Khao Lak appeals for more workers
KHAO LAK: More than two years after being wiped out by the devastating tsunami of December 26, 2004, reports from Thailand indicate that hotels and resorts at Khao Lak, in Phang Nga province, are suffering from shortages of labour and water.
The Nation newspaper reports that business operators have asked state agencies to solve the problems and urged them to improve infrastructure conditions in the area.
“We face a severe shortage of workers, because many died in the monstrous waves, and others have moved away. At present, we have only half of the staff on our payroll that we actually need,” said Wirat Songsang, president of Mukdara Beach Villa and Spa Resort, Khao Lak’s third-largest resort.
About 3,000 lost their lives when the tsunami swept across Khao Lak.
Wirat said that apart from addressing the labour and water shortages, local authorities should also speed up infrastructure repairs, particularly fixing roads and electricity in the area, so as to attract more tourists.
He estimated only 30 per cent of repairs that needed to be done had been undertaken.
Phang Nga Tourist Association vice president Kiat Sriprasom told The Nation that there would be a tough labour supply challenge when hotels under renovation and reconstruction reopened for the coming high season this November.
There are presently 3,000 rooms on offer at Khao Lak, but that number will increase to about 4,000 in the coming high season.
To make matters worse, there is insufficient water in the Khao Lak area.
“Each hotel must use underground water or buy it from local communities, because the tap-water network only reaches some villages in the area,” Kiat said.
Khao Lak Resort deputy managing director Chittiporn Suthipibul said the labour problem had already sparked a salary war among hotels and resorts.
“If we paid our workers about Bt9,000 a month two years ago, we must now pay them twice that amount to entice them to work for us,” she said.
Ian Jarrett
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