UPDATE:

"Much to our dismay there are many unsubstantiated news stories about “total destruction” of Phuket’s coral reefs. Even our own effort to bring a CBS team to the Similans for a first hand look turned into a nightmare when they broke their promise and turned it into yet another “spectacular disaster” story. Our crew and passengers were quoted out of context and our underwater video footage used incorrectly. Never again!

Several statements about reef destruction were made by so-called experts within hours of the disaster, before anyone even had a chance to dive the islands and check out what was really going on. That started all the rumours we are now fighting.

A quote from one of many e-mails we received: "The coral around Thailand must have been blown to bits by the tsunami, how could it be otherwise?” The problem is that many people do not understand the mechanics. Tsunamis wreak havoc on shore and in shallow water, not in the deep!"

http://ocean-rover.com/latest-news/tsunamiupdates.htm

[linked from Instapudit}

I wonder Dan the vampire Rather was involved with this in any way. I know Rather is somewhere in Southern Asia [saw him in photos with US miltary on the Net]. But I don't watch TV much and very rarely watch CBS.