By Michael Mathes
Phuket - The overnight tsunami scare in southern Thailand rattled a tourism industry that was just beginning to recover from the deadly December 26 waves, but vacationers were already back at the beach on Tuesday.
Sirens blared on Phuket's Patong beach shortly before midnight, alerting people to leave the shore for higher ground.
In more isolated areas and smaller islands, hotel operators heard the warning on radio or television and woke up their guests to move them to safety.
But the alert was lifted after about two hours, and on Tuesday morning tourists had stretched out to sunbathe on Patong beach and were swimming in the clear blue water.
Tourism officials in Phuket said they have not received any complaints about the warning, but that occupancy rates were still low for this time of year, after the December 26 tsunami scared off vacationers during what normally is peak season.
"Hotel occupancy is only at 40 percent right now, so there were not many tourists. Since our office opened this morning I have not received any phone calls to inquire or complain about the situation," a Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) official said.
Travellers had not rushed to the Phuket airport to leave the island, and so far no surge in cancellations has been reported, tourism officials said.
"Our hope is that travellers who have booked do not take flight and will continue to travel," said Ken Scott, communications director for the Pacific Asia Travel Association.
"We've had no indication yet of any travel agents' concerns or cancellations," he said.
European tourists have begun returning to Thailand, but holidaymakers from places like Japan, Korea and Taiwan were still reluctant to visit, he said.
"So this quake yesterday doesn't help, but I think reasonable people will see this as an extremely rare event and not change their travel plans," Scott said.
Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon said Austria was the only country that called the ministry during the night to check on the situation, and that letters would go to all the embassies in Bangkok assuring them that the quake had not affected Thailand.
"We have a good warning system, so we can warn tourists immediately," Kantathi told reporters.
The earthquake did rattle the 33-storey Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel in Hat Yai, the main commercial centre in southern Thailand, but the hotel did not have many guests.
"Guests who felt the tremor came down to the ground floor, but some guests did not feel it and kept sleeping," a hotel public relations officer said.
Apichai Aranyig, TAT's assistant director in Hat Yai, said engineers had inspected the hotel - the tallest building in the city - and confirmed that it was safe.
"I must admit that the government agencies were very well prepared this time and gave consistent information so people were not confused," he said.
Guests at the hotel, popular with Thai and Malaysian tourists, were taken to other hotels during the night but were allowed to return Tuesday morning, he added.
On the southern island of Tarutoa in Satun province, part of a marine park popular with scuba divers, all 400 holidaymakers were alerted after tour operators heard the warning on radio and television around midnight, Apichai said.
The vacationers were awaken from their beds and taken to higher ground until the alert was lifted.
At the luxurious Amanpuri resort on Phuket's Andaman coast, executive manager Yin Saivipan said they learned of the warning on television but did not evacuate the 150 guests because the quake seemed too far away to cause damage.
The resort was 80 percent full, mainly with European tourists vacationing for the Easter holiday, she said. - Sapa-AFP