Phang Nga and Krabi provinces have also made a strong comeback, albeit to a lesser extent. About Bt10 billion, including substantial donations from members of the Thai public, have been spent by government agencies to rebuild communities and to provide livelihoods for those who survived the disaster but lost all their worldly possessions. But most of the Bt60 billion in the form of low-interest loans, which was promised by the previous Thaksin government, has not been fully utilised.

After the giant waves hit, local residents and government agencies appeared to attach great importance to the need to put in place disaster prevention and mitigation measures along with safety standards. A set of guidelines has been drawn up that require, among other things, a 30-metre buffer area from the shoreline at the high-tide mark. This buffer zone must be free from all structures to enable people to make a quick escape in the event of another tsunami. But these precautionary measures have been abandoned as booths selling food and souvenirs have sprung up everywhere.

Even the plan to build evacuation routes has been compromised, if not totally abandoned. While the memory of the catastrophe was still fresh, local authorities said they would seize the opportunity to properly rearrange land use in both residential and tourist areas. According to the original plan, landowners would be asked to donate spaces for public walkways that could double up as evacuation routes. Two years on, the affected areas have already been fully built up with no spaces left for evacuation routes.

It is obvious that no valuable lesson has been learned in Thailand from the painful experience. This sense of complacency is prevalent in all of the provinces hit by the tsunami.

On the positive side, a tsunami warning system - comprising 69 towers equipped with powerful sirens and public-address systems - has been installed in all six Andaman provinces. To promote public awareness, tsunami warning signs have been erected at all beaches that were hit by the waves two years ago.

The tsunami killed more than 8,000 people in Thailand, including foreign holidaymakers and local people. It is estimated that about a quarter of a million people in a dozen countries around the Indian Ocean rim perished or went missing, presumed dead, in the most horrific natural disaster so far this century. Although no one can predict the likelihood of another tsunami happening again in the Indian Ocean in the foreseeable future, Thailand, which relies heavily on tourist dollars, must set a high standard for public safety. The authorities must give local people and foreign visitors a sense of security, which should be part of the attraction of a major international tourist destination.

Another tsunami could occur in this region sooner than expected. On the other hand, one may not strike again for hundreds of years. But Thailand would do well to maintain a high level of vigilance and preparedness for any eventuality, be it a tsunami or a catastrophic storm or any other unforeseen natural disaster.

A grandiose project initiated by the Thaksin government was the tsunami memorial, which would have cost hundreds of millions of baht to build. This has now been put on hold, even though Bt50 million has so far been spent on the architectural design of the building. This project should be scrapped and the money ploughed back into the development of local communities. The yearly commemorative ceremonies on December 26 - in addition to allowing families and loved ones to remember victims who died - should also serve as a reminder to the government of the need to provide better and more effective assistance. Local people whose lives have been seriously affected by the calamitous disaster need help before they can stand on their own feet again. After all, happy locals make gracious hosts to foreign tourists.