In case you were wondering how the rebuilding efforts were coming along in the tsunami-affected areas of Thailand. This is from a reporting trip I took in October. Most hotels, hostels and guesthouses along this strip of beach didn't have their own private insurance or, if they did, they were so horribly destroyed that they haven't started to rebuild yet. The Thai government pledged loans to some of them (the bigger ones) but the money didn't come through until August or September, making it impossible for them to rebuild in time for this year's high season -- December through February/March -- which is tourism's cash cow in Thailand.