Three months after the tsunami, entrepreneurs in the Thai resort of Patong, on the island of Phuket, have found a new source of income: selling graphic photographs of the after-effects of the storm including explicit shots of dead bodies.

CD-Roms and DVDs of the tsunami are also on sale as the island economy struggles to recover from the decline in tourists after the disaster on December 26.

Shops on the busy Thanon Bangla, a street close to the beach where the tsunami struck, are selling pictures of the devastation. Many of the shots, selling for up to 80 baht a piece (about £1.10) are of bodies lying on the beach in swimming costumes. One shot shows a row of dead children.

The DVDs are being sold, alongside the standard counterfeit Hollywood fare of The Incredibles, and The Princess Diaries 2, for 199 baht each. A man who gave his name as Jack, who was selling the photos to European tourists, said that many people were interested in buying them. He said he did not know the identity of the photographers but many shots appeared to have been taken from helicopters.

A middle-aged tourist from Ireland in khaki shorts and shirt studied what was for sale at Jack’s store and eventually bought eight photos, including all the most explicit ones. “Why am I buying them?” he said. “Because a lot of people want them. A lot of people want to see these.”

Later the same tourist was showing the photographs to another man at one of the town’s many Irish bars.

Somchai Silapanont, of the Phuket Tourism Association’s Tourism Recovery Centre, in Patong, said that he disap proved of the sale of the pictures. “It is not right that they should be for sale, but I am afraid that as long as there is a market people will supply it,” he said.

Other souvenirs include a T-shirt, displayed at many stores, which proclaims: “2001 – Bomb alert; 2002 -Sars; 2003 – Bird flu; 2004 – Tsunami. What’s Next?” Another T-shirt shows the wave hitting the shore and the legend “Tsunami Survivor”. A third announces “Killer Wave Tsunami December 26″.

Bars and restaurants on the beachfront are trying to encourage trade with cut-price drinks from 4pm-5pm every day during what they call “tsunami memorial time”.

Phuket is slowing recovering from the disaster but there is concern that the vast sums of money that were contributed internationally are still not finding their way to those most affected.

“My sister was killed and my house was completely destroyed,” said Chet, a taxi driver from Kamala, a village to the north of Patong. He gave a hollow laugh when asked if he had received any help or compensation. “No, nothing. The politicians have put the money here … ” and he made a gesture of stuffing money into the top pocket of his shirt.

A tailor close to the beach, who trades under the name of AO Armani and caters to tourists, said that he too had seen little help despite the destruction of much of his stock. He had worked in the hospital for two weeks after the tsunami, cleaning bodies, he said. “If you have connections, you’ll get the money, but otherwise not. I have not had compensation. The insurance company say they don’t pay for water damage.”

He said that he was an admirer of the prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, and believed that it was politicians further down the line who were to blame for the failure of aid to get through. The best way for the west to help now, he said, was for visitors to come to the island.

Mr Silapanont agreed. He was pleased Prince Andrew was planning to visit the island next month; a visit by the Swedish king, Carl Gustav, had led to the return of large numbers of Swedish tourists. They have now been joined by Britons and Germans.

Asian tourists had been slow to return, he said, because their belief in ghosts made the island less attractive as a honeymoon destination.

In all, visitor numbers are still well below normal, at around half of the capacity of the island, where tourism accounts for 80% of the economy, said Mr Silapanont.

He added that, while micro businesses, such as masseurs and umbrella attendants on the beach, had been compensated, and medium-sized and large hotel businesses were recovering thanks to bank loans, small businesses had been badly hit. The expected cash had not been seen.

“So far, we don’t see much. Where is the money? We don’t know.”

He said, however, that the tsunami had had some positive effects. “On the positive side, we found out that the world had a big heart.”

He said the tsunami had also cleaned up the beach and that the sea was now clearer.

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