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Most
major hotels in Phuket are running at just 10 or 15% occupancy at a time
of the year when they should be running at around 90% or higher. It is
still peak season for Phuket's tourism industry yet due to the
devastating Tsunami, travel advisories, and the disturbing graphic
images that were shown relentlessly around the world, most hotels and
beaches are relatively quiet.
Anyone
who has travelled to Phuket before the Tsunami, knows only too well the
unusual entertainment options available in what is Phuket's Patpong, Soi
Bangla. This road does have restaurants and shops but mainly consists of
beer bars, ladyboys, girls swinging around polls or waiting for customers to buy
them a drink. It provides an unusual form of entertainment to a holiday
in sheer paradise, which some may call sleazy others perhaps fun or
entertaining.
Whatever
your point of view, many will be surprised by how little Soi Bangla and
the bars within seem to have been affected by the waters that only in
December brought so much destruction. At the beginning of February 2005
the bars in Soi Bangla were busy, not as busy perhaps as they should be
at this time of year, but still busy. There is hardly any sign of the
Tsunami at all in this infamous nightlife area, just as there is little
evidence in Phuket as a whole.
While
nobody can debate how absolutely appalling the Tsunami and its aftermath
is, Phuket and surrounding areas rely on tourism as their main source of
income, so it is imperative that tourists return to help the people who
live there regain their livelihoods and a sense of normality. To assist,
Phuket and Thailand's tourism officials are doing everything they can
to encourage tourists, media, and travel industry personnel to return,
and the message Phuket's nightlife is giving out is one of strength and hope -
life must move on.
See
Pictures
of Phuket's Nightlife.
See
other recent news regarding:
Tsunami
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