Catalog

Death of a Way of Life on Island Idyll
ADB Review [ April-May 2006 ]

Phi Phi, Krabi Province, Thailand

When the Indian Ocean tsunami tore through Thailand’s Phi Phi Island on 26 December 2004, it brought the deaths of not only 1,000 people but also of a way of life for many islanders.

Lying about 40 kilometers east of Phuket port, Phi Phi, Krabi province, was long an idyllic haven for backpackers. With most of the development situated on a narrow strip of land bordered by two beaches, waves crashed in from both sides during the disaster, flattening the somewhat ramshackle development and leaving only the most sturdy structures in the town.

Panaporn Prachamthong, 42, and his partner, Pichamon Maijit, 33, lost everything they had, including their mini market-cum-tourist information center in the town center.

“We want to come back but lost 100% of our business,” Mr. Panaporn says. “Everything was broken, and we can’t afford to have it rebuilt.”

They had leased their land from one of the dozen landowners on the island for the past 16 years. With no financing available to rebuild in Phi Phi, they were forced back to Krabi town on the mainland, where with the help of a bank loan, they opened a coffee shop and run a news website about the island.

“Business is so difficult on the mainland,” he says. “If I had a chance, I would come back to Phi Phi.”

But he and many of the islanders have accused the authorities of edging the small traders out of Phi Phi, following the tsunami. There are protest signs at key points on the island berating the authorities for neglecting the islanders.

“As you promised within one year Phi Phi island would be restored,” one of the signs says. “This has not happened and we are very worried … is it because we are just island people—are we not important?”

The redevelopment is catering not for the Phi Phi people but only for big business, Ms. Pichamon says. “If they build a 5-star hotel, what about us? We can’t do business, only labor at the hotel.”

“  We want to come back but lost 100% of our business. Everything was broken, and we can’t afford to have it rebuilt  “ - Panaporn Prachamthong business owner

Having a legally binding development plan for the region will protect the local people, according to Alfredo Perdiguero, ADB Senior Project Economist, who is leading an ADB technical assistance grant project to produce a common plan for Thailand’s three most tsunami-affected provinces, including Krabi.

“A plan will protect the weakest people—the local people—from speculation. It will protect them from people coming from outside that want to take their land and their resources,” Mr. Perdiguero says.

The draft plan, due to be finalized after a round of community consultations in May, works on the principle of protecting the areas that have not been developed and restructuring the areas that have. Leisure and industry will be strictly zoned so they complement rather than conflict with each other. Polluting industries would not be allowed in coastal areas where the leisure image would suffer. And the different regions would be developed according to their strengths.

One element that the plan will not include is massive constructions against future tsunamis.

“The plan will make sure that people are prepared and have the necessary procedures to save themselves,” says Stuart Gilchriest, team leader of the experts working on the plan.

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