moeizame wederopbouw getroffen gebieden

[bibi]

Aan mij zal het niet liggen. Wij vertrekken in mei terug richting Zuid-Oost-Azie. Kan haast bijna niet wachten. :angel:

[Don-Chedi]

http://www.similan-diving-safaris.com

Report of the first 4 Days and 4 Nights live-aboard trip
January 11th to 15th, 21 days after the Tsunami…

Similan Island #4, Jan 15 th, 2005
[b]Tsunami

<a href="http://javascript:;”>On the 26th of December 2004, at 10 am a Tsunami hit the West coast of Thailand, here in Khaolak at 10,30am.
Our boat and staff were so lucky to be out at sea. To be precise, we were at the dive site called Richelieu Rock and about to jump in the water. Suddenly, currents came from every direction and it turned into a washing machine. In the next moments the water level rose and the mooring line nearly dragged the boat under water. We cut the mooring line and left for shelter towards the Surin Islands.

After directions from the authorities we headed for the mainland. It was surreal as the closer we got, the more information we got about the disaster, but at the same time the sun was shining, the sea was calm… What was happening?

[b]Devastation and new hope

<a href="http://javascript:;”>When we got back on land, reality hit big time. Khao Lak all the Beach Resorts were gone!
Flattened, devastated…Myself (Melissa, Dutch inst) Scobby Australian inst, Gerald, Australian Dm, Jenny, Swedish inst, and Stefano Italian inst, working for Similan Diving Safari’s, helped out for a few days and then I and Scobby went to Koh Tao for a break.

Joe, the owner, then rang us if we would be interested to do a trip on the 11th to check out the dive sites. He also said it would be good to see that Khao Lak is building up again. ‘What do you mean trip?!” We wondered… Khao Lak is gone, the dive sites are gone, there is nothing to go back to…

[b]Building up

<a href="http://javascript:;”>We decided to check it out though. Two weeks after the Tsunami hit we got back to Khao Lak. We were completely astonished by how far they got in the cleaning up process. Hardly any debris Khao Lak was clean. Some super markets opened their doors again, some restaurants are up and running. There is accommodation available.
Bungalows, Rooms, and Five star Hotels are open.

The main road in Khaolak was not affected only the beach resorts. Similan Diving Safaris dive centre on the main road was untouched, this means Similan Diving Safaris can offer you the same services as before.

[b]First liveaboard trip

<a href="http://javascript:;”>On the 11th of January we left with 10 customers. It felt like a big adventure.

What was it going be like?

The sun was shining, the sea was calm, and the beaches looked as stunning as ever.

That was a great start, but what about the underwater world???

[b]Condition of the dive sites

<a href="http://javascript:;”>The first dive was in Barracuda Point, island #5 and 6. What a relief… The visibility was 30m+, some of the coral was broken off but that was all about it. Loads of fish acting as if nothing happened, and still lots and lots of beautiful coral. A great dive.

On our way to Deep Six, island #7, we were accompanied by a big pod of Dolphins. Lovely. Deep six was unfortunately in damaged state. coral was broken off in some areas, a sad sight. Still there were lots of fish, and great swim throughs,

We did 14 dives this trip. In the Similans we checked out Barracuda Point, Breakfast bend, North Point, East of Eden and Deep Six. Deep Six is damaged but the other dive sites hadn’t suffered much at all. Still amazing! Beautiful coral, big fish, small fish, turtles, as amazing as before!.

<a href="http://javascript:;”>After we left the Similans, we checked out Koh Bon, Koh Tachai and Richelieu Rock. Nothing has changed in Richelieu Rock it still lives up to it’s reputation as one of the worlds top dive sites. We did 2 day and a night dive there. Excellent diving. Koh Tachai Plateau had a hard hit. Part of the coral on the plateau has been wiped out, some massive boulders have moved. But then again, lots of coral is still there, and four leopard sharks were all over the place…Koh Bon is our Manta dive site, no luck on this trip, I think once the plankton comes so will the Manta’s soon soon. The wall and the ridge were not affected this is great news.

Last but not least we checked the Boon Sung wreck, close to the shore. This old tin dredger is not that interesting in itself but it is one of the highlights of our diving trips. It’s what you call fish soup. It serves as a kindergarten for juvenile barracuda’s, snappers, and all sorts of fish. Nudibranches, scorpion fish, lion fish everywhere.

<a href="http://javascript:;”>The wreck is only at 19m depth, so we really did not know what to expect.
Well the wreck was upside down, broken in three pieces and all over the place. However, all the fish were still there. The visibility was not that good, so a passing leopard shark nearly gave us a heart attack. I actually think that, because there is more space to hide now, the wreck will become an even better dive site than it was before!

All in all, it was a superb trip. The weather conditions were outstanding. The visibility was great, the dive sites were in surprisingly good condition, so there is lots to be happy about. What a relief!

[Don-Chedi]

voorbeeld van een door de overheid gedirigeerd artikel

uit de “Bangkok Post:

[b]A sea of tranquility
[/b]
Trang beaches are romantic but too quiet for the tourism industry

Story and photo by PEERAWAT JARIYASOMBAT

On a fine afternoon, gusts of wind rock the speeding boat tirelessly. The northeastern wind, as usual, stirs Trang’s sea and blankets the sea with low waves from early afternoon till dusk. Every time the stern sank into the wave, white splashes of clear water soaked me and other passengers. Uncomfortable perhaps, but this journey was worth it.

The modest islands and magnificent underwater world in the sea off Trang were impressive as always, even after the tsunami that shook Trang and all the Andaman coastal provinces.

So far as we could see, the islands and popular diving sites off Trang were just scratched here and there.

I slowly slipped into the Trang sea in front of Ko Chuak, following Phonsiri Suprasree, managing director of Trang-based dive shop Sea Moth, to see the underwater world in the wake of the strong waves. Some marine experts said dive sites were critically damaged, but we found no sign of major destruction here.

The bright sun overhead highlighted the colours. Crowded, colouful coral blanketed the seabed here. Nudibranch lay comfortable on the bottom. A school of white-collared butterflyfish lingered under the coral mountain. Bannerfish seemed to be enjoying their exploration of the coral colony, careless to the grouper and moray occupying every available hole.

“My own survey of different dive sites found only small and isolated effects of the tsunami in the sea off Trang,” Phonsiri said. “Less than one percent of coral reefs were destroyed, and that can recover naturally. Lets’ say that the sea remains as it was.”

I hopped around the sea off Trang to determine the situation, and I witnessed slight changes in the underwater world. Waters off Ko Chuak and Ko Wan, another scuba diving site, remain fine. At five metres down, the sea fan at the head of Ko Lao Liang has disappeared but it was replaced by soft coral reefs in different colours.

With a diving mask, I jumped off a long-tailed boat into the sea off Ko Takiang and found some parts of the shallow-water coral reef at the southern tip of the island were destroyed. The waves lifted and turned over mountain corals, breaking some hard corals. Overall, damage is slight; most of the reef is sound.

“The destroyed reef represents only 10 percent of the total,” Phonsiri figured.

Although some resorts and seaside fishing villages were damaged, the waves had minimum affect on the coral and other marine life. Tsunami news is more threat than the tsunami. Yatimaporn Winotai, branch office manager of World Travel Service, said the wave frightened 90 percent of her incoming guests to cancel their bookings.

The company considers this area as an emerging destination, and set up three branch offices here a year ago. They promote diving at Ko Takiang, bird watching at Ko Libong, and excursions to different islands off Trang such as Ko Rok and others more remote.

“It is pretty silent now,” she confirmed.

However, I found such silence was making Trang attractive. Without noisy crowds, the beaches are tranquil and the calm sea is a hideway, particularly for lovers.

“Nice beach, isn’t it?” smiled Wijai Thoytong, general manager of Ko Mook Charlie Beach Resort. “The waves added more sand in front of our resort.”

The giant waves caused visible change to most beaches in Trang _ stealing sand from some, adding more to others. Some said Ko Mook got sand from Ko Ngai, its neighbour.

I watched a couple of foreign tourists enjoy their walk on the beach at sunset. A pale red sun slowly dipped into the lonely blue sea.

“They have been here regularly,” said Wijai. “Every year, this couple spends a few months on the island. Even after the fright of the incident, they knew it was over, and continued their vacation.”

Few tourists know the real situation in Trang. Rumours of vast destruction and high death tolls have driven away the tourists. The quiet covers even the Emerald Cave where I found no boat at all at the cave’s entrance. On a normal day in the past, the cave area was packed with tourist boats. Visitors with life jackets had to queue and swam into the cave like an orange caterpillar.

But now, all was quiet. A colleague and I swam through the dark tunnel to find that the hidden beach inside was tranquil. The powerful wave had run through the winding tunnel, pushing the submerged sand ashore, and cleaned up the whole beach in the secret chamber.

During the pleasant silence, my colleague swam happily in the clear water, lingered on the lonely beach as if it was our secret place to hide away. We found that such tranquility was making Trang lovelier as well as more romantic. Loving couples looking for a beach need look no farther; Ko Sukorn is an excellent choice right now.

On the eastern end of Trang’s sea, Ko Sukorn was an emerging destination before Dec 26, for those seeking tranquility with an attractive bungalow. A handful of beach bungalows was gradually developed to suit those who love to relax on the calm, even lonely beach. Visitors could get around by motorcycle to explore four peaceful Muslim villages nearby. But now, the waves have frightened away most of the tourists. A handful left but those who understand situation well are having a good time, enjoying the sunshine and beach.

“This is our first year of full operation,” said Santi Bhumimas, manager of 17-room Sukorn Cabana resort. “Actually, we were fully booked until Jan 20.” Then the cancellations began rolling in.

Although the resort survived the killer waves without damage, every guest fled. The resort is trying hard to attract guests again. For one thing, it has reduced its room rates from 1,800 baht to 800 baht per night.

On a motorcycle, I scooted out to another resort and found a smaller and quieter place, but with the same situation. Trang Island Resort on Sai Yao Beach had a couple of British tourists who did not make their plans according to the news.

“Fortunately, we have no debt,” Nirat Thongprad smiled while watching the calm sea. “So, gaining less revenue is not great a suffering for my family business right now”.

He has reduced the rate for his eight-room resort from 1,200 baht to 800 baht per night. Without any sign of interested guests, he was thinking about lowering the price to 500 baht.

The atmosphere of love will be the main focus of the province’s annual Underwater Wedding on Valentine’s Day. Without severe damage, Trang’s sea is at its peak of tranquility. All the beaches are clean and quiet, ready to pamper those who are looking for a place to hide away on the seashore.

[Don-Chedi]

nog een propaganda berichtje

[b]HOTEL HIDEAWAY AND PACKAGES WITH A DIFFERENCE
[/b]

[b]

PEERAWAT JARIYASOMBAT

Surprisingly, after the tsunami, many beaches and dive sites on the Andaman coast have been cleaned up and look more beautiful than ever. After revisiting various places in the South, reporters, particularly photographers, are fascinated by the turquoise seas, azure skies and empty beaches. Some say they haven’t witnessed such clear skies and crystal-clear seas for years, at least since the tourism boom started attracting so many tourists.

Many popular beaches and attractions are quiet now. At Ko Lipe, a flat island that is part of the Tarutao Marine National Park in Satun, the unexpected low season has driven sea gypsies, the native people of the island, to seek new ways of making a living. Normally at this time of the year they are busy piloting long-tailed boats for tourists. But if you visit Lipe now you will see them busy boiling sea cucumbers instead.

Sea cucumber is a delicious ingredient in Chinese cuisine and the big buyers for sea cucumbers from Lipe are in Langawi.

So, stay on a quiet beach on Pattaya II on Lipe, join a homestay programme in the fishing village and experience a completely different lifestyle. Whatever you do, this perfect beach is well worth visiting.

Kijtanant Porn Sommai decided to build a small hotel on a small piece of land _ just two rai, in Tambon Maenam on Koh Samui _ to satisfy his mother’s demand for fresh air. Samui’s sea breeze is good for those with health problems, so running a small hotel sounded like a good idea for people escaping crowded Bangkok’s pollution.

The small hideaway project got bigger when he added his vision of building a high-tech hotel with an environmentally-friendly concept. The hotel _ the Amarin Victoria _ offers guests free Internet access and recycles both exhaust heat from the air-conditioners to heat water and waste water from the guest rooms to water the garden.

This helped raise the building costs to 100 million baht for the 46 room hotel, double other similarly-sized hotels, and quite costly for fresh air.

However, Kijtanant can breathe easy now as his costly hotel has got off to a very good start. The six month old hotel now enjoys a 70 percent occupancy rate and the high-tech equipment helps him save on operational costs, enabling the hotel to run profitably at just a 30 percent occupancy rate.

INTERESTING PACKAGES

– The Tubkaak Krabi, on Thabkhaek Beach is a cute resort offering “A Week A Life” package, priced at 7,700 baht per person, on a twin-sharing basis. The offer is good for Thai residents only and valid from now until March 31.

The package includes two nights in a superior room with breakfast, round trip airport transfers from Krabi airport, a romantic Thai set dinner with a bottle of wine or a choice of a day trip to Bor Thor (sea cave canoeing) with lunch or a free 45 minute Thai or aromatic oil massage with 20 percent discount at the Spa.

For reservations, email [email protected] or call 07-562-8400.

– Burasari Hotel, Patong Beach, Phuket, is offering the “Never Before, Never Again” package.

Guests can book a room at the Burasari Hotel for 999 baht per night, an Air Asia flight to Phuket for 999 baht, and any activity on offer from one of 30 participating companies such as canoeing, elephant riding, golfing or even a spa for 999 baht. The offer is valid in February and March only.

For more information, call Burasari on 07-629-2929.

– Novotel Bangkok in Siam Square offers the “City Explorer” package, priced at 3,350 baht for a single room and 3,850 baht for a double. It includes one night in a Superior Room, an American buffet breakfast, an international buffet dinner at the Chistera Cafe per two night stay, a fruit platter, welcome drink, one-hour’s WiFi Internet access (single user per room), free entrance to the Concept CM2 entertainment complex (except on special party nights), full use of the fitness centre and swimming pool, 20 percent discount at selected restaurants, laundry and the natural beauty centre, and a late check out at 4pm.

After walking the streets of Bangkok, guests can enjoy a complimentary one-hour traditional Thai massage at the Tammachart natural beauty center.

The offer is available only for consecutive two night stays and is valid until March 31. For more information call 02-255-6888 ext 2702_5.

– Shangri-La, Bangkok, invites couples to its newly opened Chi Spa to indulge in specially-designed treatments and getaway packages.

Lovers are sure to find bliss in the Yin Yang couples massage, especially created to harmonise and balance the flow of relationship chi between two people.

If “Romancing the Stone” sounds more enticing, couples can opt for the Himalayan healing stone massage. Either treatment may be included in one of two getaway packages:

The Chi Retreat Package includes two nights deluxe accommodation and a daily buffet breakfast, or the Chi Customised Scrub and Signature Massage Package, that allows guests to select from the body scrubs menu such delights as a Chi skin polish, essential body glow or mountain tsampa rub. Chi Retreat is $450 (17,300 baht) for a single and $600 (23,000 baht) for a double room, based on availability. The offer is valid until March 31.

For more information or reservations call 02-206-8788 or visit http://www.shangri-la.com

Rates quoted do not include service charge and VAT, unless noted. Most rates quoted in US$ are settled in baht at the prevailing exchange rate at time of stay. Offers such as room upgrades and late check-out are usually subject to availability. Check when booking.

[brrrtje]

450 dollar? Ik vond het nou juist zo leuk aan Thailand dat je er voor $ 1,- per nacht kon pitten, zodat een arme student als ik er ook nog heen kan.

[Don-Chedi]

brrrtje:
450 dollar? Ik vond het nou juist zo leuk aan Thailand dat je er voor $ 1,- per nacht kon pitten, zodat een arme student als ik er ook nog heen kan.

Je zal waarschijnlijk wel eens hebben mee gekregen dat de Thaise overheid helemaal niet houdt van backpack- of lowbudget toeristen. Liever hebben ze goldcard bezitters en big spenders die ze ‘quality tourists’ noemen. De tsunami grijpen ze nu als excuus aan om de westkust klaar te stomen voor deze doelgroep.
Dit zal ze zeer waarschijnlijk niet lukken, want de lokale middenstanders leven juist van de eerste groep die veel meer geld spendeerd bij de familie gerunde guesthouses, foodstalletjes, toeristenmarktjes, barretjes, enzovoorts.
Ik ben het helemaal met je eens; laat die luxe resorts maar lekker de Japanners kaalplukken, op straat ligt het echte leven.

[Anoniem]

Sometimes, if Crack to game Farm 3.

Hello, dear colleagues. Sorry that it was not on site Testforum.com writing.Wea’can please where to get the key or breaking a toy Farm Frenzy 3 & Farm Frenzy 2 though-be? Kids games very much, but they were not complete and is now asking the keys. All Internet searched, working crack and the key to the game not found!’ll Show where to get or buy at a reasonable price. Write please on the forum or on my mail [email protected]erely Alexey.

[Anoniem]

Where video Avatar?

Hello everyone! Who knows where to upload the film Avatar?
I even bought the film Avatar for a SMS to http://rsskino.ru/kinofilm/avatar.html , the link was, but download fails, the system will boot quite strange cocoa something.
Men, advise where to normal as quickly download film avatar?