We were in Bangkok on the 26th, having flown in the night before. We toured around the city, trying to work out where things were, getting lost, and the usual tourist stuff, so we had no contact with the news all day. When we got to Bangkok airport nothing seemed out of the ordinary, although all flights to Phuket were slightly delayed. However, we didn't think anything much of that, since its hardly uncommon. Even in the waiting room there was no real buzz about waves or anything. The airline didn't mention anything, so we boarded the plane and flew off knowing absolutely nothing about the disaster.
When we arrived in Phuket we only started to realise gradually that something was up. There were very few taxis waiting at the airport, which based on our limited experience of Thailand was very strange; in Bangkok you can't go near the street without being mobbed by eager chauffeurs. Gradually people formed into groups going to the same places to pool cabs, and it was then that we heard that there had been tsunamis on Phuket, and around the Indian Ocean. Still we didn't quite understand the scope of it, thinking it had only been a bit of an inconvenience, but when we got to the hotel we realised a bit better. There was debris throughout the streets of Patong, and aimless crowds milling about. At the hotel they told us about overturned cars and destroyed buildings, people swept away, and then we realised that we had landed in the middle of a real emergency. They had BBC news on in the lobby, so that was surreal. The hotel was in an uproar, obviously, the rooms hadn't been cleaned and the receptionists were being pressed by many different guests all wanting to leave, or find information or something.
On Monday morning we went out to see what the situation was. Patong beach was quite badly hit. Not nearly as seriously as some other areas like Khao Lak, just north of us, where thousands were dead, but many people had been killed, and the beach front was totally smashed to pieces. I'm sure you've seen pictures of similar places. Cars and scooters were thrown everywhere, boats too, and every possible piece of debris was scattered up and down the beach and the streets were clogged with rubble. The tacky tourist shops that lined the area spilled all of their merchandise, so we saw shoes, clothes of all sorts, manequins, bar paraphanalia, hotel counters, plants, etc... everywhere. Tourists were rubber necking up and down by this point, since the relatively low number of casualties had allowed the authorities to deal with the dead and injured quickly the day before.
At this point we didn't really know what to do. Most stores and restaurants were still closed at that point, even further inland where damage had been slight. We couldn't really do anything to help, as there was no apparent coherent direction to the clean up. It was overwhelming for everyone. We walked around having a look around, up and down the beach, and then went to look for some lunch. We did eventually find an Indian restaurant that was opening up.
From that point on things gradually got back to something like normal. Stores and restaurants further inland that hadn't been damaged opened up. We found out that the waves had been selective in the destruction. Certain areas were much more badly damaged than others, so we decided to get out of the way in Patong, which was pretty bad, and see the other areas. From that point on there was little that we could do other than carry on pretty much as we normally would have. It seemed a bit unreal, and we probably would have felt differently had we been there at the time of the wave. Many tourists who had been there did leave. The hotels that remained open took in those fleeing their hotels on the first days, but later they all went to Bangkok or back home. Many governments helped to arrange for transportation. We also felt that it wouldn't do the Thais any favours if all tourists suddenly left. By the end of our time, people were definetely back to their usual ways, and New Year's was fairly lively. They had candlelight memorial services at midnight.
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Being in Thailand itself I could definetely see why it is such a popular destination. Bangkok is not nearly as scary or polluted as I had the impression of it. It is huge, and hot, and crowded, but is also amazing and, even for fairly green westerners such as ourselves, we easily made our way around. I've never seen temples or churches anything like the temples they have which are glittering and ornamented, and simple at the same time. I was blown away. Compared to the temples here in Korea they were a bit austentacious. Sort of like the difference between some protestant churches and Catholic baroque architecture. I was also really impressed by the canals in Bangkok. People still live in houses of all sorts, up and down these little canals. It was an amazingly beautiful area of the city, with people swimming outside their houses, relaxing on the porches, and palm trees all around with the cooling breeze of the water. The food, was totally awesome in all of its varieties, roadside and restaurant. All told I preferred the plentiful Indian food better though.
Until going to Thailand I hadn't realised how self contained and inward looking Korea is. In Korea you hardly ever see a westerner over the age of 35 or under 20. There we saw tourists of all stripes, not just in Phuket, but also in Bangkok. English was also far more prevalent than here. In Korea the women at tourist information booths hardly speak English at all, and the random population, in general, knows pretty much none. In Thailand though, they all knew tonnes, even the cabbies. Obviously Phuket itself is a bit of a special case and I don't really base my comments on it, but even in Bangkok the level of English was strong. Advertisements often appeared in both languages. Western brands were also predominant all across Thailand to a much greater extent than here. In Korea domestic brands are strongly promoted, even if they are selling much the same things as western companies. Western food was much more readily available. In Korea western food is, for the most part, limited to Burger King and Subway. Tourists are obviously much more catered to. They put up maps everywhere, have English menus, and are capitalising on tourists far more. In Bangkok thousands of vendors continually offer all manner of services and products, while in Korea, even the biggest tourist traps seem quite free of this. I hadn't realised how "un-westernised" Korea is since it does have its share of Macdonalds.
Phuket was a serious tourist trap. It was beautiful, but all things considered I would try to go to a smaller island next time. The number of European sun seekers was quite amazing. The signs there had so much German and Scandinavian it felt like Europe more than Asia in many ways.
Thailand was also a land of greater extremes in wealth, we saw many extremely poor people without shoes and kids on the street, but the office towers made of marble and glass glitter in the sun while porsches drive the streets. The malls are something to behold, some of them almost comically ornate. But they do have good deals!
It seemed like British influence was much stronger there than here where American is huge. They generally used British spellings on signs, had BBC, used British products, and drove on the left (though this may be ancient). Thailand was never a colony, but it neighbours Burma which was, and must have had some influence from there. Here American spelling dominates, we get American Forces Network, and no one even considers Britain as far as I can tell.
One interesting feature I've never seen before was their devotion to the king, Rama IX. His face addorns giant medallions downtown and shrines across the country. Criticising him will get you in jail, to the point that defacing bills, which he is featured on, will apparently get you beaten up.
Those are some of the things that spring to mind after returning, based on my two days in Bangkok and 5 in Phuket, so it may not be an exactly representative sample of Thailand, but that's what struck me. Also to keep in mind, I live in Daegu, which is not a tourist or capital city, so I'll have to reserve final judgement until I visit Seoul.
