Phang Nga
Thailand's tsunami epicenter (8,500 dead December 2004, 71% of national toll)—Khao Lak destroyed, rebuilt, now early warning systems guard the rebuilt resort coast.
Phang Nga holds Thailand's worst memory of the sea. On December 26, 2004, the Indian Ocean tsunami killed approximately 8,500 people in Thailand—71% of them in this province alone. Khao Lak, one of the country's most prominent resort areas, was devastated: 3,950 confirmed deaths, coastal landscape scoured, tourism revenue collapsed 82% with foreign arrivals down 99.4%. Over 100,000 people lost jobs that depended on visitors who suddenly had reason to fear the Andaman coast.
The province was agricultural before tourism; it may revert if tourism fails again. Before 2004, agriculture contributed over 50% of gross provincial product, with fisheries adding another 26% (declining to 14% by the tsunami year). The Similan and Surin Islands—world-renowned diving destinations—lost 13% of reef area, with some western-facing reefs suffering 80% damage. The underwater tourism product itself was wounded.
Twenty years later, Phang Nga has rebuilt. Early warning systems now line the coast. Khao Lak hosts luxury and budget hotels along beaches that once held bodies. The Finance Ministry partnered with the Asian Development Bank on regional development through 2020. Tourists returned because memory fades faster than infrastructure ages. Phang Nga demonstrates that even catastrophic disturbance doesn't permanently displace economic activity—ecological succession applies to resorts as well as reefs, given enough time and investment.