The Situation in Khao Lak right now!

The Situation in Thailand right now is a bit different from anything else that I’ve experienced.

During one of my normal trips of the Similan Islands, over the Christmas period, our journey took a very unexpected turn. We started our trip on Christmas Eve, spending the next two days amongst the breathtaking beauty that is the Similan Islands and celebrating Christmas Day with good food, and drinks. Boxing day however, was anything but normal, as always, we made our trip down to Island 1 where we snorkelled off the southern tip of the island. Up to this point, it was business as usual and we would soon step ashore to see the turtles. 

On this day, I noticed powerful ocean currents and witnessed several of my guests being swept away by the currents. Together with the captain and boat boys, who left in the dinghy, we threw ropes and dragged all the people from the water. A bit shaken and unaware of what had happened, the captain approached the island which revealed that the once large white beach was completely covered by water. 

Our captain tried to contact other ships and the mainland to find out what had happened but there were too many speculations and guesses and in the end, we decided to cut the trip short and make our way back to the main land. During the four hours return journey, we kept hearing rumours over the radio but there was nothing we could change until we got back. 

Arriving back at the harbour, we were met with scenes of total devastation, there were boats sinking in the water and washed up on land. We even saw a large navy destroyer washed up on land and knew that something big must have happened. And just as entered the harbour area, we witnessed our first dead body floating in the water. Not knowing it at the time, we were experiencing the aftermath of the Tsunami that struck Khao Lak , claiming thousands of lives. 

However, we were unaware of this at the time and as we got to the pier, we saw Olle standing next to two pickup trucks. We all got out of the boats and got onto the trucks, ensuring the children were seated where they were unable to look out. Leaving the pier area, I witnessed bodies everywhere, washed up on land, just lying on the side of the road and on the road. 

We were taken straight away to a nearby Elephant camp up in the mountains where we spent the remainder of the day and night, listening to local radio about possible aftershocks and additional tsunamis. I believe that I got maybe 1-2 hours sleep that night, if that. The following morning, we made arrangements with local drivers and managed to get all our guests to Phuket where they could stay near the airport, awaiting a flight home. We didn’t know it then, but we had all been very lucky as none of the guests or staff on either the boat or the resort were killed, there were some injuries, however none were life threatening.

Upon returning to our resort, we saw that the restaurant and the bungalows by the water were completely destroyed, plus a few other structures had water damage. We did however have electricity, phone, internet, drinking water and food and as such, Poseidon Bungalows became a bit of a haven for us and other friends from other resorts and dive centres in Khao Lak. There were a few things that needed fixing however, but between all of us, we managed to get electricity sorted to all the rooms we were using and also got the water and showers running. 

About three days after the wave had hit, Marcus, Alex and I made our way into the main town of Khao Lak where the full extent of the tsunami became apparent to us. We were not prepared for the utter destruction that we witnessed in town. Where there had been large resorts along the ocean, there were now only ruins left. We observed a large number of cars either smashed against trees, houses and upside down (even saw a car sitting on top of a house). However, our main shock came when we realised that the cleaning crews hadn’t finished in the area (or maybe hadn’t even got there yet). As we walked along, seeing the destruction, we observed, amidst the rubble, bodies, half-buried beneath the sand and rubble. Now that we had seen them, it was hard not to see them everywhere and hard to look away , knowing that you couldn’t do anything for them. 

Later on that same day, we came across another friend of ours, Thomas, who had lost everything, he didn’t know whether his partner was alive or dead and his house had been destroyed  We invited him to come back to Poseidon as we had room and he accepted the offer and brought as many of his personal items as he could find. 

Over the next couple of days, I spent the time at Poseidon working on the website, updating it with the situation in Khao Lak, showing the rebuild process and providing information on how donations could be made. We also had a Swedish TV crew attend and stay with us, reporting and interviewing Olov about the situation. This same crew also chartered a speedboat where I travelled to the Similan Islands together with Olof, the crew and a few others to do an inspection of the islands, as we didn’t know what damage the corals had suffered. An initial inspection however revealed that the damage was not as bad as most had feared.

For New Years Eve, we had a large gathering with friends where we had some good food, drinks and allowed ourselves to have a celebration, if only for one night. We had a good time and the party continued well into the early hours of the next morning.  

A few days later we all made a trip to Phuket, as we needed to stock up on some items before we could re-open. We packed the car, some of us sitting in the tray of the truck and about an hour later we arrived in Phuket Town where we purchased what we needed. Later that night we transferred over to Patong beach, checked into a hotel and went out to club Tiger where we spent the night out until the place closed at 3. The following morning, before heading back home, we did some shopping and found a place selling DVDs which we needed as we were running low on movies. We also found someone selling DVDs of the Tsunami. Whilst tacky and wrong, we were curious as we hadn’t seen the full extent and got one of the discs which included a collection of amateur footage of the waves from different locations.

At this stage, I took a few days off and travelled to Bangkok to meet my friend Vanessa, who was there with her family. I got on an 11 hour bus ride with reclining seats where I was provided with a large blanket and no one sitting in front of me leaning back on me, so all in all an ok ride. Once in Bangkok, I had a couple of hours before meeting Vanessa was walking aimlessly around the Koh San Road area when I was approached by a German guy who asked me if I was busy or if I had the time to help him out, with what I wondered and it turns out he was assisting with the donations for the Tsunami victims and needed help to sort and count the money. I agreed to help and tagged along with him to a local Police Station where I spent the next hour or so just counting donation money.

A few hours later, I met up with Vanessa, caught up with her and her parents, did some shopping and attended a cinema where we watched Kung Fu Hustle, crazy but hilarious! I spent three nights in Bangkok, and at the end, because I didn’t want to do another long bus trip, I opted for the flight back to Phuket.

On the 26 of January 2005, the one month anniversary since the Tsunami, we gathered to commemorate the occasion. After dinner and drinks we released rafts decorated with flowers, incense and candles into the ocean as a sign of respect and also reflection over what had happened. We also released a number of sky lanterns, as it’s a Thai belief that this is considered good luck and a way to make all your problems go away. 

Over the past months, I’ve been getting phone calls and emails from friends and family, telling me that I should leave the area for safety reasons. I thought about it initially however chose to remain in Thailand with my friends and fellow survivors, who knew what we had gone through instead of travelling away and be the only person there who went went through something like this. And yes, I know of several persons that left and couldn’t stand being away from it all at which point they had return. I’m happy that I stayed, worked through it and believe that I came through with a newfound perspective on life and what it offers. 

So what’s next, the first trip to the Similans is going ahead on 1st of February, however I won’t be here for it as I have a job lined up in Koh Ta where I will be designing a webpage for my friend Adam and his new business. So I’ll go there for maybe a month and then return when things have picked up a bit.