Impacts, recovery and resilience of Thai tourist coasts to the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami

Abstract

A powerful earthquake off Sumatra on 26 December 2004 set off the most disastrous tsunami to impact on the coasts and coastal communities of the Indian Ocean. Coastal tourism in Thailand, Sri Lanka and the Maldives was significantly affected. Examples from Phuket Island, Khao Lak and Ko Phi Phi Don, Thailand, show the variation in the impacts, recovery and resilience of Thai tourist coasts, focusing primarily on beach recovery and the reconstruction of the tourist industry. As priority was given to Phuket Island, tourism recovered after 1 year. Khao Lak was the worst affected and has yet to fully recover. Ko Phi Phi Don recovered but is plagued by land-use problems. Various mitigation measures have been implemented to increase the resilience of the tourist coasts. However, the resilience of the Thai tourist coasts in the event of a future tsunami is questionable.