PHUKET, Thailand (6 Jan 2005) -- For years, Phuket has had the reputation as being one of the most expensive places in the entire country, with goods and services catering to wealthy foreign tourists and priced accordingly. Patong beach today, however, is filled with bargains. Street vendors and small businesses alike are pricing their goods at cutthroat rates to attract the few tourists who remain in the wake of the tsunami. Many beachside businesses, still bearing the signs of flood damage, have since moved away from the main beach road further inland, parading their souvenirs and T-shirts right on the sidewalk. With the initial shock of the disaster fading, business entrepreneurs are bracing for the "second wave", as tourist arrivals to the island have fallen by more than half and are expected to remain depressed for the months ahead. For a city whose livelihood is almost entirely dependent on foreign tourists, the prospect of a protracted recovery has left many fearing for the future. And while the larger hotel chains and tour operators can fall back on insurance to help recover damages, the brunt of the economic losses looks to be borne by the tens of thousands more who depend on tourists, including taxi drivers, street vendors and restaurant workers. Take Jae Lek, a 30-year-old street vendor who came to Phuket five years ago from Nong Khai in the far northeast to seek her fortune. Yesterday she spent her day trying to create an inviting retail space along the sidewalk to hawk counterfeit wallets, shoes, hats and bags priced at 80% below her normal prices. "Actually, I'm still lucky that I have some products left in my stock. Most have defects. But others lost everything and are just barely surviving," she said with a weary shrug. Her small souvenir shop, eight square metres in size and costing one million baht per year in rental fees, was devastated by the waves. The days of getting rich from wealthy foreigners earning euros, yen and dollars were over for now, Lek said. She looked up and down the road. "It seems like everything is back to normal. The only abnormal thing though is the lack of tourists." She shrugged and offered a smile. "I'm staying here though. I would rather run my own business than sweat in a rice field behind a buffalo. Although I'm terrified to think of a new big wave coming, I won't move anywhere." Like many others in the area, Lek blamed the scientists and authorities for not having issued a timely warning. "I can't believe the Meteorological Department didn't warn us. I'm just a girl from Isan. I didn't know that an earthquake would cause a giant wave, but surely someone did," she said. | | A general view of tsunami-battered Patong Beach in Thailand's tropical island of Phuket. Although the damage to the Andaman Sea reefs round the Thai coast and islands was not as bad as first feared, the clean-up job is urgent. REUTERS/Bazuki Muhammad Nearby down the sidewalk, Piak, a young painter, struggles to prop up his paintings along a muddy wall. With his beachside studio destroyed, he's now thinking of moving to Pattaya in search of tourists. On the other side of the road, Tipsuda Supakitkosol, the manager of the Orchid Garden restaurant, struggles to describe the events of two weeks ago. "I had been drinking heavily on Christmas Day, since we had a party at the restaurant. So when the earthquake first happened, I thought it was just my hangover," the 46-year-old said with a smile. Even when the screams started, Ms Tipsuda still couldn't believe what was happening until she saw a refrigerator, motorcycle and store mannequin float right past her restaurant window. "I ran upstairs to try to save my valuables. It was just like the movie, Deep Impact," she said, citing the 1998 movie about a catastrophic meteor collision with the Earth. All along the road, once one of the most valuable pieces of real estate on the island, vendors and small businesses say financial ruin is staring them in the face, a sentiment shared by their counterparts along Kamala, Kata and Karon beaches. But few said they were preparing to leave, and expressed hope that with government support, they could rebuild their island paradise and that the tourists would someday return. "I'm using my life savings to feed my family and employees," said one sunglass vendor. "Everyone is saying that we can get help from the government. But how, I don't know. So we can only help ourselves for now." SOURCE - Bangkok Post |
