Swedish tourist Kurt-Ake Pettersson narrowly escaped Asia's tsunami, flying out of Thailand two hours before the killer waves struck. On Tuesday, Pettersson, 57, went back to Thailand for another holiday, among the first major batch of tourists from Sweden - one of the European countries hardest hit by the tsunami - to go there since the December 26 disaster.
"I am not afraid (to return)," Petterson said as he waited to board the charter flight. "It is a strange, complicated feeling ... I want to see the places I have been to before."
Others in the group said they had felt uneasy about returning to the beach resorts where hundreds of their countrymen are thought to have died. But they were convinced that this was what the Thais wanted.
The charter, operated on behalf of Fritidsresor, the biggest booker of Thai trips in Sweden, was to go to Copenhagen to pick up more passengers. Fritidsresor said 300 people had booked for the flight to Phuket, less badly damaged than other areas.
"We have been a bit dubious about going," said Christian Wollter after checking in with his family. With wife Christina and two children aged 6 and 7, they decided to fly anyway as they had booked the trip some time ago.
"We were there 2 years ago at Christmas, in Khao Lak," he said, referring to one of the most popular resorts for Swedes, which was badly damaged and where many went missing.
"After this major disaster everyone said they don't want to go, but if they need tourists they need them now," he said.
His wife added: "We need to support them (the Thais)."
"The Thai people want people to come back, they need it for their livelihoods. It is the quickest way for them to get back to normal," added Monica Hyttmark, 47. She said she might help on the spot if there was anything she could do.
Sweden initially feared it might have lost as many as 1,000 people in the tsunami. Police now say 569 people are missing, most of whom were in Thailand. They have declined to give a confirmed death toll but 15 coffins have arrived in Sweden. Initial Foreign Ministry figures said 52 had died.
Germany, with 593 people known missing and 60 dead in the tsunami, also resumed charter flights on Tuesday. A plane operated by travel group TUI left for Phuket with 300 on board.
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