Phuket Ghosts

The ghosts are coming! The Ghosts are coming! Relax..not here in my mailbox, but in Phuket, Thailand. At least that's what many tourists think. Worries about another tsunami in Phuket is just one reason many Asian tourists are staying away from the famous resort island of Phuket. They also are avoiding it because they fear the ghosts of thousands of victims may be haunting the beaches and bungalows where so many died that day.
This is because of the ancient Chinese superstition that holds that if bodies are not recovered and properly buried, the spirits restlessly wander the world. And too, according to the legends, those spirits may try to drag living beings into their own lost existence.
So some four years after the tsunami, travel specialists say that, in addition to other Asian countries, Taiwanese, Chinese and Korean tourists are avoiding Phuket. Of course the media fuels rumors of the haunting of Phuket, saying that bodies have been seen floating in the waters off the coast.
One Korean newspaper, Sports Korea, recently ran a story about three popular Korean celebrities who were filming a television show in Phuket. They reported that the stars heard "voices at their hotel" and believed they were spirits. The once popular solo Asian traveler has disappeared from Phuket. Now most Asian vacationers in Phuket come in large groups, because they are scared to go alone. The Holiday Inn Resort in Phuket reports a 71% decline in room bookings in the past two months compared to the same months prior to the tsunami. That hotel said that guests from Japan, mainland China and Hong-Kong were down 93%, 91% and 83% respectively.
Business is so bad that many Asian airlines have cut their direct flights to Phuket. This is contrast to western visitors who come in the same numbers as before the tsunami. Where are those Asian traveler going when they avoid Phuket. Japan and South Korea have seen big increases in their tourism, and many attribute it to the spill over from those who would have vacationed in Phuket.
It's interesting how superstitions still rule largely in a modern technological world. Though many of those who fear "ghosts" in Phuket know the concept is illogical, their cultural training rules their heads and they avoid Phuket "just in case" there may really be ghosts. Well, how it? Do you believe in ghosts?