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Tidal Wave in Southern Thailand 4-Jan-2005 At 5:33:11 PM M

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Hi rich,

I dont think anyone will give you a very definate answer on the disease risks but in the absence of a more expert answer I will give you my opinion.

obviously the greater disease risks will be in the worst affected , poorest and most isolated areas. It doesnt sound like you are going to anywhere badly affected. there are a number of factors which will contribute to risk. fresh and pure water is obviously important as a lot of drinking water will be contaminated. if you are drinking bottled water you should be ok in this respect but this is one example of placing strain on potentially limited resources as the bottled water may be in short supply and be needed by victims. it will be more difficult to ensure that the food you are eating is ok. this would concern me. most of the affected areas are likely to have problems with sewrage. sewage systems will have overflowed potentially causing widespread contamination. sewrage systems are also not likely to be functioning so this is likely to result in problems. It is my understanding that sanitation systems are one of the most significant factors in potential disease outbreaks. Even in the mildly affected areas where typhoid and cholera arent high risks, travellers diareaha and the like will probably be more common than usual.
dengue and malaria have been sited as risks. mosquito borne diseases are risks in part due to standing water following flooding providing increased habitat for mosquitos. In this case the flood water is salt water which isnt ideal for mosquitos so I dont really understand this but that doesnt mean the risks arent real.
large numbers of people living in poor conditions such as refuge camps contribute to the chance of epidemics occuring as infections are able to spread rapidly.
Also there is a large strain on health services so they are less able to deal with disease outbreaks in the early stages before they spread.
generally the risks in the least affected areas probably arent that great but exist never the less. The main question I would be asking is what conditions are the sanitation systems in where you are going.
i would also pay more attention to what dfat, who and large organisations are recommending than i would to local tourist operators. these organisations are looking at the big picture and have more information on what is best for travellers and the whole region.

in terms of helping out the locals as a number of posts have mentioned, an alternative would be to go climbing somewhere locally and donate some of the money you save on airfares to help those most affected. Even if you have already paid it may be worthwhile trying to get a refund. under these circumstances it would be bad publicity for airlines not to give full refunds.