claimed that this was due to the alertness of the Massage ladies on the beach who spotted what was about to happen and warned guests and staff just in time.

Incredibly, directly opposite Cabana on the other side of the beach road, Thara Patong Beach Resort is advertising “Good Condition Rooms Available”. An employee stated that no rooms were damaged during the deluge and only the restaurants at the front of the resort are out of action.

Clean-up crews are working hard to bring back some semblance of normalcy to the beach road, however there is not a single business along this stretch that has not been very badly damaged. It will be several months before all the scars have healed. The premises of major chain stores and name businesses that are now just shells – among the many others – include McDonalds, Starbucks, Watsons, KFC, Molly Malones and countless restaurants, jewellery stores and tailor’s shops.

Other hotels along Patong beach road caught by the wave include Seaview Patong, reporting 100 percent damage, Horizon Beach Resort, Patong Resort, Patong Merlin, Patong Beach Hotel, Amari Coral Beach and several others all closed until further notice. However the Hyton Leelavadee and Duangjitt Resort, both set back just a few hundred metres from the beach road, and the Royal Paradise while all receiving modest water damage are operating normally. Many, many others have received no damage at all and continue to run at full capacity

By 150 metres up the famous Soi Bangla things are getting pretty much back to normal. Even the well-known Kangaroo Bar and the bars on either side have re-opened. By the end of Soi Bangla and onto Rat-U-Thit Road, all the major nightclubs and restaurants are still open and busy. Standing at the Bangla Junction at midnight, just three days after the wave, you would not even know that anything had happened. Music booms, lights flash and the party is very much still hot. On New Year’s Eve a special service of remembrance was held at this junction with many tourists, expats and Thais gathering to pay their respects

Merlin Beach Resort, on the road to Tri Trang Beach, just south of Patong, received extensive damage to its front, despite being set back a good 400 metres from the beach. The resort is closed until further notice. The small restaurant, just off that beach and popular with many expats, is gone.

Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort – on the small bay between Patong and Karon – has been evacuated and closed. The hotel is reporting damage to its pool and beachfront restaurants. Staff confided that the biggest problem was with electricity and water supplies. Guests have been transferred to the Sheraton Laguna Phuket, Hilton Arcadia at Karon and Royal Meridian Phuket Yacht Club at Naiharn – all of which are coastal properties but received only minor water damage and are operating normally. Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort is expected to re-open in February.

KARON BEACH

All of the big hotels here are set well back from the beach and on fairly high ground, including the Hilton Arcadia. The Hilton’s Zen restaurant is closed due to water damage but the resort is otherwise operating normally. Karon Princess Hotel, Karona Resort and Spa, Karon Sea Sand Resort, Karon View Resort, and Karon Whale Resort Phuket and Kaorn Bay View are all undamaged as are the many smaller guest houses in the area. At the north corner of the Karon Beach Road, and perhaps the resort closest to the beach, Phuket Golden Sand Inn had fifty bungalows damaged by the flooding. Problems with electricity supply were cited as the chief reason for the hotel’s closure, but staff claimed it would be open again within a week. Phuket Island View, another resort close to the beach road also received some damage. Twenty bungalows are without aircon and the pool is closed but the resort was otherwise running normally.

The layout of Karon saved it from receiving anywhere near the level of property damage other beaches suffered, though some shops and bars along the beach road – including the small local market – received nominal damage, as the wave crested the wide swathe of grass between the beach and the road. However, as of Thursday most were under repair and the market was back in action. There was serious flooding at the stadium at the south end of Karon.

On the hill between Kata and Karon Marina Phuket was high enough up that it received no damage except to its Karon waterfront On the rock restaurant. Karon Beach Resort – on that same hill but with more exposure – received damage to its lower floor rooms and is closed until February, staff reported.

KATA BEACH

At the south end, the famous beachfront hotel Mom Tri’s Boathouse was badly damaged, but only on the ground floor. Rooms on the second and third floors were untouched. The entire ground floor restaurant and lobby was washed away. Owner and architect Mom Tri Devakul, who was touring the scene of the damage on Thursday reported the hotel rooms will be open again before the weekend and that he will take this opportunity to remodel the restaurant. “It was due for a renovation anyway,” he said with a wan smile.

There was significant damage to the restaurants and bars south and north end of Kata Beach. Club Med – which dominates the central stretch of the beach road – was inundated at one end but untouched at the other. For safety the hotel was evacuated. We have not yet been able to contact anyone from the hotel to confirm when it will be ready to re-open.

Kata Beach Resort, also beachfront, received only nominal damage to some of its ground floor rooms and the pool was flooded out. The bars and restaurants at the back of the Kata Beach Resort, behind the Boathouse and at Kata Corner received no damage and were serving customers on the night of the wave. Some of the small shanty bars and shops behind Club Med were damaged but were getting back to normal as of Saturday.

The Kata Thani Hotel and Resort on Kata Noi Beach received some damage to its ground floor and swimming pool, but is otherwise fully operational. Guests in the ground floor rooms have been transferred to the hotel’s sister property the undamaged Katathani Bhuri, just across the Kata Noi beach road. The small beach front restaurants and some of the beach road shop were damaged by the wave but, as of Friday, were all being cleaned up and rebuilt.

NAIHARN BEACH AND ENVIRONS

At the southern tip of the island, Naiharn Beach was also hit hard by the wave, covering it in a thick layer of detritus. The bamboo restaurants at the back of the beach were all open and busy with guests at lunch time on Saturday. The same cannot be said, alas, for the restaurants at the entrance to the Royal Meridien Phuket Yacht Club, as they no longer exist. However, the Royal Meridien itself received only very minor damage and is still fully operational. Sabana resort, just beyond the destroyed restaurants, received damage to its office buildings and parking lot, but the main hotel building was not affected.

Clean up of the beach was completed by Friday, but large piles of foliage and broken beach equipment still sat along the back of the beach on Saturday waiting to be cleared away.

Despite earlier reports, the bungalow resorts along Ao Sein Beach, just beyond Royal Meridien, received very little damage. Only three bungalows closest to the beach were damaged and the beachfront restaurant was totally destroyed. As of Saturday, however, rebuilding work on the restaurant was well advanced, with staff and guests all chipping in to help with the work.

Two guest bungalow resorts and private homes at Yanui Beach, the tiny inlet at the other end of Naiharn, have been completely destroyed. The damage to Yanui stretches several hundred metres inland.

RAWAI BEACH

There was moderate but extensive damage along the sea wall at Rawai and several boats were destroyed, but the beach road remained open throughout. The well-known Nikita’s Bar was also damaged, but was back open for business two days after the wave. The Sea-Gypsy village did not fare as well with significant damage and loss of life. By Saturday many of the homes had been rebuilt there and fishermen were busy repairing nets and boats.

The Evason has announced that it is still fully operational, though the hotel’s jetty was washed away.

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CHALONG AND AO YON BEACHES

A heavy wash ran up the lower east coast of Phuket, Chalong Bay, making a bit of a mess of the beach and leaving large chunks of boat propped up along the beach wall, but only a few light injuries. There was water damage to a couple of the beach front bungalow resorts, including Friendship Beach, but this has since been cleaned up and the restaurant is operating on an almost complete menu as of Friday. Chef Charlie says everything will be back on in the next few days. Guests were returning to there rooms just three days after the flooding. Vichit Bungalows is also back to full service.

Passing across Chalong Bay, the wave did destroy a very old, rickety and dangerous jetty used by the longtail boats, but left the new concrete Chalong Pier intact. The famous Jimmy’s Lighthouse restaurant at the pier received no damage and was open for business that evening.

The wave went on to hit Ao Yon hard, but caused only moderate property damage, mainly to the premises of CoralSeekers, which bases its tour and yachting operations from there. The clean up there was well underway the day after the wave hit.

PHUKET CITY

The island’s business and administrative centre received no damage whatsoever. The city’s fishing port was not so lucky. A huge swell roared up the channel past Rattanachai boatyard, dragging dozens of large and small fishing boats off their moorings and thrusting them into a tangled mass against the bridge to Sirey Island.

The Sea Gypsy village on Sirey was also hit hard, with many homes destroyed. One lady from the village reported that, fortunately – and surprisingly, considering the damage – there were no dead or missing, only a few injuries.

BEACH CLEAN-UP AND REBUILDING AROUND THE ISLAND

As of Thursday, Royal Thai Army engineers from Ratchaburi, staff from many hotels and villagers from both seafront and inland communities had completed total clean ups of many of Phuket’s beaches, including Kata, Karon and Naiharn. Others are expected to be finished before the weekend is out.

Most of the hotels and resorts that were caught by the wave are reporting very minor damage – averaging between 15 and 20 rooms each. Of the several hundred hotels and guest houses that the island has to offer, only a dozen or so have been completely closed down and most have received no damage whatsoever. All that we were able to contact claim that full service will be returned in just a couple of weeks. It should also be noted that damage caused by the tsunami on Phuket has directly affected less than ten percent of the island.

http://www.phuket-photos.com/frameme.php?page=phuket-tidal-wave.htm

Elsewhere along the coast, the story is not so good. Rescue workers in Khao Lak, north of Phuket, and returning from the popular island destination of Phi Phi, to the south, speak of unparalleled destruction and loss of life. It will be many months, indeed years, before these places recover.

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 “terror”, the Thai people are still here. Despite their losses – and that’s 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.

Reporting by Kerrie Hall, Simon J Hand, Scott Murray and Hayley Windsor 2005-01-02

 

[Jonathan]

Great work tien - thanks for putting that together.

Hopefully everyone can return to as normal as can be expected, with the loss of life, as soon as possible.

I think it is important for people to remember that a large number of people in the affected areas rely on tourism for their living. So while short term every pound, dollar, yen etc is needed to help these people, long term don't forget that this is a freak occurance and we should return to holiday with them and make sure that their hardship is not unduely lengthened.

 

[orangeBloke]

Thanks thien, it's nice to get an update and even better to see the change in the photos between what's on the site and the ones I took on the day after the waves hit.

I hope to get back there soon.