Japanese Starting To Return To Phuket

[george]

Japanese starting to return

PHUKET: -- Japanese tourists are starting to return to Phuket, but misconceptions and feelings of guilt about visiting the tsunami-hit island have resulted in many travellers staying away.

“I think the reason that more people aren’t visiting Phuket is encapsulated in a Japanese saying: ‘When people die, we stay home and mourn the dead,’ ’’

said Kazushi Miyashita, president of the Phuket Japanese Association.

Miyashita said some 5,000 Japanese tourists visited the island in March – a 70-per-cent drop on the corresponding month last year.

While low, the figure is still an improvement on the almost complete disappearance of Japanese tourists visiting Phuket in the months immediately following the tsunami.

To give the island’s image a boost in Japan, the “Japanese Love Thais” festival will be held on Saturday at the Royal Phuket City Hotel.

Miyashita said he hoped the one-day event would help convince Japanese people that there was no longer any reason to feel guilty about coming to Phuket.

The event will feature traditional shows, games and even a chance for women to be photographed wearing kimonos.

Part of the proceeds will go to charity.

Miyashita said that due to the drop off in Japanese tourists, about half of the 100 or so Japanese-run businesses on the island had been forced to close.

These include Japanese restaurants, tour agencies, dive companies and language schools.

“Much of the recovery is due to word-of-mouth reports that it is safe to travel here,” he said.

He said future events staged by his association might include inviting Japanese tsunami experts to come to the island to share their knowledge.

Suwalai Pinpradab, director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Region 4 office in Phuket, said the agency would soon conduct a road show to the Japanese cities of Sapporo, Sendai, Hiroshima and Nagoya in an attempt to lure more Japanese tourists to the island.

--The Nation/Phuket Gazette 2005-06-22

[Welsh John]

I still get asked here in the UK if my house in Kathu is still standing!! Due to the very negative publicity by the media,many people still think the whole island was trashed & its not worth going to!!!!!

I will keep informing people of the truth but a well informed documentry by the Thai government posted on TV & in the press worldwide would be of great benefit to the island.

[NBT TV Phuket]

A minivideo about the Japanese Festival is now online at : http://www.thaisnews.com/news_detail.php?newsid=134160

with text below, from Special Report for Andaman News TV11 Phuket & radio FM90.5 at 8.30am weekdays

The Japanese Festival in Phuket also called the “Japanese love Thais” festival was held on Saturday evening, the 25th June, just one day before the 6 month anniversary of the tsunami, to show Japanese solidarity with the Thai people, to display Japanese culture, to bring 90 tsunami affected children to the party, and have fun together.

Jointly organized by the Tourism Authority of Thailand or TAT and the Phuket Japanese Association, the fair was certainly well attended with probably over 2,000 people packed into the Royal Phuket City Hotel.

This was probably because the fair featured lots of Japanese food delicacies prepared by Japanese chefs, various games for kids, and chances to dress up in Japanese clothes, plus Japanese culture performances on stage including dancing by children and adults of both nationalities, and impressively big and loud Taiko drums, which were specially flown in by Thai Airways, and were certainly exciting and brought a lot of atmosphere to the event and crowd.

The Japanese Ambassador to Thailand presided over the fair with Phuket Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura, and President of the Phuket Japanese Association, Kazushi Miayshita, who all gave speeches

and they were joined in toasts with Japanese drinks by Japanese Chamber of Commerce delegates from Bangkok, Japanese Rotary Club members, and officials from the TAT, who expected the event to help boost tourism, especially Japanese visitors and expats from Bangkok to Phuket.

We talked to the Japanese Ambassador, Atsushi Tokinoya and he told us what he expected from the fair:

“I think the Japanese… made efforts to send message.. resilient, here in Phuket.”

We were also interested to know if the Japanese perception of the Andaman was now nicer and safer, especially for tourism:

“Yes I think so..not so many from Japan..but they will come back”

We continued to enjoy the fair, and caught up with the busy Vice President of the Phuket Japanese Association, Hajimo Ohno. We were curious to know how they got support for such a successful enjoyable event for Phuket: “From Bangkok & Japan.. sponsors from Thailand.. Japanese Association Thailand.”

He also revealed that the Phuket-Japanese Association currently has 250 members in Phuket, and about 40 expats came down from Bangkok and 100 from Japan.

We also wanted to find out what the highlight was for them:

“We invited children who lost a lot… to encourage them.”

The Association donated 200,000 baht to students and schools from Ban Nam Kem in Phang Nga province:

We could see most of the students, were enjoying themselves with the free food and drink. They were also taken earlier to the Phuket Aquarium for a fun field trip away from the problems of Phang Nga.

Their English & Art teacher, David Johnson, together with his daughters, came along and explained more:

“Today through the kindness of the Japanese Embassy… sent 2 coaches, to aquarium, for many of the children this is first time, in a big city.. we are privileged to teach English & Art, from New York, as volunteers, hope to be there a year or two”

As we looked around and saw the fun all the kids were having, this boy: half Japanese, half English, taught us some Japanese language:

“ Flute lingo - that’s apple. Having fun? Yep!”

So this event certainly proved a wonderful way to bridge gaps between cultures of Japan and Thailand and bring joy to kids from Phang Nga, Phuket, and Thailand’s tsunami areas.