The behaviour of the space-like string tension in the high temperature phase is studied. Data obtained in the $Z_2$ gauge model in (2+1) dimensions are compared with predictions of a simple model of a fluctuating flux tube with finite thickness. It is shown that in the high temperature phase contributions coming from the fluctuations of the flux tube vanish. As a consequence we also show that in (2+1) dimensional gauge theories the thickness of the flux tube coincides with the inverse of the deconfinement temperature.
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