Travel: Let the sun shine in Thailand

It's midday, and Patong Beach in southern Thailand throbs with an odd combo of relaxation and hyperactivity.
Rows of umbrellas punctuate the tide line for a mile in both directions, casting circles of shade from the tropical sun's unforgiving glare. Sun worshipers from Australia, Sweden and Germany parade at water's edge in varying degrees of undress, and sporting shades of sunburn ranging from rosy to "I should be in urgent care."
Strolling vendors offer iced drinks, spicy cashews, bracelets, sarongs and henna tattoos.
Criss-crossing the gentle waters of the broad bay are traditional long-tailed wooden boats, Jet Skis and hopped-up speedboats, some towing kite riders. Beneath a batik sunshade, tourists sigh their way through a Thai-style, deep-tissue massage: one hour for about $10.
"If someone told me that this town was buried by a tidal wave just three years ago," said a friend, "I would not believe them."
Neither would I.

Frightening scenes of mayhem and destruction circled the world within hours after the tsunami inundated this coastline on the eerily sunny morning of Dec. 26, 2004.

In Thailand alone, at least 8,000 people were reported dead or missing.

Looking around in January 2008, one sees only signs of an extremely vibrant beach resort packed with tourists in high season.

The 2-mile stretch of sand on Patong Bay houses maybe 15,000 beach umbrellas in high season. Backing the beach is a one-way street where minivans, motorbikes, taxis and tuk-tuks (open air, diesel-belching tourist-transport devices) spill forward in a continuous stream. (Note to Patong Beach elders: Install a traffic light or two to give flip-flop-wearing pedestrians a fighting chance.)

After the tsunami

Residents here, and the Thai government, reacted to the tsunami as though their lives depended on it. Which they do. The tropical island of Phuket, 500 miles south of Bangkok, has about 300,000 residents, and about 5 million annual visitors. More than one-third of Phuket residents work in tourism-related jobs.

That did not mean tourists flocked back, however. One news report said that Japanese and Chinese travelers feared ghosts of the unburied dead. Another said people didn't want to eat local fish that may have dined on corpses. Others fretted about a repeat tsunami.

The tourists return

As time passed, however, the place's allure -- predictably hot weather in the dry season, soft sand beaches, sparkling blue waters, gorgeous offshore islands, gracious local people, great service, cheap eats, bargain shopping and good values at hotels and resorts -- proved irresistible, and by 2007 tourism in most places was back to pre-tsunami levels.

Travel guides and tourism promoters tout "better than ever" conditions at Patong, including improved water and a new mosaic beach-front walkway on the ocean side of the main drag.

Water? Seemed good. We drank bottled water from our hotel, but also consumed drinks with ice cubes with no ill effect.

That strip features a Starbucks, a Burger King, a Subway sandwich shop and a McDonald's, complete with a life-sized Ronald McD. sculpture. For this I traveled 6,000 miles on my first trip to Asia?

After hectic Bangkok, I had envisioned a serene few days at the beach. That is not what Patong, with its outdoor rock bands, honky-tonks, market stalls and thick crowds of foreign tourists, has to offer.

Still, the 2 1/2-mile beach, protected by tall green headlands to the north and south, began to exert its charms, starting with a breeze-kissed run along the low-tide line early the next morning.

The giant beach is also fetching at day's end, when tattooed Jet Ski bosses count their take, salty vacationers head for their hotels and dreadlocked backpackers meditate on the sinking sun.

Day tripping

Early one day a friend and I joined seven others in a minivan across the island to Phuket Town, where a speedboat whisked us off to visit two islands and a coral reef for snorkeling. The half-day trip, which we arranged through our hotel concierge, included transportation, cold drinks, fruit, a light lunch, three guides and snorkel gear -- all for a mere $28 per person.

Because we had left early, the first isle was ours alone. After the Patong din, this unpeopled swath of beach was a sweet luxury. Blue sea water over paper-white sand, colorful fish, rocks and coral formations made for easy and gorgeous snorkeling.

Only one false note reminded us that humans can cause trouble in paradise. Three times the motor on the speedboat whined and sputtered to a stop. Since we were afloat in the middle of nowhere, this initially caused serious concern. It turned out, each time, that a floating plastic bag had jammed the propellers.

Since there is no true escape from the throngs (or at least their garbage), back in Patong that night, we decided to embrace them. We went to the Simon Cabaret ladyboy show, a gaudy tourist draw in a large theater with comfy movie-house seating -- and we had a blast. In extravagant costumes to rival Vegas and Broadway, the over-the-top drag productions ranged from a "Dreamgirls" medley to eye-popping, crowd-pleasing Korean, Chinese and Japan- ese numbers.

An unexpected (and unpredicted) force of nature wreaked havoc on this idyllic island in 2004. But the interdependent worlds of the Thai economy and tourism carry on as before, offering timeless attractions for travelers both hyper and indolent.

Claude Peck • 612-673-7977