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Tidal Wave in Southern Thailand


nmonteith

6-Jan-2005
6:56:10 PM

... the wonders of the internet. Thanks for the heads up Rich. What was the airport/Krabi like?


rich

6-Jan-2005
7:02:57 PM

hey neil, we didn't actually go to krabi airport, we got off at phuket which was empty as (which was expected) but the airport is well nth of town and beaches so we didn't see anything unusual.

But we did catch a bus through krabi town and the only thing we noticed (we didn't see the foreshore) was the lack of tourists. We only saw like 4 i think.


Ell

7-Jan-2005
6:02:01 PM

See you January 20!


rich

8-Jan-2005
1:48:32 PM

Hey ell, yeh see you then..:)
Lil bit of an update now i've checked out railay.. there's like about 40 tourists in the whole place so sooo many of the bungalows are empty as are the restaurants. Many bungalows are offering half price accomodation like you'd pay in low season..
So as far as damage on railay, its all totally cleaned up. wouldn't really know it had been there!
Even the phuket beaches are cleaned up and open apparently..
Cheers
Rich
PS if anyone is texting me i lost my phone (duh) will post the new number shortly


white rabbit

8-Jan-2005
2:26:37 PM

Hey Richy!

yeah, pretty much everyone worked hard the days after the tidal wave to clean up....there really wasn't much else to do. Still amazed that the thai's managed to get that longtail out of the pool at railey......
Did the bunaglows going at Ton Sai reduce their rates? I know the long termers at Andaman were going to stage a mass walk out unless they lowered their prices...

Hope you're sending hard! go check out the really nice multi on Bob Marley wall...just be a bit careful took a giant whipper when a hold broke off :(

Val

P.S have you gone to Phra Nang beach yet?


rich

8-Jan-2005
11:19:32 PM

Hey Val,
yeh the place is looking pretty good altho the thais ae always building so sometimes you think their building sites might have been a wave hit, but nah..
Yeh a lot of the bungalows definitely reduced their rates, except perhaps andaman and dream valley where they are too much for what u get.. i managed to stay at mountain view for a very 'special price' that i've been told to keep secret ;) lest the other long termers find out hehe but i did pay a month in advance that always helps..
yeh was at phra nang yesterday watching the boatmen trying to retrieve a broken upturned boat.. makes a good spot to bomb off anyway atm ;)
Where is bob marley wall? i didn't see that in the guide (wees)?
cheers
Rich


white rabbit

12-Jan-2005
10:07:50 AM

Hey Rich!

Krabi mountain view....very nice....let me guess you scored a room with an aircon and hot water? piker!

Anyway Bob Marley wall is past Wild kingdom, basically take the trail to Ao Nang (it's a 5/10min walk) or there's a new trail (so I've been told) just walk up past the bungalows at the Jungle hut follow the trail up the hill.

Val


Johan Vonshizzle

12-Jan-2005
10:32:15 AM

thanks for updates Rich. greatly appreciated.
Are you guys going to be around in early Feb.
We'll (crew from Sydney/Wollongong) be there from Feb 7 - Feb 28

cheers

Johan

12-Jan-2005
1:38:01 PM

> I know the long termers at Andaman were going to stage a mass walk out unless >they lowered their prices...

screwing the Thais while they're down... really classy.


rich

13-Jan-2005
7:10:17 PM

hey guys,
we'll definitely be there in early feb johan, so we'll see you there. It'll be good to have you along hey. theres certainly not that many ppl here for high season.. its like climbing in low season! i mean there is ppl leaving all the time and not the same amount turning up so no lining up for climbs guys hehe. and as far as rebuiilding/assistance etc in krabi, there is none. All done in the first few days. I believe that kao lak and phi phi needs assistance though but i dont know for sure.

Madea a quick decision this morning and I'm now actually heading to phuket now with john (the yank from tas;) and mat (your cousin, mike) to do some bungy jumping (assuming its open). but yeh doing soem cool as climbing. 2nd tier andaman 6b+, 6c 6c+ this morning, eagle wall day before yest onsighted the 7a :) yay! so in for a bit of beers tonight id say hehe

Ok all, hope to see some more aussies here hey?

Cheers

Rich

14-Jan-2005
5:06:22 PM

Hi Rich,

Sounds like things are actually pretty good there. There has been a fair amount of news coverage here about how the Thais are keen to get the tourists back. Looks like you definately made the right decision.
good work with the 7a onsight

mat


cheesehead

14-Jan-2005
6:33:45 PM

>
>I feel kinda strange tho... I'm worried about my trip when thousands of
>people have just been killed :{

Mate (this goes for everyone, for everything), if your conscience is irked by something, check it out and action acordingly. It happens for a reason.
We slowly cease to become human when we fail to do that.

It's alarming that a lot of this post is about "Man, how will I ever get my climbing holiday in now"
Please don't ever preach any "So long as I'm not hurting anyone, I can do what I like" sorta trash. The world is too symbiotic for that drivel.

Read Steve H's nice long post. Read it again, and think about it.
I'm certainly not telling anyone you should go to south east asia to clean up. I'm not telling anyone to not go to climb. Rather, listen to what God/the universe/your conscience (as you please) tells you. Act accordingly.

Sorry to upset people, but sometimes boats need rocking. How you react can often be an indicator of character.
You might say that some big boats have been rocked in the indian ocean. How will you react?


Phil Box

17-Jan-2005
1:26:02 PM

As it so happens the Thais are pleading for tourists to start returning so that their economy can start to return to normal. This would include climbers.


Rich

17-Jan-2005
4:00:16 PM

yeh the tourists are starting to return to railay now. last night there was about 30-40 ppl on railay west \, most of them tourists, so altho theres no way the thais are going to get their season back, it does appear as we are gonna see some semblance of normal as far as the tourists go.
anyway im getting evil looks (and nasty pms) from jac so better go and climb ;-O


cheesehead

17-Jan-2005
8:36:36 PM

On 17/01/2005 Phil Box wrote:
>As it so happens the Thais are pleading for tourists to start returning
>so that their economy can start to return to normal. This would include
>climbers.

Excellent!

It's definitely a step in the right direction. I found out too that many organisations won't take unskilled volunteers to help with cleanup, preferring rather to let locals retain some dignity and help themselves out. Neat concept.

karlbaba

25-Jan-2005
3:54:04 AM

Hi Everybody

I'm a climber living in Yosemite for the past 25 years but who has an affinity for Asia as well. After the Tsunami hit I started researching ways for folks to help the Railay/Ton Sai area that I had visited before. I discovered one of the main issues is bringing the visitors back.

I'm mounting an informal appeal for climbers to visit Railay and Ton Sai in Thailand asap to help relieve the economic stress of that climbing area after the Tsunami. I'm also looking in to ways that folks can help from overseas.

I've posted my appeal on my website at

http://www.peaklightimages.com/railayreunion.html

And to give folks an idea, I posted a trip report from my last visit at

http://www.peaklightimages.com/railaytrip.html

Anyone is welcome to report or share text from the above links as they see fit.

Thanks and Peace

karl


Phil Box

25-Jan-2005
9:31:06 AM

Hi Karl, welcome mate, nice to see you here.

I`d like to support Karls comments.


white rabbit

25-Jan-2005
9:53:13 AM

Hey Rich!

Congrats on the 7a at eagle wall!! which one was it? I highly recommend you do Amazing Thailand there (if that wasn't the one)...and the 2 pitch climb (first pitch 6a, second pitch 7a....but it's only 2-3 bolts long ;)).

Apart from that it's good to hear that people are returning to Ton Sai and Railey, I was even thinking of going back again at the end of the year.

Say hi to Jackers for me...

Val


IdratherbeclimbingM9

25-Jan-2005
11:05:20 AM

On 25/01/2005 Phil Box wrote:
>Hi Karl, welcome mate, nice to see you here.
>
>I`d like to support Karls comments.

Yeah, G'day Karl, I'll second Phil in that, and thanks for your help for the locals in Railay and Ton Sai.


rich

26-Jan-2005
1:48:03 AM

hey karl, goodonya mate.. I\m glad someone has the drive to get out there and organise something cos they surely need it here!
hey Val and others, things are going great here been climbing heaps, best ticks so far has been a 7b at the keep 2nd shot after getting the 7a+ underneath first shot and the 7b pitch also second shot on 'lord of the thais' on thaiwand wall which is probably one of my favorite routes so far here.
Today however surpassed a lot of the highlights of other trips as we went off with a group of 14 climbers to go deep water soloing around poda island. Man it was fkn amazing. We first got on some cool undercut roof climbing on stals to a height of about 6m and then di some high traversing at aorund 10m which at the time we thought was pretty high. then we moved around the corner and started cruising up some sweet slightly overhanging face climbing of around 6aish to 'end' on this huge stal about 20m off the deck. I did this committing move from a flattop on the face to a slap upa nd behind on full stretch to the stal and then moved my feet up the face to climb on to it.. it was so cool. Then of course had to get down which always came quickly ;-O Also climbed up to and hung off this other stal at about 17m and me and another guy both hung from it and dropped, pretty cool. Got some awesome shots too which hopefully soon will be posted. unfortunately 2 fingers are cut up pretty bad atm from sharp rock so a couple of rest days maybe soem scuba diving and we'll see how we pull up. worth every bit of it tho!
Cheers
Rich

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