Spas In Phuket, Phangnga Face A Bleak Future

[george]

SPAS IN PHUKET, PHANGNGA FACE A BLEAK FUTURE

Tsunami brought a booming business to a crashing halt

PHUKET: -- It should have been another shining year for the health spa industry in the South, but the Dec 26 tsunami marred its bright future and the prospects for the reeling businesses are dim. The tsunami severely disrupted the booming spa business at beach resorts in Phuket and Phangnga.

The number of guests has plunged and many spa therapists decided to move out and work in other provinces, leaving behind empty beds in massage rooms.

``We just don't have therapists,'' said Phuket's spa business association chairman, Pakin Raktaengam. ``We badly need up to 3,000 therapists, and the number of those being trained is still not enough, which will affect the future of our business,'' he said.

There are currently 90 spa operators in Phuket. Although business is getting better nearly one year after the tsunami, it is impossible for them to earn as much as they did before the tragedy, Mr Pakin said.

Revenue had been rising since 2002. From 500 million baht in 2002, according to the association, revenue increased to 800 million baht in 2003 and jumped to 1.1 billion baht a year later.

But the lower number of tourists as a result of the tsunami decreased this year's revenue by half, Mr Pakin said.

The situation got worse when operators found that the number of therapists had also diminished, he said.

Many therapists in the Khao Lak area of Phangnga moved out after the massive wave flattened its beach resorts and killed hundreds of holidaymakers last year.

A 30-year-old therapist, Panchaya Chunueng, said the tsunami still haunted her and she decided to move away and work at a spa outlet in nearby Phuket island.

``I hope I will not be greeted by a tsunami again,'' she said.

Sunai Wachirawarakarn, the general manager of Sukko Spa Co in Khao Lak, said he currently has no plans to run his business there.

``I don't want to continue my business in Phangnga until there is a better tourism situation,'' he said.

His company owns two spa outlets in Khao Lak which had been open for only two months before the tsunami.

The company is still running its branch in Phuket, which was not hit so hard.

The Phuket spa business association will work with provincial schools to establish spa curriculums, which would set a standard for training new therapists.

It will also set up a provincial centre of spa management, which is expected to help solve the lack of therapists.

The quality of the therapists is also a matter of concern as there are more and more ``freelance therapists'', Mr Pakin said.

He said it was difficult to monitor the quality of their service because these freelancers do not stay at particular businesses, but work freely with many spa operators.

By law, he said, the therapists must be licenced and work with particular spa operators.

--Bangkok Post 2005-12-09