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Feb 15, 2005
Irish pop star Ronan Keating joins other celebrities to promote Phuket and help the island recover from the devastation of the tsunami
Of all the superstars who descended on Phuket, Irish pop icon Ronan Keating was the only one who had no need for bodyguards. You never saw him turning away from reporters or having security push people out of the way.
Instead, Keating was relaxed, sunny and carefree, even with the band of entertainment reporters on his trail.
He appeared at the Banyan Tree Phuket, looking cool in a black open-neck long-sleeve shirt, cream slacks and sandals, and spent 45 minutes talking to local and international press about his first visit to Phuket. He was in high spirits despite his tight schedule and the long flight from a freezing Dublin.
"I'm here because 250,000 people died in the tsunami,'' Keating said.
At 27, free of his former boy band image, Keating brings a lot of maturity not only to his music but also to his public statements.
Unlike other stars, who chose to boost their profiles through somewhat pretentious, forced antics with children, Keating was simply himself.
Keating's visit was to show support for the tsunami victims of Phuket and for the island's tourism industry. Specifically, the star was in Phuket for Thai Airways International's "Loving Phuket" campaign, which brought international stars together to promote tourism. His second job was to shoot a music video for MTV's Asia Aid programme, which other stars – Alicia Keys, Jay Chou, Tata Young, Thongchai McIntyre – joined to raise funds in aid of tsunami victims in Thailand and other affected countries.
As he said frankly, Keating welcomed the opportunity with alacrity. He even suggested that other stars follow in his footsteps as a gesture towards giving back to society.
"People in my position should stand up and make others listen so that the world can understand what's really going on in this part of the world," Keating said. "As far as I can see, Phuket is rebuilding and I want people to come back and revive tourism."
Keating enjoyed his two days in Phuket to the hilt. On his first day, he sauntered along the main shopping street on badly hit Patong Beach to talk with tourists and shop owners. He said the scenes of devastation were heartbreaking.
"I met an owner of a jewellery shop that was completely wiped out by the tsunami. She told me she had only two minutes to save her property and locked the door of the store before the tsunami struck. She's been left penniless since everything was washed away.
"That's just one of the many stores badly hit. But she told me she is trying to rebuild her shop in whatever way she can. She showed an incredible sense of spirit, faith, hope and optimism. If it were me, I wouldn't know how to deal with it," said Keating, adding that he also spoke to a tourist from England, who has served for six weeks as a volunteer in a relief centre in Phuket.
"She's planning to stay another six weeks. This shows a real spirit of humanity. People are trying to help kids with food and anything else."
While strolling through Patong Beach, Keating met Thais who were eager to shake hands with him and thank him for being in Phuket.
"I know that life is rebuilding itself here," he said. "My goal is to be part of what's going here in the rebuilding process. But I told them not to thank me because I feel it's my duty as an artist to do something to support people.''
After his visit to Patong Beach, Keating spent Saturday afternoon taking lessons in Thai kickboxing on Bang Thao Beach at the Phuket Laguna Resort. In a sparring session, coach Wannachai "On" Somkid showed him various punches and high kicks.
Later than afternoon, Keating and his crew moved on to Kata Beach to stage a mini-concert before a gathering of Thai schoolchildren and tourists. As part of THAI's "Loving Phuket" campaign, Keating was also a presenter for a 30-minute documentary on the island's tourism industry.
While appearing in this feature, Keating was shown wearing black and yellow rubber bands on his left wrist. When asked what they were for, the singer smiled and explained that the rubber bands were part of a cancer awareness campaign initiated by cycling champion Lance Armstrong.
"Armstrong himself suffered from testicular cancer, but look at him, he's so strong now and didn't succumb to the disease," Keating said. "This is inspiring. So through my own foundation called Marie Keating, which was set up in the memory of my mum Marie, I'm launching a similar campaign to raise public awareness of all types of cancer especially breast and testicular cancers."
His mother died of breast cancer seven years ago.
Keating added that his foundation will be putting on a worldwide sale of black rubber bands for men and pink bands for women to raise funds for cancer research. So far he's been able to raise ?1.5 million (Bt95 million) in Ireland.
He will also hold a charity golf tournament in Ireland in association with the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
"I want to send a message to the world that cancer awareness is necessary and we need to educate people about cancer without frightening them. Though it is statistically scary."
Manote Tripathi
The Nation
Phuket
