By Ryu Jin, Kim Rahn
Staff Reporters
Authorities on Monday confirmed the first death of a South Korean man from the deadly waves that hit southern Thailand Sunday. They said another Korean national went missing, while 14 others were injured.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said 54 Koreans were also unaccounted for as of 7:30 p.m. Korean time.

The death and all injuries occurred in Phuket, a resort island in Thailand, the ministry said on the basis of a report by its staffers dispatched to the island from the embassy in Bangkok.

The embassy identified the first victim as Lim Wu-jeong, 33, a South Korean residing in Malaysia. His Malaysian wife also died, and their daughter is in critical condition, it said.

A 75-year-old woman, identified only by her family name Bae, has been missing on Phuket since early Sunday when tidal waves swept her away. Bae’s 46-year-old daughter is in a Thai hospital after being seriously injured, according to the embassy.

A ministry official said about 700 to 1,000 Korean tourists were believed to have been visiting the resort areas in southern Thailand, which are popular destinations for South Korean tourists in the winter season.

``The exact number of victims could rise when the exact situation becomes clear,’’ the official told reporters, asking not to be named. ``We are making utmost efforts to help our people there.’’

The Thai government said nearly 4,000 locals and tourists were trapped on the island and that naval vessels and army helicopters were evacuating some of them.

The local tourism and airline industry also took the brunt of the earthquake and tidal waves

A large number of those who planned to leave for Southeast Asian countries have canceled their trips following the news of disaster in the popular holiday spots.

Upon hearing the news about the quake, holidaymakers called airlines and tourism companies to cancel their flight reservations and tours to the region, especially the Thai resort island of Phuket.

On Sunday evening, 115 passengers, or about half of the 229 who had reserved a Korean Air flight to Phuket, actually took the flight. The airline, which operates four flights per week to the island, predicts such low boarding rates will continue for a while.

``As the tourism infrastructure, such as resorts and traffic facilities in the region were severely damaged, it will lead to a decrease in visitor numbers to Phuket and nearby regions,’’ a Korean Air official said.

Asiana Airline also saw very low boarding rates on Sunday, with only 57 of the 239 who had reserved a flight heading for the island after a one-hour delay. A flight from Phuket to Korea was also delayed about one hour on Monday morning.

``Group tourists and honeymooners, whose purpose of visiting is for sight-seeing and not business, are expected to change their schedules or cancel them. It is hard to predict yet how long the situation will last,’’ an Asiana official said.

A flight of Phuket Air, which was scheduled to land in South Korea Sunday evening, also arrived Monday morning after a delay of around 14 hours.

Tourism agencies, affected by the economic slump, have waited for a tourism boom during the winter vacation but fear the earthquake may bring a further blow to their business, as they usually concentrate on tourism packages to Southeast Asia in winter.

Many customers have canceled their schedules to Phuket and other Southeast Asian countries such as Maldives and asked for refunds.

``We recommend customers change their destination to Guam, Macao or Saipan, where the travel cost and staying period is similar to Phuket, and most of them follow our recommendation,’’ said an employee of a travel agency in Chongno, Seoul.

rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr

jinryu@koreatimes.co.kr