Tsunami aftermath update

Although it has been over a month since the December 26th tsunami destroyed large swaths of the south and southeast Asian coast, the people who live in those regions are still living with the aftermath. Although U.S. news coverage has largely given way to Super Bowl hype and Michael Jackson trial coverage, there is still plenty of new tsunami news coming in. One great clearinghouse for such news is Travel + Lesiure‘s blog-style “Tsunami Report“, which collects news from sources all over the web — in addition to showcasing original dispatches from my travel-writer pal Rob McKeown, who is currently visiting damaged areas in Thailand. Check out the T+L site here.

In other news, I was heartened to discover that the Thai island of Koh Yao Noi largely escaped the devastation of the tsunami. I reported on this Muslim fishing island for National Geographic Traveler several months ago, when a local “community-based tourism” project won a World Legacy Award. This project