(NOTE – this week marked the fourth anniversary of the Tsunami that killed some 230,000 people worldwide. I went to Thailand as a relief volunteer in May of 2005 and this is the first of several emails I wrote to friends that eventually became Notes From Thailand.)
May 1, 2005, Kao Lak. I didn’t really get it until I saw the boat – a Coast Guard sized police cruiser – parked neatly on a field as if on display nowhere near the Adaman sea. On December 26 that boat was in that very sea patrolling around the beaches of Khao Lak. The king of Thailand’s grandson was in the water, jet skiing, and the trouble in the area was thought to be Muslim separatists and not the big wave that had already destroyed the coast of Sumatra a half an hour before.
Four months later there is not much left but the boat. Of the 3000 in the village of Khao lak, 1200 were lost including the king’s grandson. I’m with the Phuket Project that was started by a New Yorker whose family is from Thailand. It’s the fourth group sent over here – previous groups have helped fix a school and repair fishing boats.
Thais and Tourists Remember 2004 Tsunami