Party island remains a horror site

Ko Phi-Phi, the best known of southern Thailand's ethereal floating resorts, has been transformed by the tsunami from a tropical party site into a touchstone of horror.

More than 100 travel industry and tourism officials are meeting in Phuket to salvage the livelihood of this tiny island and other destinations in Thailand, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Indonesia.

Ko Phi-Phi consists of two tiny islands, Phi-Phi Don and Phi-Phi Ley. Recovery is crucial for the travel industry, which accounts for 6 per cent of the Thai economy.

Just 28sq km, Phi-Phi Don drew 400,000 visitors last year. Across Asia, it is seen as the test case for rebounding from the death blows of the wave.

The major clean-up is expected to take at least three months. But by then, high season will be over.

No longer does the public ferry call at Phi-Phi's Tonsai village, which is closed to all but relief workers and clean-up crew.

Most residents were evacuated on December 27, the day after two monstrous breakers struck.

People who ran screaming from the wall of water bearing down on the pier were hammered by another three-storey wave coming the opposite way. It tossed them with broken coral, shattered boats, air conditioning units and large chunks of rubble.

Jagged pieces inflicted horrific injuries - more than 4500 people were treated for fractures and deep wounds. About 10 per cent of the victims needed amputation.
The corpses have been cleared away but workers still spray disinfectant on piles of rubbish and clear out crumbling cement buildings.

Reconstruction is not imminent here; they are still digging out.

On Government orders, our ferry, with only 12 tourists aboard, stays in deep water and we board a wooden longtail boat. When it rounds into Maya Bay on the sister island, Phi-Phi Ley, there is a collective gasp.

The jade green water sparkles, surrounded by soaring cliffs, and the beach is like talcum. Afterwards we head for three pristine hotels at Laem Thong Beach, on the eastern side of Phi-Phi Don.

The cement pier has been blasted away by the tidal wave and broken boats litter the rocks. But a new wooden dock is already in place, leading across the headland to a sea gypsy's snack shack with no customers.

Dr Nipon Pongsuwanthe, from the Phuket Marine Biological Centre, heads a group of 100 scuba volunteers who tend the broken coral.

"It is a mess," he says. "Uprooted trees and housing material are strewn on it."

Nipon reckons the tourist village on Phi-Phi was doomed because it was straight in the path of the huge waves.

After the killer waves struck, Tonsai village suffered a plague of flies. Now officials warn against an infestation of rats. Smoke pillars from burning rubbish streak the cloudless sky, but the turquoise water stretches like silk to the horizon.

Dr Surasak Ammartyothin, the young Thai doctor at the island clinic, is exhausted after treating thousands of battered patients. He attends some 3000 Thais still living on the island, who are susceptible to dengue fever and intestinal bugs.

The provincial governor has offered to buy back damaged property and transform Tonsai Village into a national park and memorial for the tsunami victims.

"Phuket is big enough and strong enough to be back on the map," says Phil Russell, a Phuket travel agent. "Phi-Phi still needs some time to heal."

- INDEPENDENT