WHILE post-tsunami Phuket rages on with rampant development and an even wilder nightlife, our neighbours to the north have opted for a less-is-more policy in rebuilding their tourist industry.

Nearly four years after the tsunami destroyed Khao Lak, Phang Nga province has re-invented itself as a hip eco-tourist hideaway.

There are no jet skies tearing along the coastline, no tawdry girlie bars, and beach-hawkers are now a no-no ... and the tourists are coming back.

Before the waves crashed over the small Andaman coastal region in 2004, there were 6000 hotel rooms available, and 2.8 million tourists spent their holidays – and almost ten billion baht a year – in Phnag Nga.

But as 2004 drew to a close on what was going to be Phang Nga’s most prosperous year, the tsunami literally washed away the region’s hopes and dreams.

An estimated 5400 people were killed, and more than 100 businesses were wiped out when the 11.6-metre wave swept over Khao Lak.

The damage to local infrastructure was estimated at more than two billion baht.

But the locals, the Phang Nga tourist association and local hoteliers have put those dark days behind them and they have been busy rebuilding their shattered world.

The Ministry of Finance helped obtain soft-loan interest rates, and the people of Khao Lak have injected new life back into their tourist trade and are regaining the momentum of 2004.

But Khao Lak’s revival hasn’t come easy.

In 2005, the year after the tsunami hit, only 820,000 tourists came to Phang Nga, a 71 percent drop in the number of foreign visitors.

The Phnag Nga Tourist Association estimates that last year, more than a million tourists turned up, 13 per cent more than the year before.

Those tourists pumped an amazing 3.9 billion baht into the local economy.

For the past four years, there has been an enormous amount of rebuilding and construction, with new hotels popping up, especially in Khao Lak.

Last year, there were only 4000 tourist rooms available, but that figure is now back to more than 6000.

Le Meridien Khao Lak beach resort, which sustained more than 70 million baht’s worth of damage, is leading the fight-back with new levels of award-winning luxury and splendor.

The 243-room Le Meridien is currently running at 95 per cent capacity, according to the resort’s marketing manager, Lina Watyko.

“We have exceeded our expectations and we have about a 15 percent increase in occupancy compared with last year,” he said.

A short stroll along the beach, the Ramada Resort Khao Lak, is also basking in occupancy glory.

General manager Marcus Wirsching said the resort was 92 per cent full during November, and was 85 per cent booked for December.

Chanita Lertkulthana, managing director of the Orchid Resort, said about half of her resort was demolished by the tsunami, and she was left with a damage bill of 60 million baht.

“Hoteliers are not expecting this year’s high season to be anything like 2004’s, but we are hoping to be back where we were within two years,” she said.

But the optimism and high room occupancy rates aren’t universal.

Dussadee (Dee) Oeawpanich, who owns the Khao Lak Palm Hill Resort, said things had been looking good until the PAD protestors closed, first Phuket, and then Bangkok’s two airports.

“Tourists seem to have lost faith, and bookings have been really slow,” she said.

“When the Phuket airport was closed in August, 24 countries issued travel warnings advising their citizens that Thailand was a high risk country for tourists.”

In a bid to rebuild tourist confidence, the Phnag Nga tourist association invited ambassadors from Italy, Singapore and other tourist markets to visit Khao Lak to persuade them it was unaffected by Bangkok’s troubles.

There is no doubt the upheaval in the capital will impact on this year’s tourist numbers, but Khao Lak has seen darker days, and protests won’t stop the remarkable resurrection of Khao Lak and Phang Nga Province.