There is a determination to find the missing and rebuild the economy, reports Clifford Coonan in Phuket
The search for bodies continues in southern Thailand and efforts to put names on the unidentified dead could take months. The focus now is on getting back to normal in this place that was paradise until the tsunami hit on December 26th.
The death toll continues to climb and there are still many unidentified dead, but the shock of the first two weeks of the disaster is being replaced by a determination to find the missing and rebuild the economy. The focus shifts to establishing a procedure.
There are still 3,700 people whose nationalities have not been determined, out of 5,300 people confirmed dead but not yet identified. More than half of the dead in Thailand are believed to be foreign nationals.
And the process is still happening - forensic workers have had to re-exhume hundreds of bodies at a mortuary near Khao Lak, amid doubts about their nationality.
But for local Thais, the shock and trauma of the early days immediately after the tsunami struck has been replaced by the knowledge that in order to survive, they need to bring in some kind of normalcy.
It's not like September 11th, when there was an al-Qaeda to hunt down, the invasion of Afghanistan to be planned.
Irish embassy officials, currently based at the Pearl Hotel in Phuket, will not be staying indefinitely, though a final exit strategy has yet to be finalised.
Ireland will keep an honorary consulate in Phuket to monitor how the remaining bodies are dealt with in terms of identification and also to provide consular services for Irish visitors to the region.
Some 45,000 Irish visit Thailand annually.
The job now is to find the remaining two bodies, of Lucy Coyle, from Killiney in Dublin, missing off Phi-Phi island, and Michael Murphy, from Co Wexford, missing from Khao Lak.
The family of Conor Keightley from Cookstown, Co Tyrone, confirmed yesterday that his body had been identified in Thailand. In a statement, the family thanked all who had been involved in finding him.
"We thank the people of Ireland and beyond for their kind thoughts, their generosity and prayers," they said. "This has been a pillar of strength for the entire family circle during this tragic time. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who are missing or injured and those who have lost loved ones."
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Dermot Ahern, who visited the morgue where Mr Keightley's remains were finally identified, expressed his condolences and said that when he met the family in Thailand, he had been moved "by the level of courage and determination they have shown during this most difficult time".
Mr Keightley, who was holidaying on Phi-Phi island when the tsunami struck, becomes the second confirmed Irish victim. Éilís Finnegan from Dublin was identified last week and her remains flown home.
Garda forensic experts will continue to stay in touch with the victim identification centre, where they are assisting local authorities in the search for the bodies of the missing Irish.
The Thais are aware the tsunami have left them with more than just a huge search and rescue operation - it also could spell disaster for its tourism industry.
When Mr Ahern visited here last week, he was received by the Thai Interior Minister Bhokin Bhalakula, who reiterated the government's line that all travel advisories and bans on coming here should be lifted.
The devastation is astonishingly localised, with the damage on the island largely restricted to the beach areas. The focus is turning to how to lure the tourists back.
Patong beach was one of the worst-hit areas on Phuket and scores of people were killed on the seafront there.
But the three-kilometre long stretch of beach looks enticing once again and some tourists have already returned.
Authorities in Patong are promising to try and maintain a clean new look by keeping it free of beach umbrellas, deck chairs and tacky shops.
One Irish pub on the seafront was completely destroyed in the tsunamis. When I saw it first a couple of days after "the wave", it was a bleak-looking place. All there was to see was a forlorn-looking leprechaun and a water-damaged shamrock sign.
This sign, or one very like it, was back up on Sunday night and there were punters in the bar. Not far away from the site of the bar, there is a huge pile of debris, but it is getting smaller all the time, and the bars are re-opening.
Even the badly-damaged beachfront areas of Phi-Phi island are being renovated, according to Minister Bhalakula and the Thais are keen to get back to normal as quickly as possible.
"We believe that within two weeks, all the beaches in Phuket, Krabi and Phangnga will have been cleaned up and then we can start making new city plans," Thai Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti told a seminar on reviving the industry.
Phuket, Krabi and Phangnga account for around a quarter of Thailand's total tourist revenue every year, so getting them back in action is a priority.
Tourism bookings are down 40 per cent on last year, though there are signs that many are moving from Phuket to elsewhere in Thailand, such as the north.
Deputy Prime Minister Chaturon Chaisang said the government had approved at least 20 billion baht (€3.9 million) for improving these areas.
Judging by the devastation at the resort town of Khao Lak, one of the areas of Phangnga province worst hit by the tsunami, it's hard to imagine a big revival in tourism here any time soon.
This was an upmarket resort, populated by many Nordic tourists. Around 50 hotels here were wrecked in the tsunami, most of them only opened last year.
Supplies of seafood from Phangnga are down by 90 per cent because hundreds of ships were destroyed in the waves.
Thai fisherman are slowly going back to sea. There are reports they were "feeding the sea" with a rice, banana and fish mix in an effort to keep it happy.
There are reports in local media that unscrupulous foreign investors are buying up disaster-strewn chunks of land in Khao Lak in the belief that the village will soon be rebuilt.
"Foreign investors apparently believed that Khao Lak will soon become a popular tourist destination again, and that this was the right time to invest here," Pichai Nilthongkam told the Nation newspaper.
There are still a lot of emergency measures being taken, of course. A group of schoolchildren from the tsunami-hit Ban Hat Kamala school are being taught in a suite of rooms in the luxury Kamala Bab Garden Resort.