In my previous spa blog entry, I mentioned that I lived and worked in Phuket, Thailand for Six Senses Destination Spas. When we moved our pre-opening offices from Bangkok to Phuket, we worked from their 5 star sister resort and spa, the Evasom. But we (8 of us) lived on a part of the island called “Yanui.” Yanui is a jungle, hilly and humid, and was hit hard by the Tsunami. The walk from my bungalow to the ocean was only 5 minutes; past tea houses, shacks mixed between holiday homes, a bar with lots of working ladies, and electrical line that hung close to the ground and make a constant buzzing sound. Just yards away from where I lived, is where the waters from the Tsunami stopped, vegetation still stripped away and only a vacant outline remains. From the marks on the tall trees, you can see where the waves and water hit and stripped limbs and bark. You have to look way up to see this line.

I had no idea that I was living in a Tsunami warning area until a sign across the street from my bungalow showed and told me. “EVACUTATION SITE.” The picture on the sign is that of a massive wave blue wave with 3 white full stick figures holding hands on top of the wave. The other sign closer to the beach gave a little more instruction, “TSUNAMI HAZARD ZONE: IN CASE OF EARTHQUAKE, GO TO HIGH GROUND OR INLAND” , the picture is of a huge black wave that looks like a hooked claw crashing over a hiker climbing up a hill. Needless to say, this did not sit well with me at all. No no no.

In the weeks to come, there was in fact a Tsunami warning. The waters around the bay receded and the fishermen were gone, boats sat and were tipped over on their side and the little couple that lived in a tin shack up the street had left and put a lock on their cardboard door.

Every night after work, I walked up the road and eat at “Nate 2 Thai Food.” Nate is a single Mom, works out, lives in the back of the restaurant, showers in the bathroom, and cooks the best and freshest Thai food I have eaten… for $1.50. There are no walls of the restaurant, one cooler where you can pick out either a Heineken, or pour a class of wine from a community bottle. She has coolers filled with chicken, tofu, fish and buys fresh picked veggies from the local farmer. The farmer rides his bike with an attached flat-bed filled with baskets of greens, a dog runs behind his cart. Nate 2 is also a hang-out for the international students/fighters who attend weeks and months of Thai Kick Boxing classes.

I was eating there when we had the Tsunami warning. She did not seem too bothered. I however was. To calm me down, she told me to: “sleep in your clothes, and have a small back pack with your passport and important papers, and then when you hear the alarm- run to the restaurant and we will run up the mountain together. “ Then she giggled and did a dance of us running. I went to the cooler and got another Heineken.

So I did what she said, and woke up the next day to my alarm clock, got redressed and went to work. In the few months that I was in Phuket, this mountain dance happened 3 more times.

As you travel… watch for signs along the way!

Susan Gwaltney

Essential Spa Consulting- Spa Blog