Recovery Status and Challenges in Southern Thailand after the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami Based on Satellite Images and Field Surveys

Abstract

This study aimed to understand the 20-year recovery process in the Khao Lak area of Phang Nga Province in southern Thailand, which sustained severe damage from the Indian Ocean tsunami caused by the Sumatra earthquake on December 26, 2004, using optical satellite images and a total of seven field surveys. This area, where tourism and fishing are the main occupations, was still in the process of recovery when surveyed 10 years after the tsunami. However, in the latest survey 20 years later, the resort area was bustling with foreign tourists, and the number of hotels and buildings had increased significantly. Meanwhile, no hard measures such as seawalls were seen in terms of tsunami disaster prevention measures, and instead, progress had been made in installing tsunami warning sirens and evacuation towers, and setting up evacuation routes. Tsunami museums and memorial sites had also been established to pass on the memory of the disaster.