Tsunami report: Ao Nang, Krabi

[buksida]

Not the best time to be down there but it could have been a lot worse:
http://www.huahinafterdark.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3487#3487

[PeteB]

Good to have you back buksida! Good article and photos.

Like yourself and many others, my thoughts also turn to those who have lost family, colleagues and friends in the disaster. If David's report makes people realise that Thailand is not completely closed and therefore tourists continue to come, then some of the hardship from loss of income may be eased.

I am certain that many people will feel embarrassed, or even guilty, to be taking a vacation in Thailand following the events of Boxing Day. As David pointed out, this is not helped by the Western media.

The pain and suffering from loss of life cannot be avoided. The hardship to both local people and to extended families throughout Thailand, who rely on tourist revenue, however, can and must be mitigated.

Businesses can only be rebuilt if they have customers. Employment and income can only be provided by thriving business.

I hope that others agree.

Peter

[bahtandsold]

Pete, B, well said, particularily given the date of your post(s). You guys were spot on in your comments unfortunately. Right now, the media frenzy has passed and to be balanced, they did a great job spurring massive donations. (one hopes the donations actually reach those intended ) The CEO of TIT says he doesn't want aid

However, the wall to wall 24/7 international footage of 'destruction' exclusives has left Phuket with less than 10% occupancy, regardless of the fact, 95% of hotels are now operational. Save Khoa Lak and Phi Phi, anywhere else is fine...well, except the thousands of now unemployed survivors.

If any such catastrophe occured in Hua Hin, I'd be behind HH 1000% as I am for the locals in Phuket. Life does go on, or at least is trying to, despite the unbalanced international 'headline' seeking news services .
Support Phuket.
_____________
Statement from Krabi Seaview Resort
This email comes from André Gysin, the General Manager of Krabi Seaview Resort in Ao Nang:

To Whom It May Concern

Many people overseas have been asking what they can do to help those here in
Thailand affected by the tsunami disaster. Obviously sending money to aid
organizations is an excellent way to start, but we also need to be looking
at what we can do on long-term. For those foreigners living here, we have
the option of returning home, or re-locating elsewhere to find work. For the
Thai locals, this luxury does not exist.

Contrary to what is sometimes being portrayed, Ao Nang/Krabi itself is safe
and was always ready to accept tourists. Ao Nang/Krabi is not devastated at
all and today you would hardly see any damage! What the locals need to
rebuild their community is tourism. They are now more than ever dependant
upon tourists to come to Ao Nang and stay in the resorts, hotels and
guesthouses, eat at the restaurants, go shopping, go on day trips, and go
diving. Without this, the local Thai population will suffer even further.
What an excellent opportunity and reason to plan your next vacation in our
beautiful region.

The media is currently portraying the most negative image possible of the
recent events as tragic "sells", however we now need to move past this and
work towards re-establishing the tourist industry that the huge majority of
locals solely rely on. They are ready to get on with their lives, but they
can't do it without you!

What we are asking of you is to help Thailand by communicating this to the
general public. By doing this you will be helping the Thai community as a
whole recover from this horrible disaster.

Let's re-build together - start today!

Best regards

Krabi Seaview Resort
Andre Gysin
General Manager
______________
From Jeroen Deknatel, Managing Director, Fantasea Divers - Ocean Rover Cruises
CBS News distortion

To those of you who saw Ocean Rover in the CBS News report about coral damage: do not believe what they are telling you! We are furious at CBS.

One of their producers contacted us and asked if we could help them get to the Similan Islands to report on coral damage. They assured us the piece would be "fair & balanced".
We did everything we could to assist the CBS news team and they spend half a day filming and interviewing people on board Ocean Rover. One of our clients kindly gave them his underwater video footage for use during the broadcast. CBS promised our client that his footage would be used in a responsible manner.

Our Cruise Director Hans Tibboel described one specific divesite in Surin Island with the words: "it looked like a giant sandblaster was used". Again, Hans was describing only one divesite and made positive remarks about the actual lack of damage at other places. Of course, the CBS editor used the "sandblast" soundbite and hardly anything else.

Footage was also arranged in a 'before & after' method that is not consistent with the real situation. All the beautiful 'before' footage shown by CBS was actually filmed AFTER the tsunami.

Somehow the media just cannot help themselves and turn everything into a gloom & doom story. CBS should be ashamed of what they did here. We have talked to their producer since but of course she blames the New York editor. This is the way the media works. The way the news piece came out is 100% the opposite of what was promised to us. We urge fellow dive operators to be very careful in dealing with the media. These people do not let scruples get in the way of a juicy story. Shameful!