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Phuket Tsunami Aftermath

Posted by Lance Powers

I never thought I would say this but I'm so happy to be back in Bangkok. Even the usual traffic jam on the way home from the airport didn't bother me. My flight was delayed and the Phuket airport was very much in a state of chaos as tourists checked lists of the deceased and shared horror stories. I noticed several people holding signs as a last ditch effort to locate their loved ones. The look of sorrow and desperation on their faces was heart breaking. Don Muang Airport here in Bangkok was equally chaotic as I saw dozens of people from the embassies holding signs attempting to locate the wounded and the families of the deceased or missing. I saw dozens of people covered in scrapes and bruises or badly injured.

I neglected to mention in my first rushed article on the 26th that I was planning to go scuba diving the morning of the disaster. I had never been diving so I had booked a beginners tour through our hotel. The staff had called up in the early morning to let us know the bus had arrived to take us to the pier. I told her I wanted to rebook it for the next day, hung up and went to sleep. I have no idea what happened to the people who were booked through this particular tour but I would be surprised if any survived. For once being lazy and sleeping in really paid off.

During my last 2 days in Phuket the streets were clogged near the damage zones with curiousity seekers inspecting the carnage. I expect there will be alot of interesting photos surfacing in the coming days. In Patong all businesses within 500 meters of the beach were either completely destroyed or damaged in some way. I saw bar and hotel owners sifting through the rubble in dismay hoping to find anything salvageable. One older Thai man was attempting to free one of his boats from the inside of what used to be a hotel lobby. A bar owner was shoveling out 2 feet of sand from the floor of his pub. There was some minor looting visible but I think it was fairly isolated.

During the days following the disaster I spoke with several people who were either on the beach when the wave hit or injured by its wake. Their stories are horrifying. One man told me that he was sleeping in bed when he heard a loud crashing boom. Within 30 seconds his room was filled with water. In a panic he said he had to smash his window with the TV set to escape his first floor room. His travel mate in the next room wasn't so lucky and when he returned to check on him his body was being removed from the hotel. His friend was only 19, they had been in Thailand only 2 days and had been planning their journey for many months. He had to break the news to his friends' mother that her son drowned to death in a tidal wave the day after Christmas. He was mortified.

A German lady I met right after the water receded was sitting down and staring blankly at the spot where she and her husband had been sun bathing all morning. She told me she was worried he had been pulled out to sea as they had not reacted quick enough to escape the water. On my way home in the airport I saw her again and she told me he had been found but his neck had been broken and he had died instantly - 500 meters from where she lost him. Between sobs she told me they were newlyweds who were spending their first Christmas together.

Another man I met in the airport was in a wheelchair with a badly broken leg. He had been trying to flee the water when a motorbike had slammed into his leg making escape impossible. He said he thought he was going to certainly die and began to drown. He woke up being rescued by a Thai shop vendor he was speaking with only moments before the water swept them away. "It happened so fast", he told me. "One minute I was buying a beach towel, the next I was under water." Stories like these were everywhere as nearly everyone had lost someone or knew someone who did. I myself was unable to locate 2 guys I had eaten a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner with. Both their first time in Thailand they were having the time of their lives after recently graduating. I can now only assume they are among the deceased.

One of the most disturbing things I saw was a bulletin board with polaroids of the dead. The bodies were in many cases mangled with broken limbs or necks. The grief was terrible as people waited for updates to the photos to see if their friends or family were among the deceased. At least 50% of the faces in the photographs were foreigners. Many were children.

A lot of people have asked me what I thought of the Thai response to the disaster and if it was adequate and effective. Within an hour of the disaster I saw many helicopters pulling people out of the ocean from what looked like nearly a kilometer out from the beach. Fear and panic had completely taken over by this time. People were so shaken up after the water receded and rumors of more waves certainly hampered rescue attempts as nearly everyone evacuated, clogging the streets. Many of the badly injured were hauled out in the backs of trucks to hospitals as local ambulances were clearly overwhelmed. The sheer volume of injured people was astounding.

The impact of what happened finally hit me as I tuned in to the major media outlets and watched sadly as the death toll continued to rise. Thailand is very much in a state of shock as the amount of people who have been killed is only now becoming apparent. The local Thai language media seems to be focused on the death of the Kings grandson, and the effect this incident will have on local tourism. They have also pointed out that everyone willing to give blood should donate it as there is a major shortage treating the wounded. I plan to go down tomorrow, so should you.

I updated my photos with some video and more photos of the aftermath here: http://202.157.186.105:8000/phuket-tsunami-video/

I also came across some excellent shots of the tsunami as it is happening: http://www.pbase.com/issels/phuket_tsunami

This is also quite interesting: Worldwide Earthquake Activity in the Last Seven Days

I will post more local news as it becomes available.

Posted Dec 29, 2004 at 03:02 AM | Permalink |