Message From Koh Lanta

[limbos]

Received this mail from friends on Koh Lanta;

Dear Friends,

Most of you know by now that here on Lanta we were all miraculously unscathed by the wave that hit on 26th December.

I have attached a report which we have added to our website. One week after the disaster, having spent numerous days at Phi Phi, where I simply cannot describe the scenes that met us, and having helped to the very best of our ability, we are now turning to Koh Lanta itself. It seems as though the media, for one reason or another are portraying the fact that Lanta has too been devastated by this tragic event. This is simply not true. We were hit midly in comparison. Please read the attached report and what I ask of you all is that you pass it on to as many people as you know.

All the tourists have fled the island, which ofcourse was inevitable after such a catastrophe, but Lanta is now hoping to return to some kind of normality.

For the falang (foreigners) who have businesses here, it could simply be a case that we close our doors for the season, keeping our expenses down to a minimum, head back to our home countries and seek work......but where will that leave the thousands of thais who we employ. They rely on tourists for their survival, and so we have decided (and this certainly goes for all the dive schools on Lanta) that we are remaining open. We are all doing our best by way of spreading the word, that Lanta has been more or less untouched by this. Resorts are open and ready to receive guests, beach bars have been rebuilt and praying that they get some customers.........as I said please pass on the attached article to as many as you know and the best any of you can do, if you know people who were planning on visiting Lanta, let them know that it is still the beautiful, charming island it has always been.

Thank you all so much for help in these very tragic times.

Much love

Michellex

Attachment in mail;

Dear Friends,

News from Koh Lanta, 30th December 2004.

As you are all very much aware Phuket, Khao Lak, Phi Phi, Krabi and other

coastal areas around the Indian Ocean were hit by a tsunami caused by an

earthquake near Indonesia on December 26th. To the best of our knowledge at

this time all Blue Planet guests, staff and dive crew, as well as their

families and friends survived the wave unscathed. W e would like to take

this opportunity to thank you for the many e-mails and calls we received

expressing your concern and compassion.

From what most of you say there is very little information being given about

Koh Lanta itself, and even the information you are receiving seems to be

elaborated somewhat and so we have an update for you.

We have been extremely lucky here on Lanta. The wave did hit, but the

damage caused was minimal compared to that of the regions of Phuket, Khao

Lak and Phi Phi. Cleans ups are taking place on Koh Lanta as we write, and

we will be resuming business as usual shortly.

We have inspected the dive sites in the surrounding water and we have found

the reefs to be intact with no damage whatsoever. There are a very small

number of resorts that have been affected but for the most they are still in

tact and operating as normal.

As the news stations have had very little information on Koh Lanta, it is

important for us to let you know the present state here.

Blue Planet, along with some other dive schools on Koh Lanta have been

offering assistance over at Phi Phi, our neighbouring island. They have

suffered hugely, as have Patong Beach in Phuket and Khao Lak who were hit

hardest in Thailand.

The Thai government have asked anyone who wishes to offer help can do so by

donating funds to The International Red Cross and Red Crescent societies who

are collecting donations for all the regions in the quake zone. Please

visit their website for Online Donations at www.ifrc.org

Once again, thank you all for your concern and we hope to see you back on

Lanta soon.

With best regards,

Michelle, Laurent and the rest of The Blue Planet Team