Koh Samui, one month later
It is dry and sunny again on the islands of Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao and the worldwide interest in what happened in this area a month ago has disappeared. It is no news that the inhabitants of this archipelago are dealing with the consequences of a natural disaster, which is unprecedented in the recent history of these islands.
Eight days of sustained stir and hurricane-like storms have caused widespread destruction and claimed several lives. Normally March is the sunniest month of the year. This time nature struck mercilessly and mercilessly.
On the night of March 30, residents of Koh Samui and the entrepreneurs in the tourism sector had to watch helplessly as the mass of water gushing from the mountains destroyed their livelihoods. The infrastructure of the islands, the road network, sewers, buildings and vehicles, furniture and clothing – much has been washed away in that fateful last week of March.
The mayor of Koh Samui, Mr. Jaikwang Samui is a cheerful person by nature and not easily upset. Already on the morning of March 31, 2011, he can be found at the Tesaban town hall in the midst of a crisis team. He smokes one hand-rolled Thai cigarette after another and doesn't know where his helpers should start first, because chaos is everywhere.
Chaweng
In Chaweng, tourists had to get out of their homes at night hotels be evacuated. At least five people have died due to broken power lines. Houses and streets look like after a bomb attack. Everything that happened on Koh Samui and the neighboring islands completely dwarfs the sometimes usual damage during monsoon rain in recent years.
The mayor keeps on calling. He gives orders to disaster relief, consults with the Thai Navy, which has now been alerted, coordinates police tasks and the work of a hastily formed army of emergency aid workers. It is a nerve-racking operation, the end of which is not in sight and can continue for months. Fortunately, the electricity grid was back in operation fairly quickly. Chaweng had light and contact with the outside world again, followed later by Lamai and the smaller towns.
Electrocution
It is lugubrious that it is precisely the electricity, on which people are so dependent, that was the main cause of death. Three people were demonstrably killed instantly by contact with broken pipes.
Bee (25) from Nong Kai in NortheastThailand got off her moped at 27 p.m. on Sunday, March 8 at a Seven-Eleven in Lamai. When she tried to hold on to a concrete pillar because of the water mass, 12.000 volts passed through her delicate body. As if struck by lightning, she fell dead into the swirling water. From a nearby bar, guests and employees witnessed this drama and sat distraught on a pool table for at least half an hour and no one ventured near the dead.
It is not the first time that broken high-voltage lines have caused fatal accidents during the monsoon season. Every year there are reports of electrocutions from all tourist areas, of which foreign visitors are also regularly victims. The Thai authorities usually dismiss it as frivolousness. The explanation is that someone who accidentally touches a loose cable has only themselves to blame. For this reason, foreigners who have lived in Samui, Phuket or Pattaya for many years give a wide berth to suspicious electricity poles and loose wires. Almost everyone has heard a chilling story in this regard.
Evacuation
Many tourists staying on the islands, including many Dutch people, will not easily forget the drastic consequences of the floods. Hundreds of guests from Chaweng hotels were evacuated by inflatable boats in the early hours of Tuesday, sometimes using naval helicopters and later landed in Bangkok or Sattahip by the Thai Navy. Many others were able to go to the airport, but then had to wait many hours, days before there was a possibility to leave for Bangkok or elsewhere.
In the days following the catastrophe, supplies to shops were somewhat restored, but everyone went on a hoarding tour for fear of new rain showers and storms. The shelves in the partially destroyed Seven-Eleven stores, Lotus, Big C and Makro were emptied in record time. Fresh bread, eggs, traditional Thai ready meals, meat and sausage, everything was scarce.
Disaster movie
The days-long period of torrential rain kept many awake. It was like one in a Hollywood disaster movie. Storm, rain and wind ravaged the houses and people. Sometimes it would stop for a moment and a deceptive peace would arise, only to be rudely disturbed again a few minutes later by new driving rain. Then, on the night of March 31, the noise suddenly stopped, the constant rain turned into a light drizzle and even stopped. People woke up to an almost eerie silence.
Peace had returned and marked the first step back to normality. The people of Koh Samui and the neighboring islands will need a long time to recover from this trauma. And for many tourists, Koh Samui will never be what it once was.
(this posting uses text from an article by Der Farang)
An impressive story. It's hard to imagine what it must have been like. Sad for all involved. The Thai who depend on tourism, but also for the tourists themselves, who may have saved for a year for their dream vacation. Instead of a relaxing holiday, you end up in a kind of disaster movie.
Bit exaggerated; indeed the weather (storm and rain) was terrible, and much damage was done. But to say that the infrastructure has been destroyed, I think is going too far.
After the storm, repairs were immediately started, and now, about 3 weeks after the “disaster”, the consequences are no longer noticeable; We have had very nice weather since then, and almost all the destruction has been repaired. The tourists are coming back, and in Chaweng it is starting to get nice and busy again (despite the low season).
@ Martin, if necessary, write a story about how it is now, then I can post it.
Of course the climate is changing. This is strongly felt in Thailand.
I have lived here for 6 years now and used to be (before I lived here) when I lived here for many years
came on holiday you had the rainy season and the dry not so warm months
December, January, February. You also sometimes had a thunderstorm. After a few hours
that was over and the sun was shining again. The famous dark Dutch
days with a splash of rain did not exist here.
That has all changed now. I used to be able to safely celebrate New Year's Eve
with my in-laws in southern Thailand. The last time water up to the ankles.
Later in March the water was up to the top post of the outer door.
I'm not really allowed to say that, but if I were to book a holiday to Thailand,
I would still choose the reasonably reliable north.
Why take unnecessary risks. You may have a lot throughout the year
set aside for your vacation.
My daughter has booked a vacation to Japan (in September) and she wants to go there
go anyway. She says, you shouldn't let people be victims of that
what happened there. I also ask the readers, who is right here
Cor van Kampen.
Depends on when you go to Thailand, in the winter season it is too cold for me in the north, plus that many go for the beaches and not for the beautiful nature.
Was in Samui for a few days last week, the consequences of those heavy rains are hardly visible anymore. Everything seems normal again.
We returned on March 24 from 4 weeks in Thailand.
The last week we have been in Coconut Beach Rechord Lamai Beach.
When we got there the sea was very wild and constantly cloudy.
We went to the Big Buddha and after we gave a donation for the temple we received a bracelet from a monk saying brings good luck.
From that moment on it started to rain and in no time the stairs were a waterfall.
The monk offered us a chair and something to drink, according to him it would soon be dry again, but after waiting for 3 hours it went just as fast.
Finally we found a taxi that wanted to take us away, in some places the road was like a river, the water was that high and it was flowing.
When we arrived at the hotel, the power went out in lamai, which lasted until the evening.
The following days the sky cleared up and it became sunny.
The people there said that the weather there has been upset since December.
We really had 4 nice weeks, met a lot of nice people and saw a lot.
In Bangkok we came to a small restaurant that was opened by a man and woman 20 days before, we had pleasant conversations there and the two times we were back we visited it again.
It was also so cozy at a Guesthouse (Happy House) because it is small, I think you have more contact with the people themselves than in the large hotels.
I could write a whole piece about the trip, but that is not the intention here.
So we are already looking forward to the next trip.
@ Peter, you can write a travelogue from me, then I will post it on Thailandblog.