8th March 2005 

For the last week I've been on the beautiful Island of Koh Phi
Phi off the west coast of Thailand near Krabi. 

This island was one of the hardest hit places in Thailand from
the recent tsunami. It sustained more deaths than nearby Phuket
which is an Island many times larger.
Koh Phi Phi was the location used in the movie "The Beach". 

From all accounts from research I made with various travel
agencies the island was open for business. So I took the 1.5 hour
ferry from Krabi. As the boat approached the dock I could tell
strange things were taking place here. In the bay were Thai Navy
and police ships and two navy choppers had just landed on the
beach! 

I jumped off the boat expecting to see what I had in Phuket; a
few shacks missing on the beach and some broken storefronts.
What I saw shocked me. It was a landscape that looked like a war
zone. The center of the island, where the two bays meet, looked
like it had been hit by an Atom bomb! All the buildings missing
or flattened, many tall palm trees badly damaged, with a large
expanse of rubble. 

As I walked and examined the rubble I noticed bikinis, under
bricks, bottles of sun tan lotion sticking out of the dirt.
Everything you could imagine was mixed in huge mounds of debris.

I went over and hung out with the Thai Navy helicopter pilots who
were in good spirits and were happy to pose for pictures. But
they didn't really look like they were doing anything to help.
The helicopter pad was actually the tennis courts for a four
star hotel in the center. It looked deserted but all of a sudden
a man popped his head out and asked if I wanted a room! I was
lead down a bunch of deserted corridors to one of the few
undamaged rooms in the resort. It appeared no one else was
staying there. The hotel seemed very strange and lonely so I declined. 

I had actually been offered, over the Internet, a villa on the edge
of the bay in a resort that was high enough on the bay to evade
any damage. This was a lovely place that before the disaster
charged about $160 a night for the villas. Now they were having
trouble getting $20 a night for the same suites.
Only a handful of resorts have reopened, and just a few
restaurants, although every few days a new store seems to
resurrect it's self. Most of theses are on the periphery, many
locals have not returned to the Island. To get to my hotel
involves a bizarre 15min walk through the "dead zone", just shells
of building and piles of wreckage. 

There is not a lot to do here except help the small band of
western volunteers clean up the island.
It sort of feels like the community feeling during the clean up
after Buringman only much much sadder. There are meetings and
procedures, volunteers are told to drink plenty of fluids and
wear lots of sunscreen. They are also given directions on what
to do if they find body parts or human bones!

I spoke to many locals who had horrific stories to tell about
their experiences. Many had lost their whole family, many
friends as well as their businesses.

There are two groups working to clean up the island, made up of
only travelers and tourists. One group works on the land
clearing out houses and business for the locals so they can
carry on their lives.
The other group, which I joined up with, are subadivers and
snorkels who have spent the last month cleaning up the two bays
and the reef. They are very organized and do have a little
funding from PADI. Each day we would take a dive boat out into
the bay and 15 divers and 15 snorkels would spend eight hours a
day bringing up items from the depths. It was very hard work but
also kind of fun to be in a big group working on something that 
really made a difference. Whole bungalows, beach furniture,
mattresses, kettles, video game systems, backpacks, and
clothing were some of the things we would bring up. Instantly
revealing the beautiful reef below.
In the evening everyone would get together for dinner and drinks
on the beach, there are only about 100 tourists on the whole
Island and most of them are helping to clean up. I made a bunch
of new friends. But it was a very strange and surreal place to
spend a week. 

The Island is one of the most beautiful places in the world. As
I gazed out in to the bay for a minute I could forget all the
horror that has taken place, but all it took was to look over my
shoulder at all the destruction and thinking of the stories I
had been told to bring the utter sadness that this place has
gone through to come back. 

If any of you are in south East Asia in the next few months I
would suggest you visit Koh Phi Phi as they need all the support
they can get. 

Adam.