I'm currently in the province of Krabi, which is on the west side of Thailand and was hit by the Tsunami. The actual town of Krabi was not touched, but many of the coastal areas were, and many of the surrounding islands, including the famous Phuket Island and Ko Phi Phi, were hit pretty bad. In this area, many structures have already been rebuilt, and many more are in the process. There are also many fundraising events, such as public concerts to raise money, and other local organizations are finding ways to help out.

Two local groups I've heard about since I've been here are Tsunami Volunteers and Tsunami Marine Team.

However, from talking to locals and seeing signs around town, and from simply watching all the effort going into the rebuilding projects, it is clear that the local population is ready to move on and open up to business again. As I said in an earlier post, most people here are more concerned about the detrimental effects of the lack of business than the actual destruction the wave itself caused. You can see signs like this, and this one, and often in shops, this one.

As I said earlier, some of the islands were hit the worst, which includes the island of Ko Phi Phi. I took a day trip snorkeling there, and on parts of the island the destruction was evident. I guess the way the islands were shaped and the shape of the ocean floor had a lot to do with the size of the wave, and how hard it hit, and evidentially Ko Phi Phi had all these things against it. Additionally, the island is relatively flat, so with nothing to break the force, the wave just swept over it. As on Krabi and some of the surrounding beaches such as Ao Nang where the damage is relatively unnoticeable, it is quite evident on Ko Phi Phi, and it is just insane to think about the amount of force that had to have been slammed against this poor island to have caused this much damage. Some images of the destruction:

Ko Phi Phi from afar. I guess before the wave you weren’t able to see through that line of palms as it was solid with buildings.

The destruction from afar.

The only thing still standing- a line of palms some how survived the wave. There used to be building filling that now open space.

Skeletons of buildings are all that are left.

A sunken long tail boat remains as a testament of a not too distant tragedy. However, this was only the main stretch of Ko Phi Phi. I swam on another neighboring beach which was beautiful, and I know many backpackers who are staying on the island as there are already about 10 to 20 bungalows open.

Workers on their way to Ko Phi Phi.

Not all beaches had Phi Phi’s tragic fate; the beach of Ao Nang had a retaining wall that took most of the force. But not all beaches were so lucky. Another section of Ao Nang beach.

Despite this horrible tragedy, this area is rebuilding quickly and more beautifully than before, and the people here desperately need your tourism. If you or anyone you know is planning a vacation, I’m sure your business would be appreciated immensely here. It is currently like low season, so you would have breathtaking beaches all to yourself, and all the locals are even friendlier than they normally are, if you can believe that. I know they appreciate every tourism dollar that is coming in to the area and slowly helping to get their businesses and this country back on it’s feet.