On this shattered island, the dead pile up on luggage trolleys

The trolleys that carried excited tourists' luggage into their Phi Phi island hotels are now carrying away their bodies.

Phi Phi, Thailand's isolated island paradise, found fame in the Hollywood movie The Beach for its deep blue-green sea and white sand.

Now it resembles a war zone.

Clouds of grey smoke lie over the stunning landscape from ruined and burning buildings.

Groups of people trying to clear debris and recover corpses move quickly, heads down, without conversation.

They carry them down to boats bound for already crowded hospital morgues on the mainland, more than an hour away by sea.

The roar of helicopters coming and going is matched by the rumble of bulldozers.

The tsunami's power was doubled here. The island consists of two large land masses divided by a long flat strip which provided tourist accommodation in an alleyway of shops and restaurants.

When the tsunami struck at 10.30am on Boxing Day, only a week ago yesterday, the strip was alive with partygoers, many of them young backpackers recovering from Christmas Day celebrations. The beaches were busy too.

The waves struck both sides of the flat strip and met in the middle, crashing together and mixing everything and everyone up like a giant washing machine.

The scene in the middle part of the island is of unbelievable destruction but to the sides it is unscathed.

The solid concrete structure of the Phi Phi Hotel still stands strong, located in the hub of the island, but the bottom floors are awash with clothing, bras, jeans, toothpaste.

Up the stairs the bedrooms where the waves did not reach are untouched but still bear a graphic reminder of the terror that day.

Mattresses have been pulled onto the top floor balcony where the survivors and those injured took refuge.

Bloodied bandages and chairs soaked in blood are evidence of the wait people had for help to arrive.

Only one New Zealander, Craig Baxter, has been confirmed dead in this place, but a young English diving instructor who lived on the island believes it is inevitable some more were here.

Toby Collingwood, 24, from Yorkshire, had gone home for Christmas but returned on Saturday despite knowing the place he loved and had made good friends was no more.

When he got off the boat he said he nearly fainted at what he saw.

"I just saw the bodies and, I don't know, I had to sit down.

"I almost had a panic attack. There were a lot of people here at the time. Yeah I've lost a lot of friends here."

He stands in the alleyway of shops as the baggage trolleys with dead wheel relentlessly by, perhaps people he knew, and points left.

His friend Matt who worked down the street is missing.

He was seen taking off, running from the water, but has not been found.

Mr Collingwood knew just about everyone living in this row, they would have been at work at that hour of the morning.

"I know people in every shop. You can see there's bodies in there, places that are just rammed with s***.

"Walk past, it just stinks. It's just so full they haven't even tried pulling them out yet. Who knows who is still in there?"

He recalls a large group of Kiwis were on Phi Phi before Christmas, but says they left before the tsunami.

He thinks there were still a lot of Australians, though, and probably other Kiwis.

Mr Collingwood talks calmly, almost detached, about the events.

It is typical of many in the affected parts of Thailand. It is as if there is too much to do yet to be able to understand the scale of what took place and give in to grief.

But he knows he will eventually break down.

Thousands of people were on the island, he says. Today's clearing has found 80 bodies.

Piles of backpacks have been sorted, waiting to be taken away, and credit cards lying around are carefully collected. They are vital evidence as to who was on the island.

At the boat back to the mainland, a Thai worker asks for a lift. He has been on Phi Phi all day, uncovering and lifting bodies on and off trolleys.

It is time to get off this isolated island and head home to the living.

The man sits down with relief and pulls out antiseptic wipes to try and eradicate the grime and smell of decay.

It helps, but the smell of the dead lingers. He will be back to do the same again tomorrow.