Tsunami Update: Holiday in a Disaster Zone

Article by: Karla Zimmerman, October 2005

Visitors to Thailand like Darrel Gates think so. Gates, a London-based accountant who recently visited Phuket, wanted a sandy getaway and was awed by the low prices to a favourite destination. At first wary of booking a flight into a tsunami-affected zone, Gates researched what other travellers were saying; he also checked the UK foreign office website for updates. Convinced that everything 'seemed OK,' he took off – and had a perfectly enjoyable vacation.

'The mood wasn't sombre. It seems like locals have gotten over it and are moving on with their lives,' Gates says.

People arrive and are surprised to find that things are OK

Likewise in Sri Lanka, says Becky Walker, a British PhD student and volunteer who has visited the country several times since 1998 and currently lives on Sri Lanka's east coast. 'The mood is quite up-beat. People arrive and are surprised to find that things are OK,' she writes via email.

The Buddhist religion, which dominates in Thailand and Sri Lanka as well as other parts of the tsunami-struck region, may be helping to foster the speedy recovery. While many locals were deeply affected by the losses they experienced, people here also accept the inevitable changeability of life, for better or worse.

'The Buddhist approach is "that's life, and part of life is suffering",' says Dr Ben Weinstein, a Bangkok-based clinical psychologist who specializes in post-traumatic stress disorder, and who provided mental health and community interventions in Thailand after the tsunami. 'People who are successful in making sense of trauma deal better with it. And a lot of Buddhists have made sense [of the catastrophe] by fitting it into their world view.'

Weinstein cites the American Red Cross's statistic that it takes 24 to 36 months for a community to return to normal after a disaster, with 'normal' meaning that employment returns to pre-event levels. 'Resuming one's work and livelihood is the most important part of recovery. The effects of not being able to do that can be worse than the disaster itself,' Weinstein says.

Since much of the economy in the region is based on tourism – and locals are desperate for visitors to come to get things back on track – does that mean tourists who do arrive during this transitional period will receive the hard sell from industry operators and be bombarded with money requests?

Resuming one's work and livelihood is the most important part of recovery

Gates says that in Phuket, he didn't feel pressured or guilt-induced to buy anything he wouldn't have purchased anyway. He did encounter several persistent touts and cab drivers, but as he says, 'not an abnormal amount…you see that kind of thing everywhere'.

Walker concurs. '[Tourists] may be asked for money, but this is not just a tsunami thing. It happens and has happened all the time in Sri Lanka.'

'Lots of tourists think [the region] is a total disaster area and it's best not to go back, but that's not the case,' Gates says. 'It is quite easy to have fun,' Walker agrees. 'Just be aware [there are] local people who perhaps have not been able to put their lives back together so fast.'