Lest we forget! Tsunami 2004

[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.