IT HAS been quite a week. Despite the rainclouds, nobody is in mourning, and Phuket is still here.

This week has not been like that first week after the tsunami in 2004 and early 2005, when we all shared a sense of sadness at the scale of the calamity.

There was also a sense of powerlessness, too, in the face of media distortion.

If you believed what the international media was saying then, Phuket had been ''devastated.''

We all knew differently, but we were not able to do anything about it.

The story, totally false, had taken on a life of its own. This disaster is different.

While media reports everywhere have probably exaggerated the present danger to tourists, visitors will start returning much more rapidly.

The surf titles are on this weekend at Kata and, with fewer tourists about, the island always sparkles. It's great to be alive.

Looking forward, the next few weeks should see the tourist industry on the way to recovery, provided politics in Bangkok remains violence-free.

And by that we also mean free of assaults on the tourism industry.


ATPhuketwan we are used to asking questions and sometimes being given interesting answers.

But there is one question we keep asking this week without getting an answer.

Why did the People's Alliance for Democracy stop Phuket flights? Why did they invade the tarmac and by doing so, threaten the livelihoods of their friends and families?

Was it out of a sense of frustration at so many days of protests without achieving the result they wanted?

Was it just because a few hotheads ran out of control?

Was it radical activists, unionists who joined the demonstration, or infiltrators from the other side?

We know that the vast majority of PAD supporters are respectable people who would never consider violence as an option.

Yet once a year, at the Vegetarian Festival, we see some things we find hard to comprehend.

Phuket people suddenly change, and perform in extraordinary ways.

Some of them even seem to hurt themselves. In much the same way, Phuket committed a version of self-harm this week.

We understand the significance of the Vegetarian Festival.

What we do not yet understand is the reason for the extraordinary behavior at Phuket International Airport.

And until the local leaders of PAD answer that question: Why? we will view the movement as being less benign that we thought.


JOBS ARE really where the pain will come, if the impact from the invasion and political unrest exceeds expectations.

Tourism leaders do not expect resort staff to be sacked or stood down without pay, but there are always exceptions.

Plenty of resort staff will find service charges or tips dramatically reduced over the next couple of months. And they will be right to blame the PAD.

In low season, some resorts usually lay off staff, and the airport action has made this low season much lower than last year.

Nataya Anudit, Chief of Phuket Provincial Employment Office, told Phuketwan that the cycle of labor remained, with the same resorts likely to be demanding more skilled labor come the high season.

She said about 1800 people a month, or 50 to 60 people a day, came to her office seeking jobs. Yet skilled labor was still lacking.

The Chief of Phuket Provincial Office of Labor Protection and Welfare, Anuchon Varinsathien, said there had been no immediate concerns but the effects of the air stoppage would come with the high season, when accumulated resort cancellations would probably cost jobs.


INDIA is hot and becoming hotter, and we are talking tourism and investment, not global warming.

We learn through the Business Standard that Divia Lalvani, daughter of Phuket tycoon Gulu Lalvani and wife of Peter Cadbury, may have been the inspiration for some of that heat.

Cadbury, whose family sold their chocolate empire years back, has invested in the Japanesne restaurant Ai, which opened in New Delhi on Wednesday, and plans some more Indian ventures.

''The sun is setting on the dominance of the Western economies and rising on the Eastern economies,'' he told the Standard.

''This is where a lot of opportunities lie. I'm not here as a short-term investor, but will take a long-term, 10-15 year view on investments in India.''

Divia established and eventually sold the highly successful Japanese restaurant Zuma in London.

Her love for Japanese food, she says in the Standard, came about because her mother had grown up in Hawaii.

''My thesis in business school,'' she says, ''was on a Japanese restaurant business.''

Look for every day, Monday to Friday, at Phuketwan. It's essential reading. To tell us your news, email bigislandmedia@gmail.com or telephone 081 6513489.

Latest from Phuketwan:

September 3
Phuket occupancy rates are down from 55 percent to 30 percent and the recovery will take up to two years, a tourism industry leader says. The island and airlines continue to count the cost of the airport siege.

Phuket Air Siege: Two Years For Recovery

September 2
With a state of emergency announced in Bangkok, a survey of Phuket resorts indicates that the airport siege cost the tourism industry dearly. One thing is sure: Phuket is no longer the haven from political unrest it was last week.

Phuket Resorts Report Cancellations, Uncertainty

August 28
Phuket's Big Buddha stands at the top when it comes to tourist attractions, bringing more and more visitors to the island; Phuket artist takes on Manhattan; Charity golf day.

Phuket's Big Buddha Tops With Tourists

August 27
After a month's delay for a poll challenge, Patong has a reelected mayor. Pian Keesin is likely to push the Patong Tunnel and the Big Buddha cable car; Phuket mourns five in van blast; Alert on PAD action.

Patong Mayor Pian Wins Despite Poll Challenge

August 26
The familiar green Phuket City buses are turning pink and changing in other ways, too. Look for the new buses from October 1; New discount for airlines at Phuket; Dengue fight goes on foot.

Phuket Turns Pink With New Bus Service

Look for every day, Monday to Friday, at Phuketwan. It's essential reading. To tell us your news, email bigislandmedia@gmail.com or telephone 081 6513489.