AND you thought I forgot

my annual remembrance of five years ago today.

Wrong, I shall never forget this day.

My thoughts are with those that lost loved ones as well as the ones who worked the aftermath. I understand that psychological problems remain with those involved. Here's hope that time will heal all.

It is hard to visualize the damage and agony felt by all involved.

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it is not just an anniversary retold by CNN and the other international news media. It is important to remember that real people were affected, and the traumatic effect it had on thousands of people in the region and beyond.

There are a lot of us that will NEVER forget.

E. G.

some people seem to have forgotten where all the money raised went

Where and what is it all about ?

^ The Tsusami - boxing day 2004 Thailand

Silly me, how could I forget.
I was on Samui at the time

i was in thailand that cay came to bankog 21- 12 i arsk my gf whaat do you want shal we go to phuket for cristmas? she said no we go to the willage to wisit papa and mama lucky for me may god be whith all the wictims

Thousands of mourners light candles across Asia to mark the fifth anniversary of the 2004 Tsunami
26th December 2009

Thousands of candles lit up Thailand's Patong beach, thousands of saffron-robed Buddhist monks marched and people from around the globe held vigils as Asia marked the fifth anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami on Saturday.

Hundreds of lanterns floated into the sky at Patong in one of many events across the region in memory of one of history's worst natural disasters in living memory - when towering waves crashed ashore with little warning, killing 226,000 people in 13 countries.

'We came here to remember those who died,' said Sainamphueng Kachan, 32, who lost 20 friends in the tsunami and was among the tourists, mourners and tsunami survivors gathered in the Thai region to light candles dug into holes in the beach.


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Mourners launch thousands of floating paper lanterns into the sky over the Andaman Sea in remembrance of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami victims, in Khao Lak, in Thailand


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Indians offer flowers to sand sculptures made by students to pay homage to tsunami victims, at Marina Beach, in Chennai, India - the devastating tsunami left 230,000 people in the region dead

In Indonesia's Banda Aceh, about 100 people took part in a prayer ceremony close to a fishing boat that landed on the rooftop of a two-storey house after being swept miles inland.

Indonesia was the worst hit with more than 166,000 dead and missing. Massive reconstruction aid in Banda Aceh has rebuilt a new city on top of the ruins but survivors are only now putting memories of the disaster behind them.
Some villagers shed tears as they remembered the day their homes and lives were destroyed by the wall of water that rose as high as 98ft, triggered by an undersea earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra.


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A Thai girl lights candles as relatives and friends of tsunami victims gather near a memorial site on Patong beach as they mourn on the fifth anniversary of the tsunami on Phuket island


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Policemen in Khao Lak, in Thailand's Phang Nga province pray in front of Police Boat 813 that was washed ashore during the tsunami

'I will never forget it in all my life. After the earthquake, we ran out of the house and within minutes people screamed on seeing the towering water,' said Ambasiah, 40, owner of the house with the fishing boat where about 50 people took refuge.

'When the water got higher, suddenly a boat landed on top of the house. We climbed and stayed there until afternoon. We saw the waves from atop.'

Indonesian Vice President Boediono attended another ceremony in Ulee Lheu, a port about 3 miles from Banda Aceh which was worst hit by the tsunami.


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Thai and foreign relatives of tsunami victims gather near a memorial site on Patong beach


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A girl lights oil lamps at a Buddhist temple in memory of those killed in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Paraliya, 56 miles south of Colombo in Sri Lanka

'After five years, the government of Aceh and Aceh people, with the help of the central government and the international society, have resurrected Aceh to start a new life and rebuild Aceh,' he told a gathering of around 1,000 people.

Some locals such as Taufik Rahmat say they have moved on, helped along by new homes in the region following one of the world's largest ever foreign fund-raising exercises.

After the 2004 disaster, more than $13billion in aid money poured in from around the world, nearly half for Aceh, where bridges, homes and full city blocks of cement buildings had collapsed.


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Western tourist and others gather during candlelight ceremonies Phuket, Thailand, to launch lanterns and remember those killed in the Asian Tsunami five years ago

In some communities of the devout Muslim province only the mosque was left standing.
But still pockets of people in his village remain homeless.

'Not all elements have been fulfilled, I think about 80 percent to 90 percent of the people still don't have proper housing,' he said.

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Tourists lay flower for those who died five years ago during the fifth anniversary of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami disaster at Police Patrol Boat Tor 813 Tsunami Memorial site, Phang Nga province, southern Thailand

In Patong, local artists performed traditional Thai songs and Buddhist monks chanted as tourists and locals gathered in a pavilion to look at photographs of the tsunami's damage.

'We come and stay here because we are alive,' said Ruschitschka Adolf, a 73-year-old German who survived the tsunami, as his wife Katherina waded into Patong's turquoise waters to lay white roses in the waves in memory of the dead.

Almost all of those killed were on holiday on or around the southern island of Phuket, a region that had contributed as much as 40 percent of Thailand's annual tourism income.

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Candles with the names of the victims of the 2004 tsunami are lit during a memorial service at 'Johanneskirche' in Dusseldorf, Germany

'All souls from all nationalities, wherever you are now, please receive the prayers the monks are saying for you,' said Kularb Pliamyai, who lost 10 family members in Ban Nam Khem.

Ban Nam Khem village is a shadow of its former self. Its once-thriving centre of dense waterfront stores, restaurants and wooden homes is gone, replaced with souvenir shops, a wave-shaped monument and a small building filled with photographs of the tsunami recovery effort.

Many former residents are now too frightened of the sea to rebuild close to the water.

'I still feel bad about what happened. People from all over the world were killed here. It's their misfortune,' Kularb said.

In Thailand, 5,398 people were killed, including several thousand foreign tourists, when the waves swamped six coastal provinces, turning some of the world's most beautiful beaches into mass graves. Many are still missing.

On Khao Lak beach, where the tsunami killed 3,000 people, mourners lit 2,552 traditional Khomloy floating paper lanterns -- a number representing the Thai Buddhist calendar year when the tsunami struck.
Traffic across Sri Lanka came to a standstill Saturday as people around the country observed two minutes of silence for the 35,000 people who died there.

Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake presided over a ceremony in north-western Kurunegala that was broadcast on live television.

mailonsunday.co.uk

Fifth anniversary of Indian Ocean tsunami commemorated _English_Xinhua


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Villagers put flowers onto a wave-shaped tsunami monument during the fifth year anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami in Ban Nam Khem, a small fishing village in Thailand's Phang Nga province, about 110 km (68 miles) north of the resort island of Phuket Dec.26, 2009. Thousands of saffron-robed Thai monks chanted and prayed for victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami on Saturday as Asia marked the fifth anniversary of one of history's worst natural disasters.
(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)


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Buddhist monks receive alms during the anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami in Thailand's Phang Nga province, about 110 km (68 miles) north of the resort island of Phuket, Dec. 26, 2009.
(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)


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Tsunami survivors light candles at Marina beach to commemorate the anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami, in Chennai Dec. 26, 2009.
(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)


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Acehnese women attend a mass prayer for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Banda Aceh Dec. 26, 2009. Survivors gathered in neighbourhood mosques or homes to remember those killed by a wall of water as high as 30 metres triggered by an undersea earthquake off the island of Sumatra.
(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)


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Dilip Semeviratna places a candle on his father's grave where their former house stood in which his father was killed in the 2004 tsunami, in Paraliya, 90 km (56 miles) south of Colombo Dec. 26, 2009. Sri Lanka observed two minutes of silence to mark the fifth anniversary of the devastating tsunami, that killed over 23,000 people in the island nation.
(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)


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A girl prays over her father's grave where their former house stood in which her father was killed in the 2004 tsunami, in Paraliya, 90 km (56 miles) south of Colombo Dec. 26, 2009.
(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

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