DaGaffer
Down With That Sorta Thing
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2003
- Messages
- 18,742
Some of may have read on another thread that I was booked to go to Phuket when this week etc. etc. Well, I decided to continue with my trip as far as Bangkok and then decide what to do when I got here. I've decided to go to Ko Samui, but for various logistical reasons I've had to come via Phuket anyway, and right now I'm sat in an Internet cafe gearing myself up for a night on the tiles by reposting to you lot about conditions here.
I was very nervous when I got on the plane from Bangkok this morning, and certainly didn't know what to expect; we landed at Phuket and it was like a scene from a 'Nam movie - loads of Olive green Hueys and Chinooks by the runway and Hercules transports taxiing about to a lovely jungle backdrop. Not a good sign methinks.
Chat to the taxi driver on the way to Patong - he's pretty upbeat; "no no, things better, you see".
Well, I arrived, checked in and decided to go for a wander. For those of you who don't know Patong, its in a cresent shaped bay about 3-4 miles wide with high sides and a beach road set back about 100 yards from the shore (I'm sure you've all seen enough pictures over the last week). The main road for nightlife, bars etc. is called Bangla road, a long wide strip running away from the beach road at a right angle. When the wave came it was funneled up Bangla Road as a natural escape route. I arrived at Bangla Road from the top end (its about half a mile long ) and started walking towards the beach. Well, I walked, walked some more, and there was hardly a sign of damage. Despite the water reaching most of the way up this road, the locals had fixed up 70-80% of it inside a week. Only when you get to the last 30 yards or so does the damage become really apparent; shop shutters literally ripped in half by flying debris. Then you get to the Beach Road. Fuck. The buildings just either side of Bangla Road are just twisted wreckage (apparently buses were picked up and shoved through these fairly flimsy buidings) and the devastaion stretches away in both directions, gradually getting better towards the sides of the bay. There are sunken boats in the bay, big chunks of the beach wall ripped out, but the palm trees survived, and amazingly, the earthmovers have already done most of their work and the sand itself has largely been restored, and there were people out there on the beach , sunbathing and enjoying their holiday. Not many, but they were there.
The town itself is remarkably busy, still lots of foreigners, although of course well down on normal expectations. There are still tons of journalists wandering around and I saw an amusing site at the top of Bangla Road, a Japanese TV crew, earnestly talking to camera in front of a wrecked building. Only problem was, this building wasn't a wreck, its just unfinished and has been like that for years! Don't you just love the Fourth Estate?
I tried to give blood this afternoon, but I was politely sent away as they have enough of my O+ muck, thank you very much
In summary, this part of Phuket is recovering quickly, but I gather there are worse places on the island and obviously places like Ko Phi Phi are just gone. Foreigners have actually been hit worse than the locals but their attitude on the TV puts us westerners to shame; they give more than equal time to the plight of foreigners, where I think the western media have given disproportionate time to the fate of Thailand compared to the other countries because our attitude is often that 100 brits are more important than 200,000 brown people (little bit of politics there, ladies and gentlemen. Sorry)
Anyway, I'm off to let the good people of Patong separate me from my money. Happy New Year.
I was very nervous when I got on the plane from Bangkok this morning, and certainly didn't know what to expect; we landed at Phuket and it was like a scene from a 'Nam movie - loads of Olive green Hueys and Chinooks by the runway and Hercules transports taxiing about to a lovely jungle backdrop. Not a good sign methinks.
Chat to the taxi driver on the way to Patong - he's pretty upbeat; "no no, things better, you see".
Well, I arrived, checked in and decided to go for a wander. For those of you who don't know Patong, its in a cresent shaped bay about 3-4 miles wide with high sides and a beach road set back about 100 yards from the shore (I'm sure you've all seen enough pictures over the last week). The main road for nightlife, bars etc. is called Bangla road, a long wide strip running away from the beach road at a right angle. When the wave came it was funneled up Bangla Road as a natural escape route. I arrived at Bangla Road from the top end (its about half a mile long ) and started walking towards the beach. Well, I walked, walked some more, and there was hardly a sign of damage. Despite the water reaching most of the way up this road, the locals had fixed up 70-80% of it inside a week. Only when you get to the last 30 yards or so does the damage become really apparent; shop shutters literally ripped in half by flying debris. Then you get to the Beach Road. Fuck. The buildings just either side of Bangla Road are just twisted wreckage (apparently buses were picked up and shoved through these fairly flimsy buidings) and the devastaion stretches away in both directions, gradually getting better towards the sides of the bay. There are sunken boats in the bay, big chunks of the beach wall ripped out, but the palm trees survived, and amazingly, the earthmovers have already done most of their work and the sand itself has largely been restored, and there were people out there on the beach , sunbathing and enjoying their holiday. Not many, but they were there.
The town itself is remarkably busy, still lots of foreigners, although of course well down on normal expectations. There are still tons of journalists wandering around and I saw an amusing site at the top of Bangla Road, a Japanese TV crew, earnestly talking to camera in front of a wrecked building. Only problem was, this building wasn't a wreck, its just unfinished and has been like that for years! Don't you just love the Fourth Estate?
I tried to give blood this afternoon, but I was politely sent away as they have enough of my O+ muck, thank you very much
In summary, this part of Phuket is recovering quickly, but I gather there are worse places on the island and obviously places like Ko Phi Phi are just gone. Foreigners have actually been hit worse than the locals but their attitude on the TV puts us westerners to shame; they give more than equal time to the plight of foreigners, where I think the western media have given disproportionate time to the fate of Thailand compared to the other countries because our attitude is often that 100 brits are more important than 200,000 brown people (little bit of politics there, ladies and gentlemen. Sorry)
Anyway, I'm off to let the good people of Patong separate me from my money. Happy New Year.
