Tsunami Status And General Summary Dec 30

[george]

FROM SAWADEE.COM WEBSITE:

Our team has toured the affected areas of Krabi, Phuket, Phang-na (Khao Lak) with a truck loaded with food, drinks, clothes and emergency cash. Given the extensive media coverage, we wish to inform of facts, which are not much present in the media:

Phuket: There is severe damage in the beach area of about 500m inwards. However, the impression that "Phuket is gone" is wrong. 80% of the hotels are unaffected and full operational. 10% have damages which can be repaired with 1-2 weeks. Phuket is safe.

Krabi: Only a few selected areas (like Railay bay) got hit by the wave, but popular destinations like Ao Nang are totally save. There is a protection wall in place for a long time already and even if the main road was flooded (and now cleaned up), 90% of the hotels are not damaged. Krabi is safe for visit.

Koh Phi-Phi: The media coverage here is accurate. Almost all constructions are destroyed, leaving the island with only one full intact resort, and 2 more with damages. Given food, water and electric problem, we cannot recommend a safe visit at this time.

Phang-Na/Khao Lak: This area got the worst hit and has the highest number in lost of lives. Most parts of Khao-Lak are virtually destroyed and it will take time to get a picture of the full extend.

Summary:

With the exception of Phang-nga/Khao Lak/Phi-Phi, the other destinations are not as bad as it appears in the media. What you see on TV are the sites of destruction, what you don't see is the 90% unaffected part of the area.

It should also be mentioned that destinations like Samui and Pattaya are perfectly safe, as there was no Tsunami at all. Samui is in the gulf of Thailand (east-cost) and not in the Indian ocean (west-cost).

-- Dec.30, Web Sawadee Public company Limited