April 13, 2005

Paradise For Sale? Land Grab Follows Tsunami

KOH PHI PHI - Graffiti sprayed on a wall on a tsunami-hit Thai island expresses the fears of millions now living precariously around the Indian Ocean -- "Rich come for land. Poor man must go".

In the wake of the Dec. 26 killer wave, villagers and fishermen from southern India to Sri Lanka to Thailand say powerful businessmen, often in cahoots with politicians, are grabbing lucrative beachfront real estate.

In the case of Phi Phi, a paradise isle made famous by cult Leonardo di Caprio movie 'The Beach', residents say developers are plotting to starve them of aid, cripple the economy and then scoop up the entire island at bargain prices.

I'm not sure how the new 'facelift' will go over. It's like someone razing all of the old houses in a neighborhood to make room for bigger, better, newer ones. Except you're saved the cost of tearing them down. I bet some of the developers are licking their chops on this one.

Posted by Court | #
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