• Struggling for survival |
KEEPING THE DEAD Reasons to smile The party mood has returned to Patong's nightlife strip, where most clients have no fear of another great wave. Porntip Cheujan, the owner of a beer bar on Patong beach, has a big grin on her face this month. Patong started to come alive again when a large number of foreign tourists came to party in the area. As a result, she hopes, her business is on the path to recovery. A year on, Ms Porntip has learned valuable lessons. She said her business survived not with the help of local authorities, but thanks to her foreign customers who gave her heartfelt support during the difficult times. ''We've got nothing from the government so far. The local government picked up my legal documents such as copies of my identification card and pictures, but I received nothing from them,'' she said. ''I would like to thank my foreign clients for their support for my business.'' Some of her foreign customers, especially those from Europe, came to meet her at the bar after they found out about the deadly wave hitting the island. They offered support by buying drinks for guests and the girls working in the bar, ringing the bell hanging from the ceiling to signal a round for everyone. ''When the tsunami hit Phuket on Dec 26, part of my bar was devastated and I lost 600,000 baht in damaged audio products. That day, I was in deep pain and could not sleep all night,'' Ms Porntip said. A few days later, she says, thanks to dhamma and Lord Buddha's teachings, she found the strength to calm down and carry on. Ms Porntip, 47, a fan of the Democrat party, has run her business for 15 years and now employs 30 bar girls. None of them left her after the tsunami. She said Patong has recovered by about half compared with how it was before the tsunami. The growing number of foreign tourists arriving since October is a good sign. And she's confident that Phuket will remain a popular tourist spot with a bright outlook for 2006. ''Most of the foreign tourists I know say they want to return here, even after experiencing the tsunami. They say it is just a natural disaster, not a terrorist attack.'' Tamarine, a bar girl, has not yet recovered from the tsunami. Her monthly income has dropped by a half from 60,000 baht two years ago. The 28-year-old native of Nakhon Ratchasima was in Italy for work and was living with her Italian boyfriend when the tidal wave hit the island. Her colleagues told her on the phone that the tsunami had wiped out not only businesses, but also lives. ''Mostly, the clients just wanted to hang out with me or took me travelling around the island with them. They did not buy sex,'' she said. Life was easier in those days. She had enough money to cover her monthly expenses, send some back to her parents and have some left for parties. She has travelled between Italy and Thailand in the past two years and has no plans to settle down anywhere yet. ''I've planned to save at least 200,000 baht from working in Phuket and then go,'' she says. |
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