Hit me with your rhythm stick

PATONG: Tourists on Soi Bangla enjoyed a live concert by the Harvey Thompson Jazz Band and the Waikado Yamato Drummers Sunday night.

The show was organized by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) as part of its ongoing efforts to revive Phuket tourism in the aftermath of the tsunami.

The Detroit-based baritone, accompanied by saxophonist Paul Fleischer, performed a number of songs written about Thailand that he hopes to record to raise money for tsunami victims.

The group also raised US$15,000 from a series of benefit concerts in Japan, with the proceeds being presented to TAT Governor Juthamas Siriwan.

The concert also marked the beginning of a major push to draw Japanese tourists back to Phuket.

After the concert, Supote Isarankura na Ayudhaya, Osaka-based Royal Thai Consul-General, told the Gazette that his office had invited hundreds of Japanese media outlets to tour Phuket and report back on the real extent to the damage here.