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| Southeast Asia |
| Tsunami Reverts Beaches to Natural State |
| 2005-01-08 |
| EFL. Tree huggers know what's important. PATONG BEACH, Thailand - Many believe the tsunami that devastated this tourist hotspot and killed thousands had one positive side: By washing away rampant development, it returned the beaches to nature. ...other than that, did you enjoy the play, Mrs. Lincoln? Greg Ferrando glistened with sweat and sea water as he went for a barefoot jog up the immaculate white sand beach, where the tsunami has wiped away almost all signs of humanity. "This whole area was littered with commercialism," said the 43-year-old from Maui, Hawaii. "There were hundreds of beach chairs out here. I prefer the sand." Those couple of hundred thousand dead people kinda bummed me out a little, but look at this beautiful sand! The beauty of Thai beaches is the stuff of folklore: pristine, clean and untouched. That was 10 or 20 years ago. More recently, they have been swamped by development. "Everyone is talking about it. It looks much better now," he said. "This looks a lot more like Hawaii now, where vendors aren't allowed on the beach." No more icky humans trying to make a living? Cool! "They were just building and building and building. It was too much. You couldn't even walk around," said Moriel Avital, a 24-year-old Israeli who lived on the island for four months. 4 months? Wow, she's a regular townie! "It was all gone in one wave — it's telling people not to mess with nature," she said. "Paradise should be paradise and should not become this civilized." Of course, if I was dead, I might see it differently. Surin Kaewjan, a 44-year-old fruit vendor on Patong Beach, is suffering financially because of the tsunami. But before the huge waves came, the beach was littered and the sand was black and dirty, she said. "Honestly, I love this nature," she said. "Twenty years ago, it was like this, and full of trees. I haven't seen the beach this white in ages." Once they cleaned the corpses up, it looked just great! |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #7 Paradise should be paradise and should not become this civilized ...except for me of course. My house and my presence don't count....so nice that the others washed into the sea, just for very special me. |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-01-08 5:37:02 PM |
| #6 Ah, yes - the "natural state" of beaches worldwide always included thousands of bloated, decomposing dead bodies, but we removed that when we developed them, right? Right? Useless wanker. Too bad he wasn't on the beach when it was returned to its "natural" state. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2005-01-08 11:17:40 AM |
| #5 Give 'em a month....then they'll start bitching about "where's my Starbucks?" |
| Posted by: Desert Blondie 2005-01-08 10:56:42 AM |
| #4 "Paradise should be paradise and should not become this civilized." Translation: I can afford the rents now! Wheeee! |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-01-08 7:58:41 AM |
| #3 AP. Interviewing the wankers. Of course. Or is that of corpse? Why does it make me think of this, I wonder. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-01-08 6:40:41 AM |
| #2 Likewise. |
| Posted by: The MicroNuke Guys at Mossad 2005-01-08 6:13:32 AM |
| #1 You're welcome. |
| Posted by: Halliburton: Earthquake/Tsunami Division 2005-01-08 6:10:23 AM |
