When their holidays turned hellish

Instead of fleeing the devastated areas, some Western travelers are actually seeking them out, offering to lend a hand to overburdened relief agencies and local officials. The phenomenon is repeating itself, according to reports, in Thailand, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka, in some of the hardest hit areas.

As one aid worker in Sri Lanka told The Independent: ''We have people coming in daily and telling us that for 24 hours or so they thought they would forget about [their] holiday. But then they realize that far from getting in the way, they can actually be vitally important players in this fight to save and rebuild shattered lives."

So these tourists -- men and women who haven't lost loved ones and who may not have even been on the coast when the waves swept through -- are trading flip-flops for sneakers and getting to work, collecting bodies, funneling aid money to the needy, picking through the rubble.

The fact is, Western travelers to South and Southeast Asia, like travelers to other developing regions, often get a bad rap. Critics accuse budget-minded backpackers of flitting through the poorest nations with a slash-and-burn mentality, cutting costs at every turn and putting frugality ahead of generosity, even as locals struggle to keep roofs over their heads.

We hear about the popularity of sex tourism in nations like Thailand and Cambodia, about children being recruited into the trade, about Westerners exploiting the needy. Too many travelers, we are told, export their own culture when they go abroad, bringing Western demands with their dollars and Euros, encouraging old worlds to abandon traditions prematurely.