31. In Koh Lanta, still waiting for tourists to come back two months after the tsunami

By Filipe Morato Gomes	Where is Koh Lanta?
I learned how to dive in crystal-clear waters of Koh Tao, in Gulf of Thailand, before I got lost in the wild nights of crazy Koh Phangan. I then decided to check out what was going on further south on a place affected by the tsunami, Koh Lanta, a lovely island located on the Andaman Sea. People were still waiting for the tourists to come back, two months after the tsunami.

After an incursion into Myanmar, the Gulf of Thailand was my next destination. Learning how to dive and starting to discover the magic of the underwater world was my first goal. Koh Tao, a small island north of the most famous Koh Samui, was the chosen place. Anxious, in a very short time, I hopped on a boat heading to Ban Mae, the gateway to “tortoise” island - as locals refer to Koh Tao.

Getting ready to dive in Koh Tao, Gulf of Thailand

Most travellers that visit Koh Tao, do it to dive. The crystal-clear waters, good visibility and a very rich fauna attract divers from all over the world as well as a lot of candidates to be apprentices. Dive instructor Fernando, a good-tempered Brazilian who visited Koh Tao for just a couple days in the past and never left the island, was the guide in the four day marathon learning how to deal with compressed air tanks, regulators, masks, BCDs, compasses and other dive gear. It was a memorable experience.

In the first dive, the group of divers I belonged to was welcomed by a sluggish moray and hundreds of other coloured fishes with varied semblance. The exercises made underwater, as putting on or taking off the equipment, the regulator or the mask were very useful to get some knowledge and get more confident. At the end of the four days, the doors to the underwater world were open. With so many emotions, the will to leave Koh Tao was close to none. But having confirmed for too long the one which is considered the biggest Koh Tao lie - “I'm leaving tomorrow!” - I found myself sitting on the stem of a boat on the way to Koh Phangan, famous for its wild full moon parties.

Music all night long, buckets of alcohol, lots of drugs and people from all over the world might be an appellative combination but it is also a hazardous one. In Hat Rin, the main village of Koh Phangan and the tourist centre of the island, the atmosphere was great even though full moon was happening in two weeks time. Many beautifully tanned Scandinavian girls strolled by in a very attractive way on their sexy Von Dutch mini-skirts. Some Thai ladyboys waited for an opportunity to do business with tourists who might be too drunk to distinguish Thai women from them. The bodies danced nimbly in the beach bars; buckets with vodka and Red Bull were eagerly emptied by the ravished crowd; people with artistic vein juggled with fire along the beach, offering the happy folks a show of light and movement. It was a collective joy, all night long, every night.

Constructing new boats in Koh Lanta, Andaman Sea, Thailand

However the worst was that not everybody was in good faith. Some opportunists tried to take advantage of that easy atmosphere. I got to know some women, almost always young, beautiful and attractive girls, who had been stoned with the one which is known as “the rape drug”. Apparently, the effect of that drug was some kind of liberal euphoria associated to a sense of emptiness in one's memory for about a dozen hours. They usually didn't remember what happened after a certain moment. That's how unscrupulous men tried to easily and cowardly have a night of sex.

After partying for some nights it was time to head to the Andaman Sea and inquire about the post-tsunami situation in the region. Knowing that Kao Lak is irrecoverable in the short-term and that Phuket is completely operational, I decided to go towards the beautiful island of Koh Lanta.

When I got there one could feel a certain dose of sadness stamped on local traders' faces, after two months without customers, even with sale prices, in a region that lives mostly from fishing and tourism. Most of the affected places were already recovered. Bungalows, restaurants and beach bars were working at fulltime. Only the tourists were missing. However, it seemed everything was changing slowly. Every single day more and more people turned up, beaches started being variegated by bikinis and swim suits and some boats left the shore with divers towards the best diving places in the area. Smiles started to open.

An empty luxury resort in a lovely area of Koh Lanta

I also would like to verify how the sea men were reacting. I rode a motor-bike along Koh Lanta, in the company of a Canadian TV crew. They were looking for gypsy fishermen - in the past they were nomads in Andaman Sea, sailing between the western coast of Thailand and the south of Myanmar - who lost all their fishing fleet.

There were no tears, anguish or despair. On the contrary, they were building new boats in several improvised shipyards in their villages. The salaries were supported by the Thai government. Some vessels had already been launched; others were in the final phase of painting. The men worked really hard and only thought about their future, with a smiling look. But, for these brave people who inhabit the south of Thailand, it was important those fears disappear from the tourists' minds. They were still waiting for that moment, two months after the tsunami.

(originally written in Portuguese)

» Back to top of the page