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Comment: Does the Andaman tourist industry
deserve a quick revival? - January
8, 2005
Within days after the tsunami struck, 2Bangkok.com began receiving
emails asking that we publicize the 'second tsunami'--namely
the loss of the tourism industry--unless everyone got the word
out that most of the area was still open for business.
"Don't believe what you read in the press," others
wrote, referring to press phrases like 'total devastation' and
explaining that many resorts were open and in need of visitors.
However, we wonder if the area deserves a quick revival.
The Tourist Authority of Thailand spends huge amounts of money
on Madison Avenue advertising campaigns in developed countries
around the world. These campaigns are designed to give the impression
that Thailand is a premium destination with the highest caliber
facilities and services. It is certain that many holiday makers
in the tsunami-impacted areas assumed that the authorities intended
to follow basic safety precautions to protect tourists.
The reality was that those who could have warned of a disaster
decided not to issue a warning when they suspected it might
be warranted. This is because previous officials who dared suggest
a risk to the area from natural disasters were ridiculed and
drummed out of their jobs and into inactive posts--the Thai
bureaucratic equivalent of being fired. How many people such
warnings could have saved is uncertain, but the de-facto policy
of not warning at all is saddening. Tsunamis have hit Thailand
(on the Gulf of Thailand side), so these events are not unprecedented
as has been claimed.
The appointment of Smith Thamsaroj (who was the official hounded
into an inactive post for his previous warning) is a step
in the right direction, but considering the intense worldwide
media scrutiny, it was probably inevitable.
Before new campaigns are launched insisting that most of the
area is still open for business and that the foreign press is
exaggerating the extent of the damage, we think that the authorities
need to show that there is a real commitment to basic visitor
safety and, most importantly, that relevant officials can act
without interference from powerful forces within the tourism
industry. Until this can be shown, the frantic calls to revive
the industry seem hollow.
And to the many tour companies asking us to help spread the
word that the Phuket area is open for business, we are going
to wait for now...
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