[ssf] Paradise Lost : "It is worse than the tsunami,"

[2 % human]

Paradise for sale? Land grab follows tsunami
Thu 24 Mar 2005 1:04 AM ET

By Ed Cropley

KOH PHI PHI, Thailand, March 24 (Reuters) - 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.

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Full Article
http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=BKK153952