The Timing Of The Tsunami

[Tornado]

No disrespect to the people who have lost their lives.

It could of been a lot worse if it happened the night before or the day after.

If it occurred on Christmas Eve, thousands more would of died due to Patong being packed with tourists who were out celebrating. It would of been dark also, so there would not have been even a slight warning.

If it happened on Monday, thousands of kids would of been killed who were at school as there is a few schools on the beach, such as Kamala and even the one in Patong is very close to the beach.

Again I would add, it is a tragedy it happened at all, but the timing could of been far worse.

[Insight]

Impossible not to disagree. If it happened of an evening, past sunset, as you rightly mentioned nobody would notice the sea receeding. Also, the waves knocked out the power? Everybody would of been scrambling around in complete darkness. The restaurants and bars along the beach road would of been packed with holidaymakers who would quickly turn panic-stricken.

[LaoPo]

I had the same thoughts directly after the tragedy but hesitated to post...

Indeed, it could have been a lot worse when the Tsunami's would have hit in the early evening...thank God it didn't happen.

But of course this counts for all the countries who suffered and still are.

LaoPo

[RDN]

I agree with the previous posters. And this is what scares my g/f so much as we were going to go to Karon in the afternoon about 5 pm as we often do to watch the sun go down.

I keep thinking what it would have been like, say, at mid-day? How many tourist get to the beach at that time? It did occur pretty early in the morning - not the time I would be at the beach - and I wonder if this is the reason why so few Brits were killed? Were they all nursing hangovers? Believe me, I am not trying to be funny or uncaring, but it's just one of those thoughts that crosses my mind whenever i see the death tolls listed country by country: why so few Brits killed?

On the other hand, if it had occurred just a couple of hours earlier, I'm sure fewer would have been killed - certainly fewer tourists in Thailand would have been on the beaches.

Maybe we should be thankful that it did occur at that time and not in darkness, or at a more busy time on the beaches. Not a nice thing to think about, but all these thoughts have crossed my mind over the last few days.And I think it helps to talk. Sorry if people are offended.