The beaches are clean and empty. They used to be full neat rows of cushioned beach chairs and umbrellas, massage huts, vendors stands selling beer and ice cream, all of it... gone. Beach chairs and umbrellas is now the hot power struggle issue on the island. The people with power want to ban them without regard to public or tourist opinion, mainly to prove they are in power. Smaller beaches like Surin and Laem Singh just went ahead and put them back but the bigger beaches are stuck giving low blows while the power brokers hash out their ingenious ideas. Meanwhile, people are starting to bring in their own Wallmart looking plastic crap and putting it up where ever they please. Alas, the pitfalls of island living. 

Hotels are running at 10-50% of typical high season occupancy rates, so just about every business that depends on tourism, basically all of them, have drastically cut their work force. Not only have the tourists fled, but there's also been a mass exodus of the Thai service working class moving to the likes of Bangkok and Chiang Mai.

There is construction and development just about everywhere in Phuket, but not because of the waves. The place is perpetually booming like San Francisco in the late 90's. It would be hard for a first time visitor to distinguish between regular development and post tsunami development. If I had to put a number on it, I'd say that given the entire island, 90% of the construction sites have nothing to do with fixing up Tsunami damage. The biggest problem is the lack of tourism, and that is a real problem.

How can you help? Well, don't cancel your vacation plans out here if you already made them, (or your company conference). If you've never been here before, come on out and spend lavish amounts of money on yourself. That's how best to help the people of Phuket. Koh Phi Phi, Khao Lak, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India... that's all another story.