The 26th of December 2004 at 10 a clock Phuket and many of our dearest friends were hit by a terrible wave - the Tsunami - due to an earthquake in the Andaman Sea at the north end of Sumatra. It was reported to be with the power of 9 at the Richter scale. The wave destroyed everything on low level along the beaches. Many of the people on Phi Phi Island, Coral Island and Raya Island were reported missing. The worst hit in Thailand was Khao Lak 50 km north of Phuket, Patong Beach and Kamala Beach. On these places something of the luxury has been just the fact that they have been so near the sea that the high tide nearly touched the bungalows. On Karon Beach there is a sand wall 50 meters from the sea. The same on Kata beach where there also is a wall. Many of our friends were, however, in the dangerous zone. Thus we had some terrible moments before we got in contact with them. A few hours later I talked to Paul Mahler - the owner of 'The Kata Orient House' - who told me that the tourists now fled the beaches but that the whole street where his bungalows are was without reach fore the wave. On this street I have many friends. Now they have very much Club Med to thank for this. Club Med has namely built a heavy wall along Patak Road West. The enterprises east of this wall have long complained about this wall, which has isolated them from the beach and therefore also from tourists. On many places the wave reached 300 meters into the land. Later I talked to our friends at Orchidacea and they had not been hit at all. This resort lies high up and was safe enough. But how about Mr Lucky and his staff on the restaurant Hali-Halo near the Beach in Karon. And Mr Pop with his building project in Patong Beach. We were worrying terribly and tried in vane to reach them. We also thought about all the nice little Thai children, who we had learned to know playing on the beach in Kata. The Airport closed but could open again already at 17 a clock. Sarasin Bridge, which is the connection between the island and the main land, was closed for some time.

In the morning at 8 a clock (2 am in Thailand) 27th December I talked to Noi, telling me that everything was OK with them and that the shop had only got some small damages. Their shop is just 200 meters from the beach in Karon. 

In the morning at 8 a clock (2 am in Thailand) 28th December I got the following mail from Orchidacea at Kata Beach - wonderful words. Words that shows the power and courage of Thai people:

Dear Knut 

Greeting from Orchidacea Resort!! Thank you very much for your concern.
We're doing fine. All clients are safe in the hotel. We're lucky to be on the hill, no damage at all. Kata & Karon Beach will be back to normal in a couple of days. Except for the umbrellas and the chairs which were wiped out to the sea. Club Med Hotel and Boat House has been closed for a while. Patong might take time to renew. The shop and restaurants on the main street start to open as normal from today. Kata Noi Beach was the less damaged beach than the other beaches in Phuket.

Best Regards,

LAILA  

Another mail 2004-12-29:

Hi Knut,

Yes we are OK. My place is not touched because the Club Med took all the
shock. All of my friends or guests are alive and well.
Happy New Year from the Kata Orient House
Paul, Ae, Morgane and the Crew

And again from Orchidacea 2004-12-29:

Dear Knut

Greeting from Orchidacea Resort!! We'd like to update some more news from Kata Beach .

Please see the pictures that I've enclosed in this e-mail.  They are pictures of Kata Beach, which I took from yesterday.  As you can see there are some people on the beach and today I assume the mass on the beach would be totally clear. Other pictures were taking from our hotel swimming pool, as you can see there are quite a lot of guests.  This is prove that our beach is getting better and better.  For other beaches area, Patong is still clearing the mass and recovering the beach. Karon is the same condition as Kata.  If I have some more new I'll pass the news to you. Thanks again for your concern.  We're really appreciated it.

Best Regards

Mrs.Siriporn Wongpaisal

General Manager

Orchidacea Resort, Phuket Thailand

These pictures are very interesting. Kata Beach without all the sun chairs but already cleaned up! 

At the New Years Day I got the following mail from Paul Mahler - the owner of The Orient House:

Hi there - Salut

Just to tell you that we're untouched and alive. All our friends/guests are alive and well.

Good luck to all of you

Peace on Earth

Love and Respect

Happy New Year

Paul, Ae, Morgane, the Crew and the Survivors

Next day at 7 a clock (1 am in Thailand) I had a joyful mail from Lobster & Prawn:

Dear. Karin and Knut Angstrom

Thank you for concern. We are safe. My hotel, restaurant and my staff it all ok. But some hotels had  damage. We are good luck because the wall of Club Med block the big wave before it reach us. We have no damage. My new  hotel is open end of January 2005.
Best regards
Mr.Chu

(On the picture the chef and hostess Yuk - an old and dear friend)

Five hours later from Kao and Noi (owners of the shop New Fashion)

Hi

 Hale Halo and their neighbours gone with the water and right now they are repairing their shop hope they will come back to open soon.

 Kao  

From Internet I found 24th of January that Hale Halo had repaired their restaurant (picture below): 

8 a clock (2 am in Thailand) 3rd January I talked to Tim at Bhan Thai Kata, who told me that every thing was OK with her and the house, but that it was so empty everywhere - no guests.

The following table is obtained from Phuket International Airport. The time figures are a little confusing - UTC means Universal Time Conversion, i.e. Greenwich-time. Thus the first earthquake came at 6 a clock in the morning Thai time the 26th of December 2004. The figures in the last column show the power in the Richter scale.

When we in April 2005 returned to Phuket we were surprised to see hardly any traces from the tsunami. Some traces we found in the people we know and when they told us very touching stories. Mr Top, working by Noi and Kao at New Fashion on Karon Beach told us that he was just about to open the shop when he saw the wave coming. He run away fast and was safe. Immediately he called his wife Nid who was in Patong in a much more critical situation. She told him during running on the Bangla Road in the middle of the wave among debris, windows, motorbikes, cars floating around and how she was hurt and chocked. Pour Top could not do anything to help her. The connections were broken both by telephone and road. Nid was saved but she has not recovered from the chock. Below Mr Top, a very nice man which we meet every year:

Our worry about Mr Pop, who is in the middle of a big building project at Patong Beach (Poppapalace), was entirely groundless. When we visited him on the building place he told us that the project had been a little delayed and that he was worried about getting guests. Later in September he could tell that the hotel was already booked 100 % before it was finished. Below Mr Pop with my wife Karin at the building place:

I worried a lot of a lady giving massage at the beach in Patong. Her name is also Deng, but I called her, like her friends did, Bungbui, which means Fatty - note that here this is not insulting. She is a wonderful being - always happy. Since her working place is on the beach we had good reasons to worry. Now in April we met her and she showed the same happy woman but now scary from the tsunami. She told us a chocking story about how she had tumbled around in the big wave not able to swim among cars, windows and other debris. She was convinced that her last moment was near and she prayed to Buddha and he heard her. I told her that I also had prayed for her. That might sound as a lie for someone who knows me. I don't use to show any religiosity, but deep inside there is something like that and I remember how I felt when I saw at TV the big wave hit Patong Beach . In that moment my thoughts was with Bungbui. And now when she told her story I had to fight against my tears - for her and for all the victims. Below a picture taken in the early 1990-ies, when she posed with my bike equipment in order to make a good picture:

We also heard some nice stories with happy ending - see Bon Island.

The 24th of July 2005 a new earthquake occurred in the near of the archipelago of Nikobars just before midnight. This time with 7.0 on the Richter scale. It was estimated to be enough powerful to be dangerous. Thus warnings were sent to the coasts around. In Phuket this created some nightly movements, which were finished when end of danger was proclaimed. This showed that the community now has full control over situations like this.

An overview of the current situation is obtained at Tsunami Hotel Status Update

Andaman News TV11 Phuket, broadcast to Phang Nga, Krabi & Phuket & Radio Thailand FM90.5 Phuket, 8.30am Monday 21 November 2005 & www.Thaisnews.com The re–landscaping and beautification of the Loma park at Patong beach and the public park at Kamala will be ready in time for the commemorative event of the one year in memory of tsunami to be organized by the Thai government on December 26th. . This was confirmed by the Tourism Authority of Thailand which is responsible for the beaches redevelopment during a meeting chaired by the Inspector General to the Prime Minister's Office, Natee Premrassamee, at Phuket Provincial Hall on Saturday. Mr. Natee came down from Bangkok to follow up the progress of preparation work and other issues related to cabinet resolutions on the island's development. There are three locations in Phuket to be venues for the event; Patong, Kamala and the Mai Khao cemetery. During this trip, the Inspector General to PM's office also visited the early warning tower at Saphan Hin in Phuket city which has been completed and tested out. Phuket is having 18 early warning towers installed, with 3 completed already and all should ready by December 26th.

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