Khao Lak is having a very different rainy season this year, since most volunteers and tsunami-help organizations have packed their bags for good. Several shophouses that had been rented out to such organizations are now vacant.

While volunteers had filled restaurants and local pubs during past low season evenings, there is now a vacuum that might financially hurt several Khao Lak-based businesses. While there are more low season tourists around this year, the “voluntourism” days are definitely over for Khao Lak.

Not everyone is sad about this fact. Too many times I have overheard local expats complaining about the (in their eyes) “useless” volunteers who, “instead of inspiring locals to take matters in their own hands, went ahead sweating it out building houses for tsunami victims, while the ‘poor victims’ sat next to the construction site playing cards and having a good time over a bottle of lao kao.”


A never-ending story is the one about too many longtail boats being built by volunteers to help tsunami-affected fishermen. Many of these boats were sold by locals shortly after receiving them to make a quick buck. Even today donated longtail boats that have never been in the water can be found rotting away alongside Khao Lak’s roads.

It is obvious that very few help organizations were able to provide useful long-term support to proverbially “teach the man to fish” and equip locals with the skills and knowledge to land long-term, well-paid jobs to support their families.

One of these very rare useful organizations is the Eco Tourism Training Center (ECT), located on Bang Niang Beach, which is managed by Reid Ridgway. Here, locals are trained in diving skills up to the level of dive master, while enhancing their general understanding of nature protection and awareness. All former ETC students have found well-paid jobs in Thailand’s dive industry and four of them have become certified scuba diving instructors.

The best thing is that ETC’s worldwide media coverage has brought hundreds of tourists interested in the project to Khao Lak, making the center a win-win project for everyone in Khao Lak. Since the ETC depends on student sponsorships, the center constantly needs new donors, I encourage you to find more information about the project at www.etcth.org

Build me up. While the resurrection of Khao Lak has been hailed a successful recovery story, the region is busy following up on that promise. The reconstruction of the Khao Lak Laguna resort, which will open for business this year, is an important step forward as it is the first big upmarket resort visitors will see on their left-hand side when entering central Khao Lak as they arrive from Phuket International Airport.

Before the reconstruction started, the area where the Khao Lak Laguna resort once stood was an open expanse of plain red dirt – not an inviting sight for first-time travelers to Khao Lak. Now this gash has been restored and will provide 150 rooms towards Khao Lak’s goal of 5,000 rooms open for the coming high season.

Yet another gap on Nang Thong Beach has been filled by the reconstruction of the Nang Thong Bay Resort II, which will also open its doors this coming November.

The construction of a new shopping complex has started opposite the Nang Thong supermarket. The billboard shows a two-story glass palace with a futuristic design. While the location of the Nang Thong Park Plaza is perfect for business, the remaining question is whether shop rental prices will be reasonable or not.

Banking on it. Another big step forward for Khao Lak can be added to the ongoing success story: on June 25 a shiny, new purple Siam Commercial Bank branch opened in central Khao Lak, next to the Sub Aqua dive shop on the right-hand side of Petchkasem Rd, when driving towards Bang Niang Beach.

The new SCB branch occupies two shophouses and, in combination with their already existing mini-branch at Khao Lak’s southern end, makes SCB the largest operating bank in Khao Lak, surpassing previous leader Bank of Ayudhya.

Franky Gun is an expat writer, artist, designer, scuba diver and businessman who left Germany in 1991 to live in Thailand. He moved to Khao Lak in 2001 and still calls Khao Lak home. Franky can be contacted via email to: avalon@loxinfo.co.th