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Year 2004, December the 26th - 7.30am - the sea drew back and away from the shore on the tropical island paradise of Phuket, bewildered tourists looked on at the phenomena little realising that deep in the Andaman sea an earthquake had dropped the sea floor. At speeds of 500 miles an hour a 40 foot wave headed out from the centre point. The effects were felt all around the Indian Ocean and caused total devastation in parts of Sri Lanka and Indonesia. In Thailand the most prosperous and touristic coast was hit. In all several thousand tourists lost their lives, and hundreds of thousands of people local to the regions lost theirs. Phuket was where the most tourists were affected or killed - one of the Bloggers - Anna was there

One week on from the tradegy the inhabitants of Phuket started the long painful process of rebuilding. Shattered lives, businesses and homes. The government of Thailand and aid agencies moved in and the pace of repair has been rapid.

Fast forward to August 2005, the island seems completely rebuilt. Signs of the devastation are still to be found, trees bare the scars. There is very little waterside accommodation, the bars on the beach are pretty temporary affairs, bamboo, and cheap plywood. But there are plenty of coconut palms and mile after mile of long sandy beaches. Phuket is still paradise, and there is no one there.

Kata beach, known as little Scandinavia pre-tsunami, all the infrastructure away from the shore intact, still with Swedish and Danish flags flying along side the Thai Flag. Walking around the town in the day, or bars at night Kata Beach has the feeling of an English seaside town in the depths of winter. A sad and empty reflection on the height summer. Though August is the wet season for most of Thailand, a few hours rain a day doesn't usually put the tourists off. This year, Koh Samui, an island on the East Coast and unaffected, is picking up the slack.

Of Motorcycles and Flesh Wounds.

To see the rest of Phuket I rented a scooter. The island doesn't feel much like an island to be honest. The main road crosses a small strait with a large bridge, an island in the same way Manhattan is. Six lane highways stretch down from the strait to Phuket city (for want of a better name) near the southern most point. Traffic around the towns is crazy, death defying feats by the drivers of the scooters occur every minute, dodging large construction vehicles to cross lanes and stop at road side vendors.

In the centre is lush tropical forest, with waterfalls and elephant treks. Giant butterflies flutter lazily along in the heat, not stopping for the frustrated photographer. Small waterfalls make nice short jungle treks, parking to waterfall, 400m.

Despite having ridden scooters before and being reasonably happy them, on an empty road, at junction turning right, I screwed up, got my balance wrong, reacted by holding on tighter and unfortunately accelerating. I've tried constructing a tale that will impress the curious but have given up, I was useless for a few seconds and just fell off. Luckily for the budget the scooter came off a lot better than I.

On to Koh Samui, apparently there is a small party once a month on a nearby island...

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