Lest we forget! Tsunami 2004

[El Gibbon]

I shall not forget: especially the efforts of vacationers turned rescuers; the average Thais that spent days and days scrambling through the rubble in search of survivors and bodies; the overwhelmed hospital staffs of all the hospitals on the island; and all parts of the Thai government for their unexpectedly quick and fairly efficient response. Kudos to all that were involved in one of recent time’s most devastating tragedies.

December 26, 2004 is a date that is burned in a lot of our memories.

Some of our governments responded well others were a total disgrace, callous and uncaring come to mind in a couple of cases. Most were able to set up very small ‘offices’ to process survivors and along with the Thai government processed thousands through the Tambon offices in Phuket town. (It took about 20 minutes in most cases to get a temporary passport with photo that allowed tourists to return home.)

Even Thai Air, which a lot of us have had problems with, responded with empty aircraft as soon as the Phuket Intl. Airport was re-opened. Priority for injured being transferred to Bangkok hospitals and then tourists trying to get off the island.

What follows is more or less a pictorial essay of the events and situation onward from late December 26, 2004 as seen by a number of folks. Some photos are with cameras, others with cell phones. In a lot of cases the individual was either shaking or so busy taking shots of the devastation they really weren’t thinking of ‘quality’ photos. All photos were taken by myself or close friends involved. (5 people mainly, including a vacationing couple from England, a Kiwi commercial diver, an English retired SAS trooper and a Finn boat builder.)

I have literally hundreds of photos on another drive, from rescue operations, to the morgue set up on the lawn of a school in Takua Pa, to draining a hotel ‘lagoon’ in search of bodies. Here are a few.


While viewing the following please keep in mind the thousands of folks around the world that lost dear friends and family.

E. G.

Starting from Bangla road and heading south.



The front of 'everyone's' favorite jewlery store for buying the
gal a nice bracelet.



A new ornament on the beach



Now, this was a PLOBMEN, the truck was jammed into the bank
so hard they couldn't extract easily and the damn vault alarm
was going crazy. Did so for a day until they could get heavy
equipment in to remove the truck.



At the bottom of the steps - the nose of the truck - is a super
market I believe. When they finally got the vehicles out they found
25+ bodies of tourists and store employees. Note the brick retainer
for the palm tree.



The Merlin Hotel. Behind it, 50 meters and to the right about 60
meters is my old house. The British Consul from New Dheli and his
wife and two daughters had just finished breakfast in the part
you can see through. They had returned upstairs to change for
the beach when the wave hit. Lucky lucky folks.



Not sure which of the little side sois this was. Full of touristy
shops. See the remains of the foundations. The jeeps were
part of the ever-present fleet of rentals on the beach road,
about 60 meters away.



Boats jammed under the bridge to Koh Siree, on the BACK side of Phuket.
Hard to fathom the power of water until you see sights like these.



Bangtao beach. This Sea Gypsy lost his livelyhood along with
that of a extended family of 22. Several gypsies will band
together and work one boat. Amazingly no gypsies were lost
to the wave. Seems they saw an 'Angry" sea and headed
immediately for higher ground. BTW very very few animals
were killed for the same reason. They all headed for high ground
if they weren't trapped.

Many long-time expats raised a bunch of money to buy long-tails
for the gypsies. We went as far as Trat looking for boats for sale.

The cost of the typical one lunger boat is roughly 100K baht. Then
comes the cost of equipment - a net setup is 30K and takes a few
weeks to get sewn together by the women. Eventually most of them
were working again due to the kindness of folks around the world and
their willingness to part with a little cash here and there.



A brand new Wat in Kamala beach. I believe it had just been
inagaurated.



This is a hotel taxi taking folks to work that morning. The highway
is about 3/4 K meter from the beach. Just behind the wat pictured
above.

When the road to Kao Lak got opened there was a mass influx
of equipment and people trying to find survivors.

Sadly there was not a lot that could be done. Miles and miles of
small to very large resorts were GONE! Amazing how barren the
landscape was.



What was left of the Meridian Hotel Kho Lak. The employee
quarters are on the right.



Across the road and a good 10 feet higher than the road.
This has to be a good 10 meters above sea level.



Further along the road to Takua Pa, and no it is NOT two pieces
of the same vehicle. Check kthe wheels.. Man what power.



I believe this is the Khao Lak water supply. They spent days
dredging and grappling this for cars and bodies. One VIP bus
from Bangkok to Phuket was lost with 33 people. I'm standing
on the shoulder of the road.




This small resort was built using modular technologies. As you
can see they were two room units. The unit in the forground
was checked by volunteers. Only later did a Norwegian team
with cadaver dogs find someone buried in side.

Rescue, recovery teams from all over the world were there very
quickly. Interesting to watch them work. The Japanese team was
so regimented it was painfull to watch, yet they did find a lot of folks.



You heard about the princess watching the wave take her son
after getting off a jet ski. This patrol boat was offshore protecting
the young prince and providing security. The boat is now 1.5 K meter
from the beach we figure. Some of the crew didn't make it.

On the afternoon of the 27th the Tsunami Reception Center was open
and running full tilt. As the official center for Phi Phi, Phuket, Tablamu and Khao Lak it was a very busy place.



This was a hastily devised system of identifying bodies.
Hospitals would take color photo with digital cameras.
Make copies and distribute to hundreds of these bulletin
boards. There was a steady stream of people checking
these boards out looking for lost friends and relatives.

Though hastily devised it was very effective. When I
left the island several months later there were still boards
at the airport. Some photos were of "lost" folks and not
just bodies. Initially though it was just the bodies from
various morgues.

Speaking of morgues, Phuket only had refer capacity for 7
bodies at the time. Since only farangs used them that was
plenty.



Students like these were everywhere. Any student that could
speak a foriegn language and was old enough was pressed into
service as translators. They did a hell of a job and were a great
asset.

The overall generosity of the Thai was mind numbing. Apparently
a local radion station had put out a call for clothing and food for
survivors. You would not believe the mountaiins of food and
clothing that showed up in old battered pickups and Mercedes.

There were literally mounds 6 ft high of bottled water, clothing,
and various canned goods.

As I was walking down the driveway I saw a long line of pickups
and various vehicles lined up to deposit whatever it was they had
brought. The line stretched literally for a block. I stopped and looked
carefully in the back of one truck driven by what I expect would
be a farmer or rubber cutter. Other than a bunch of kids the back
held two large rice cookers, several big pots, 4 cases of bottled
water and three big plastic bags of clothiing.

I could see through the clear plastic and all the clothing looked
to be useable, clean and ironed. Magic, these folks were.

With helicopters landing every few minutes from Phi Phi and trucks
and buses offloading survivors it was all very much needed. Many
folks, especially from Phi Phi had only a towel or sheet wrapped
around them.

Speaking of water and food. I really took the piss out of CNN and BBC
for mis-reporting the conditions in Patong. Emails went to producers et. al. and I even pigeon holed a couple of CNN reporters. The initial broadcast,
at about 1:30 PM on the 26th stated that food and potable water were a major major issue in Patong.

Nothing could have been more horribly wrong. Once the water had subsided locals were out on the streets with cold bottled water, sliced fruit, sandwiches etc. You could not go more than a few feet without a cold bottle being thrust into your hand. Absolute bullshit reporting it was.



With thousand dead you can imagine the storage problem.
When the refer trucks on the left got filled (farang priority)
the coffins were just stacked in the yard.

This is only a very small portion of the yard. There must have
been at least 50 refer trucks and who knows how many coffins.

The crematoriumat at this Tablamu wat, one of the largest in
the area, was going full time and could not keep up.




The coffin builders had a hard time keeping up also. Plywood
had to be shipped from Bangers as there was none left on
the Andaman coast.




The bodies just kept coming and coming, this pickup had several
bodies from Khao Lak that had been found by search teams. Security
was significant. Unless you had papers from your embassy or were Thai
police or military there was no entry to the wat.

There are a thousand stories to be told and about as many pictures
but this will keep.

I shall never foget.

E. G.

[Whiteshiva]

Great Thread, EG,

Strange how disasters like this bring out the best (and sometimes the worst) of humanity. Perhaps a reminder to us all to show each other a bit more compassion and love in everyday life as well?

[El Gibbon]

Whiteshiva

Thank you for the compliment. In fact I didn't see the "worst" show up until everyone had a chance to catch a breath. It was several days before the ripoff artists got organized.

About a week or so afterward just about every expat I knew in Phuket was getting emails and phone calls inquiring about cheap beachfront properties.

I had three emails and a phone call from folks I had never heard of.

Flocking blood suckers!

E. G.

[Marmite the Dog]

Excellent thread. Thanks for sharing that with us.

[The Gentleman Scamp]

We often see Thai's as greedy, as we are ourselves which is perhaps why we don't like it, and it's great to know that when the shit comes down we are all the same and there for each other.

Once over, we are back to our money preoccupied selves.

Great post EG.

[Jet Gorgon]

I love you and hate you for making me remember, EG.

[Itchy]

Don't let us allow a myth to come about and deny the other side of the tragedy.

Land grabbing
Donations going missing
Looting
The whole story behind why warning systems where not in place despite the offers made by the US to provide input

Yes, large number of Thais and foreigners did huge amounts of fabulous work to help those effected, but the underlying traits in Thail society of criminality and callous disregard for others also had a field day.

[El Gibbon]

Itchy
Your predisposed prejudice is showing mightily.

I lived on Phuket for anther three months after the event.

1. I would love you to back up the land grabbing comment. Never heard of it.

2. Yea, probably some donations went missing, but I believe your taking a political 'slandering' of Khun Porntip and expanding on it without any back up. I personally saw almost $100K go directly to the sea gypsies and others that were wiped out, thanks to the generosity of some Americans and Englishmen. Not one dime of that went for 'expenses' or non-related expenditures or overheads of any kind. Not even for petrol for those running around in their own vehicles. Those donors should be respected and thanked.

3. The looting was very minor considering the expanse of the devastation. No more than would be expected in ANY other part of the world and one hell of a lot less than one would expect in Thailand.

4. I'm not sure about the facts of this but I don't believe that the US offered any systems to anyone in the Indian Ocean region, prior to Dec. 25, 2004. Not sure where you got this one but would love to hear more. Especially since NOAA doesn't do Indian Ocean Tsunami warnings.

You are quite correct, let's not start a myth where there is no foundation. If you have the proof I would be glad to read about it. I'm not interested, as an onsight observer, in hearsay or urban legend, the Thais as a whole deserve much better. Were there problems? Yes, but not to an extent that would undermine the positives done.

Pick any other country in Asia and I doubt they could have done anything surpassing what the local Thais did.

Respectfully
E. G.

[Itchy]

I would love you to back up the land grabbing comment. Never heard of it.

Here's a few links..

News: South Asia: Earthquake and Tsunami - Dec 2004, In Thailand, a 'land grab'

Thai Extras TS

news: South Asia: Earthquake and Tsu...ollows tsunami

Yea, probably some donations went missing,

Probe urged into tsunami fund misuse | WORLD | NEWS | tvnz.co.nz

Where did our tsunami cash go?

ASIA: Tsunami Recovery Hit by Corruption, Apathy

I'm not sure about the facts of this but I don't believe that the US offered any systems to anyone in the Indian Ocean region, prior to Dec. 25, 2004. Not sure where you got this one but would love to hear more.

It gets a brief mention here...

Fatal gap in tsunami warning system - 17 Jan 2005 - NZ Herald: World / International News


And in the 4th paragraph here ...

‘natural’ disaster made worse by profit system|8Jan05|Socialist Worker

And here...

How red tape and poverty prevented warnings going out to battered shores

[corvettelover]

I was there 2 days after the wave hit got stopped at samui from boarding plane. as it happened.
At patong my mate and I saw a television crew BBC giving kids sweets and filming them and saying on air these kids had lost their parents ect ect.
Childrens parents were given a fist full of baht to allow the film. Girl that worked in the bar told us so we abused the film crew in no uncertian terms, strange they packed up their cameras and beat a hasty retreat. Some jurnos there were just out right liars.
patong was hit hard, not a pretty site,karon beach where we stayed wasnt as bad.
12 months later my wife wouldnt go there because of ghosts.

[El Gibbon]

Itchy
I read each of your links (that are active- the sociallist one isn't at this time) and I stand by my original statement... Line 1.

BTW have you EVER been involved, even as an observer, in dealing with squatters in Thailand?. Me thinks not, as detailed in your own references these folks had been under 'eviction' even before the tsunami. Yeah, it provided the impetus but so what. Some times the rule of law gets a boost from outside sources. Pretty hard to organize a television headline grabbing mob against a tsunami.

I also loved the reference of contacting the German Embassy to debunk the rumors of a hospital in Kao Lak, which is dearly needed as the nearest international facility of any regard is on Phuket.

Oh, yes, one more thing. Having spent quite a lot of time in Ban Nam kem I am aware of what went on there. A good friend lost his restaurant just as you get off the ferry to Koa Ko Kau. He was a squatter and lost everything. He moved down the road 200 meters and opened again.

E. G.

[Itchy]

EG.
I had about ten minutes to download 'some links' relating to post Tsunami land grabbing, I didn’t intend to provide the definitive answer, however there are substantive accusations and it is not a principle of good argument to continue denying the accusations without further investigation. You are either inclined to look into the accusations yourself or you are not.

If you have made your mind up that a land grab did not take place then no amount of 'links' are going to change your perception.

Howerver, I take it you do accept that Thailand turned down the offer to establish a Tsunami warning system, I also take it that you do accept significant theft of donations took place as well as looting.

BTW have you EVER been involved, even as an observer, in dealing with squatters in Thailand?

Well yes I have. I have a long standing association with an organization working with the Phii Tong Luang in the North of Thailand. Not just squatters but an ancient Thai people without citizenship.

I accept that the rule of law sometimes gets an outside boost. But I do not accept that there is any evidence that the Tsunami acted to remove illegal squatters, as if providing divine assistance to the rightful rich.

Given the wide spread illegal actions that occurred during the Tsunami, theft of funds, looting etc, there is not reason to believe that land grabbing was infact 'legal repossession'.

Non of this distracts from the undeniable generosity of spirit exhibited by many victims and people caught up in the Tsumami, Thais and foreigners alike demonstrated a humanity that is a fabulous example to us all.

Recognizing and remembering the criminality that came with the Tsunami does not detract from the humane deeds of those who’s concern was helping others and not helping themselves.

The fact of the Tsunami do not need to be aided by myth.

[squig]

And now, I wonder where all that Thai goodwill has gone? Super-Greed seems to have set in to compensate for lost income back in 2005. The "mafia" element, in particular, is increasingly active with extortionate (and some violent) acts against foreigners.... it's just plain ugly and makes one want to weep!

As bad as the world media portrayed the aftermath, these images stirred the global community into action. It was the global community that financially rescued the people of the south - lest we forget!!!!!!

[panama hat]

Thank you, EG, for the reminder. . .

The family and I were on Samui celebrating my birthday - - - saddest 'party' I've ever had.


I'm sure there were the various vultures there at the beginning as well, but I am just as sure that the good outweighed the bad.

[Happyman]

Nice thread
Its about time someone reminded us.
Being involved at the time with relief work at Rawai I was disgusted by the convoys of police escorted "fact finding" missions from various international charities that arrived - did a 5 minute 'whistle stop" tour, complaining about the general disorder,smell and debris - before retiring to their 5* hotels to discuss what they were going to do.
They were accompanied by local officials in new Mercs, with red plates, that appeared only 4 days after it was announced that the relief organisations had released a shit-load of baht to Rawai for immediate local needs!!!

Nice one E.G.

[friscofrankie]

Great thread commemorating the selfless acts of others and devastation. Thanks for reminding us of the good that people can do when the need arises. This thread brought home to me just how massive the destruction was and what a monumental task it must have to recover.

I'm glad I wasn't there. But there is a part of me that wishes I could have been.

[chinthee]

My family and I lost a great deal in the Tsunami. Luckily, we swam and waded to safety. No loss of life from us, though one family member was in hospital and almost died. But we know many who did lose their life. Our losses can't compare with their families suffering, so I won't list them here.

[El Gibbon]

It is nice to see that this is STILL on some folks radar.

E. G.

[November Rain]

Good thread EG. I've only just read it, (a link from another post of yours) so, I'm about a year late in reading it.

Thank you.

[chitown]

Should get the Thread Of The Year Award.

I love anything that chokes me up and makes me think.

Nicely done EG.......

[Texpat]

I arrived in Bangkok Dec 29 with my unit from Japan in 3 MC-130s. We shuttled relief supplies to Krabi, Phuket and Raynong for two days. The military hangars on the opposite side of Don Muang were overfilling with donations. Thais were giving what they could, but it wasn't necessarily what the affected areas needed. There were two hangars filled with mama noodles and bottled water, very few medical supplies, bulldozers or portable generators. We medically evacuated more than 100 injured to Bangkok.

On Jan 1, we relocated to Langkawi and were joined by three additional MC-130s and started shuttling supplies from Medan, Indonesia to Banda Aceh. Six shuttles a day well into February, cranking engines about 3 p.m. and flying through the night. Banda Aceh was indescribable.

I'll never forget the looks on those people's faces.

Some of the efforts I witnessed restored my faith in mankind. Rescue crews from all over the world were represented. Mexicans, French, Swiss, Germans, Argentinans ... all queued in Medan waiting for airlift in.

Were there some in it for themselves? Probably. But the vast majority were there to help where they could.

[Marmite the Dog]

Banda Aceh was indescribable.

Looking at some of the photos from that area was unbelievable. I have a couple of friends in the Red Cross who were sent there. They couldn't put into words what they saw there either.

[Norton]

Superb post EG. My thanks for the effort you took to prepare it. May the 200,000 plus who lost their lives on that fateful day rest in peace.

[El Gibbon]

There is one story/memory that I was remiss in leaving out. Medical staff - both local and foreign tourists - performed miracles in some of the more trying circumstances you can imagine.

Phuket had three international hospitals along with a very large Thai gov't facility. There was also a small hospital health care center in Patong that cared for the ever present motosai victims. Overwhelmed doesn't begin to describe the scenes, pictures don't even do it justice. Image doing Triage in a parking lot, or on the lawn with 10s of injured all begging attention.

The doctors and nurses at Phuket International, Bangkok Phuket and Mission hospital worked for days without rest. I had occasion to go to Phuket International to take a US Embassy official to view the deceased and to caution all the hospitals NOT to cremate any farang bodies.

Outside, on the lawn were 15 or 20 medical staff working feverishly to assimilate about 50 or so "survivors" in all states of distress. Among those I spotted a tourist I had had drinks with on Christmas Eve. She had been a psychiatric nurse in a previous life and was fully integrated into the the process, you really wouldn't know that she hadn't even been to the hospital prior to her volunteering to lend a hand.

She ended up spending weeks helping out. In one instance an English woman asked her to return to a Patong Beach hotel to see if she could find her husband or word on his status. She went to the hotel and was in the process of inquiring about Mr. X's whereabouts, as it turned out there was another man doing the same. It was the brother-in-law that had just arrived to join them and their parents who were coming in the next day for the New Year holiday.

They spent two days searching for Mr. X at the shelters, Patong Hospital and anywhere they thought he might be. They finally identified him at a temporary morgue that had been set up. The brother was pretty upset as you can imagine and he had to meet his parents at the airport that evening.

The nurse and her husband drove him to the airport and stood by while he broke the news to his parents that their son had passed. That done they transported the family to the hospital to inform Mrs. X of the demise of her husband. Then the two 'vacationers' got the family hotel rooms, contact numbers for the British Embassy folks and got them basically settled as best they could.

The stories are myriad and come bouncing into my memory when I think about it. Selfless participation in a huge catastrophe by many many people that are just a small slice of time in our lives.

E. G.

[Jet Gorgon]

^ There were many like that. Gods bless.

I do have to agree with Itchy on the land grab -- one Thai friend said the beach was still littered with bodies and some businessmen were right there planning how to divvy up the beachfront property.

My colleague was on Khao Lak with family and friends. They watched the ocean recede like Moses parting the Red Sea. He told everyone to run away from the beach; he went to get his camera. The tsunami punched him through a wall and he was swept up and bashed by a fridge, car and who knows what. When it subsided, he was well away from the beach, clinging to a tree. A baht bus driver saw him and helped him get in. The guy was picking up as many people as he could find alive and drove them back and forth to find a clear road to the hospital. My friend had to wait because others were more seriously injured (and he was really bashed up). There was no food or water. Took rescuers three days to get in to help. An army trooper gave him some ice cold water and an orange -- he said it was the finest feast he had ever had. They got him to Bangkok and he was reunited with his fam, who had managed to make it to high ground -- the villagers looked after everyone who made it there.

It took him a month before he could tell me what happened. His child had nightmares about it for months after.

Up in Ranong, folks were trying to find ways to search for people in the mangroves...so many fishing villages were wiped out. So tragic as many were Burmese or non-Thai tribes; officials didn't seem to care about them.

We were ready to go over from Samui to volunteer, but friends said it was really hard to get in and there was nowhere to stay. Bangkok Airways was delivering free cargo everyday, so we just collected stuff to send over. I arranged one collection point at a friend's resort for an acquaintance. Go there a few days later, and there's a mountain of boxes and bags in his driveway. Nobody showed to pick it up or to contact him; he'd called several times and no answer. So, I called again (no answer on her cell); OK, I'll drive it over to airport cargo. Holy cow. Did I get an earful for that. "Everything had to be accounted for and why did I just take it?" Aunt Jemima and Jehosafat. Um, coz it was blocking his driveway, getting rained on and anybody could just come and help themselves to it? Boy, if folks get snippy at the grassroots level, I can't imagine what organised charities are like.

Folks kept donating, but after several days, the cargo boys said they stopped delivery coz the stuff was just rotting out in the open in Phuket. I called people that donated and they said "keep it." OK, charity two kicked in. I gave it all to a couple of Issarn lasses who made about Bt3,000 a month as house cleaners. I bet alot of people in their villages have oversized jeans and Samui Regatta t-shirts. I'm happy. And they washed my car.