by John Keeble
You would expect to feel something in Bang Niang and Khao Lak. Some atmosphere, some dreadful depression. But you don't. They're just very pleasant Thai coastal resorts, with their sprinkling of tourists eating Massaman curries and drinking Singha beer - in fact, they've been described as the 'new pearl' of the Andaman coast.
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Bang Niang, three kilometres north of the better-known Khao Lak, was the worst hit. Bodies, debris and even a big police launch were found a taxi ride from the beach. But for us, now, it still has the beautiful sunsets, the laid-back eateries with unbelievable quality and cheapness, the spectacular beach, the colourful market twice a week.
Today, pretty much everything is new or renovated and building is going on everywhere. You can buy a villa for three million bahts (about £46,000). Or you can pay nearly 10 times as much for the luxury of fronting the beach. And Thais and tourists - mostly Germans and Scandinavians fleeing their harsh winters - carry on the business of making money and enjoying life.
You don't understand until you have seen the pictures and talked to the survivors. But, oddly, the enjoyment of the area is still there and, because you are helping the people rebuild their lives, there is no guilt. In fact, there is a satisfaction, a feeling of alleviating, in some small way, the people's suffering... without the tourist income, their communities wouldn't survive; and without tourists enjoying themselves, there could be little hope for the future.
Of course, there are the tsunami signs now, strikingly blue and white saying what to do in the event of a tsunami warning signalled by the new siren system. They weren't there when the great tsunami swept in after an earthquake under the sea off Indonesia.
One night, I bought mango and melon as I strolled among the locals and tourists in Bang Niang... it was just another market for many of us. But not for anyone who had been there after the tsunami, whose relatives and friends had been killed. The nightmare of hundreds of plastic bundles, glowing white, must haunt anyone who saw them ... those images are still on sale in a book of tsunami photographs, reprinted over and over again and the proceeds going to help the survivors.
On another day, a rumour following a quake in Indonesia led to the market being cleared in minutes and a mass flight to higher ground. That same evening, I walked down to the deserted beach... it was odd how the night before, the gentle lapping of the water had been so attractive as I dined and yet when I heard it that night the same melody sounded so menacing.
One of the first tsunami survivors I met was Bee, who runs Fairhouse, a Bang Niang complex of rooms and bungalows rented out for a fraction of the price of the big hotels. She showed me the official post-tsunami books ... and then, less dramatic but more touching, albums of her family photographs showing what life was like after the tsunami.
"I cried for three months, just asking all the time, why, why did it happen?" she said. "So many people died. My elder sister's daughter, she died, and my other sister's daughter, she died.
"People came in [to the Bang Niang and Khao Lak area] to help, to take the bodies. The market was full of bodies. So many.
"It has been very bad and some people cannot do anything but cry now. I go to see them and we talk and it makes them happy.
"After it was over, I bought a Buddha in Bangkok and now it is beside my guest home. I pray there. I have developed my middle eye of kindness and I help everyone. I do everything now: I don't know what the future will bring. I give money to orphanages in Takuapa, children whose mothers and fathers died in the tsunami, and to an orphanage in Bangkok. I get up at four and boil rice for the monk when he comes. I give to the temple.
"I don't know how long I live, when I will die, so I have to do good now, today. It gives good luck to me too. People middle eye me with kindness.
"I think there will be another tsunami but not in the next year or three years. In a hundred years or more."
Another tsunami survivor was a young man standing outside his tailoring business. He had seen me for weeks and had given up trying to sell. The night was deserted after unseasonable storms kept tourists in their hotels.
He called after me: "Hello, papa." I replied "hello" and went to walk on but he was desperate for someone, anyone, to talk to and called out: "No buy, just talk." I went back and we spent 20 minutes passing the time of night and during our conversation, after my questions, he told me he was a tsunami survivor but his baby died in the shop.
There's a quiet public remembrance of the tsunami, too, with the formal and informal memorials. The police boat, guarding members of the royal family before the tsunami, is still where it came to rest one and a half kilometres from the beach. The International Tsunami Museum is not far away.
Then there are the Blue Angel and Red Devil boats... together in contrast where the Blue Angel came to rest. The Blue Angel boat was swept along doing no damage and being in the right place to save a man and his young daughter; but the Red Devil boat smashed into houses and killed more than 100 people.
The Diamond resort hotel, what is left of it, can be seen through a tangle of green that is gradually reclaiming the site as its own. It was brand new and the staff had been drafted in from all around the hotel chain's empire - not one survived.
The beautifully designed and built memorial and the cemetery draw in the visitors, helping them understand the very human cost of the disaster... the beaches where nothing survived... the wrecked pier... the temple where a monk saved himself by climbing to the top...
But also there is testimony to the heroism of the recovery: the working textile business started by a Japanese monk for widows of the tsunami ... the children's workshop where they are taught to paint on textiles ... the boatyard where volunteers (many from the UK) rebuilt the fleet of lost longtail fishing boats before, when the work ran out, converting it into a restaurant... the orphanages that struggle on, month after month, from meagre donations and next to no help from the state... the people like Bee and all her family who have rebuilt their lives and their businesses...
Nearly 6,000 international volunteers as well as thousands of Thais helped in the recovery. Now it's your turn to help: just enjoy yourself and spend your holiday money in the local economy.
You will find you get a great return for every baht you spend.
Ten reasons to visit Khao Lak or Bang Niang:
1. The friendliness of the people and the great welcome you receive... with the new early warning systems, you are safe to enjoy a wonderfully relaxing and interesting visit
2. Five sleepy beaches, each more beautiful than the last, with some facing west for the sunset as you dine at tables on the sand
3. Superb restaurants with unforgettable meals at prices between £1 and £2 a dish [my average meal: penang curry, 80 bahts; rice, 20 bahts, fresh mango juice/shake, 60 bahts or, in the evening, Singha beer, 60 bahts - total 160 bahts, or £2.65]
4. Excellent accommodation to suit every need - from backpackers' dormitories to five-star resort hotels. In the middle, very comfortable, large rooms with en suite shower rooms costing between £8 and £12 a night, sometimes including breakfast ... choose between the busier Khao Lak, with every shop and restaurant you could need, and laid-back Bang Niang with its market, shops and beach restaurants
5. Jumping-off point for diving and snorkelling around the world class Similan and Surin marine parks; dozens of dive firms and schools to choose from
6. Thai massage ... forget the sleaze: this is real, respectable and thoroughly relaxing massage by trained people
7. Memorials and interesting places remembering the tsunami, plus the International Tsunami Museum and permanent exhibition of photographs at the Tsunami Volunteer Centre ... combine a day of seeing out-of-village sites with lunch and the beach.
8. Local waterfalls and jungle park
9. Easy distance to the fabulous Khao Sok national park and the less known Lam Ru national park
10. One hour car ride from Phuket's hot shopping and shows ... or go by bus: takes longer but it costs next to nothing and still gives you plenty of time in Phuket Town. Both Bang Nang and Khao Lak are on the transport network for all of southern Thailand and Bangkok
Best times to go: early November through to the end of May, with the peak months (driest and coolest) in January and February.
Best ways to go: fly to Phuket and get a car or bus up to Khao Lak or Bang Niang; or get a VIP bus from Bangkok's southern bus terminal to Bang Niang or Khao Lak - don't buy the bus ticket from a travel shop; if you do, you will end up on a tourist bus. You have to go to the bus terminal and buy the ticket, either taking a chance on the day or buying the ticket a day or two early (my choice). It's about 12 hours overnight, so the sleeping comfort of the VIP bus is well worth the fare of about £13.
First published in VISA 81 (Oct 2008)
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