Patong's plight: Phuket's gay resort area survived the tsunami, but economic disaster looms.

It's 11 P.M. at the Paradise Complex, a large cluster of gay venues and hotels in Patong Beach on the island of Phuket. Less than three weeks after the December 26 tsunami killed thousands here in Thailand, the sidewalks are quiet. The tourists are gone, and many of the go-go boys have either gone back to their villages or moved on to unscathed Pattaya, the country's other large gay beach resort area.

"Not too many [gays] died on the beach that fateful day," says Bangkok-based tour operator Khun Chatt, who runs Naga Rainbow Tour. "It was too early in the morning."

The calm after the storm is the latest threat to Phuket's existence as the hub of an international gay following. Unless the tourists return, reports the Bangkok Post, the tens of thousands of workers in the tourism industry who drive the Phuket nightlife scene--from restaurant and hotel employees to sex workers-face financial disaster.

Ulf Mikaelsson, who runs the Connect Guest House and Coffee Bar, untouched by the tsunami, worries that Phuket's gay businesses face difficult times ahead. "Many annual visitors will return," Mikaelsson says. "They know there is no reason to stay away, but new arrivals may not understand that the island paradise known the world over is alive and well."

In the wake of the disaster, Phuket's gay community is busy raising relief funds and helping in the recovery; even drag queens from the Tangmo Club are collecting donations. Connect, Mikaelsson says, initially helped survivors to make international phone calls or send e-mails and "tried to have the kitchen open and provide food to everybody." Gay residents are staying put. "There is no reason for me to leave," says one British retiree. "This is my home."

Read Haber's full post-tsunami report from Phuket, Thailand, exclusively at www.advocate.com.