Phuket After The Wave

[p1p]

The following op-ed piece was written by David Harding, Asst Editor of Good Morning Chiang Mai Magazine. He hasreleased his copyright and made the piece available for general publication..

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I flew down to Phuket on a fact finding mission on Monday last and returned here on Thursday.

The main fact of the tsunami tragedy for me is that, like most, it brought out both the best and the worst in people. Stories of incredible heroism and unselfishness, and eye witness accounts of policemen looting dead bodies.

Prior to the waves (there were 3), prior even to the sea receding rapidly as it did, an African woman on a beach saw countless spider crabs rushing out of the water and starting to climb trees. She took the hint and ran and survived. Tragically, other people, notably poor Thais, were running towards where the surf had been to catch crabs and stranded fish. None of them would have stood a chance.

People said that, prior to any other sign, cats ran around in circles, wide eyed, pausing only to stare up at their owners and then flee. Very, very few cats and dogs perished. Not a single elephant was drowned, even at a camp near the coast. They broke their chains and ran for higher ground.

As soon as the surf receded, the 'sea gypsy' people (descended from Burmese and Malaysians, poor but highly moral fishing folk who live in shacks on beaches ) scooped up their children and ran for the hills. Their generations of knowledge, passed down verbally, saved them. Not a single casualty and very few of their boats and shacks were lost!

In one of the medium-affected areas, a small Thai man aged about 50 climbed a 20ft steel framed water tower to get away from the surging water. As the water receded, people were being swept right past him out to sea. With apparently superhuman strength (I'd say sheer adrenaline) he leaned out and scooped one after another onto the tower.

A wealthy Kiwi lady, married to an American Halliburton executive, had just driven away from their beach home at Khao Lak (north of Phuket) when the maid called her and said that the first ('small') wave had damaged the house. She turned round and was just getting out of the car when the second wave arrived and killed her. She turned out to be one of the very few expatriat fatalities. Not many expats near the beach at 8.30am on Boxing Day morning!

The big second wave that hit the western shore was 'only' 10 meters high at Phuket. Experts saying that the water would weigh 1 ton per meter of height. Damage there is restricted to the beachfront and 50 meters inland only. By the time the wave was 200m from the beach it had reached bar-top height and at a pub (called The Shipwreck!) run by a chum of David West, the only damage was a split bamboo partition and missing casettes and bar stools.

But along the beachfront at the Ocean Supermarket, a semi-basement place facing the sea, everyone died. Two weeks afterwards, the smell, even 20m away outside, was indescribable.

At McDonalds nearby, the staff were semi-alerted to the first wave, closed the glass doors and ran up to the 1st floor. As they looked out of the window, a passing motorcycle with 2 people on board was swept sideways right through the glass doors and into the restaurant. The staff pulled them up the stairs, then punched a hole in the ceiling of the 1st floor - and all survived by sitting on the roof.

Molly Malone's Irish Pub, where Noy and I thoroughly enjoyed 2 nights of our honeymoon 5 years ago, is no longer. It was sold just before Christmas for 4 million baht and the new owners had had no time to insure it.

But Phuket was back in business in days and now, people are enjoying quiet holidays with the beachfront as a busy building site.

This photo shows a 'welcome', but with TV truck on duty for more stories. It seems that Phuket has been branded by the media simply because it is a well known name.

An hour's drive north to Pang-Na and Kha Lak, it's very different. The big wave here was 30 meters high. Thirty tons arriving at 550 kph. Four double decker buses in weight.

Newly refurbished luxury resorts have all but vanished, complete with everyone who was in them. All relatively wealthy westerners and relatively poor Thai staff.

In this photo see the angle of the beachfront building in the background. One place which now looks like this had been sold for 400 million baht a few weeks back.

You will have seen the picture of the 40ft steel police patrol boat 1.5km inshore. They think it will be easier to cut it up than get it back to the sea. Nearby is a large lake on the inland side of the main coastal road.

It used to be freshwater and beautiful. Three huge pumps are going 24 hours a day. 7 bodies have been recovered so far and divers say there are 7 cars and a bus down there with 'countless' bodies. Engineers and TV crews on the banks mix with bereaved Thais, waiting in the vain hope of identifying someone they have lost.

We walked between the sparse ruins of the 5 star Laguna Resort. I found the remains of one chalet in which just some bedding cushions and one attractive vase were identifiable.

Someone else found an American Express card with a Spanish-looking name and later handed it in. Amid the ruins was just one chalet which, unaccountably, maybe due to the slight rise of land in front of it, seemed totally undamaged even on the seaward side. But it was leaning at a 10 degree angle with no foundations at the back.

Here, a day after the wave, with only minor injuries but few clothes and obviously in deep shock, a Scandinavian woman and her small daughter were wondering down a street. An elderly Thai woman appeared from a damaged shack and gave them both shoes, which fitted exactly. The disaster has bred some friendships which will last a lifetime.

Fifteen minutes further north still we went past the temple with its enormous pile of bodies and teams of workers led by Thailand's top forensic pathologist, a woman who wears her hair in red spikes and whose hobby is fighting corrupt politicians and police. She was recently made a 'Khunying' by H.M. the Queen, the equivalent of an honorary Lord. They toil away with DNA samples, dental records - which are just arriving - and preservative techniques. No entry to anyone else, due to the risk of infection.

Another 10 minutes and we were in one of 4 refugee camps in a lovely location, backed by the peaceful blue ocean and lovely, empty beach. Some 400 people live in neat tents and will soon move to tiny metal bungalows on stilts being erected by the Army.

(Photo) with hastily built (empty) coffins in the foreground. The Italian Red Cross and agencies from Finland are much in evidence and, 2 weeks after the deluge, the camp seems to have everything it needs (photo).

I took a photo of a monk donating a truck load of clothes, and an American family from Chiangmai who were delivering a mini bus load of electric rice cookers they had just bought at Tesco's Phuket.

We met the headmistress of a local school who said that they had lost about 100 of their 500 pupils. 4 children had lost everyone in their families and were being moved to a Royally sponsored orphanage. She said that the day after the tragedy (how I hate the use of the pathetic word 'incident' in this context!) Thai and western people arrived, trying to claim children. None of them had any evidence of relationship and all were turned down, their motives unknown and unproveable. Elsewhere in the area, and particularly in (far less well organised) Indonesia, there are too many credible reports of orphans being stolen by traffickers.

Maybe most tragic in this area, 2 European women in their 20's and an 11 year old Austrian boy who all survived with minor injuries, have gone missing from temporary living quarters in Phuket town. Last week there was a voluntary press black out on this.

All the foreign embassies have temporary offices in Phuket town or the airport and everywhere you look are photos of missing westerners, together with their names and phone numbers to call. A lot are small children, some are sets of whole families. None of them are ever going to be seen again. Most of the missing Thais would be too poor to ever have their photos taken.

Last night here in Chiangmai, Noy and I went to a fund raising party on the roof of a big condo block where the Thai owner and a resident (a gay retired doctor from USA) had worked hard and extremely generously to put on a great night. Despite being given one ticket we couldn't really afford it, but felt we must. They hoped to raise up to half a million baht - and achieved 620,000.

The Phuket Governor, head of police and a Japanese forensic pathologist have all told me that an incredible amount has been learned from all this which should benefit the whole world in the future.

But wasn't World War 1 described as the war "to end all wars"?

David

[igotworms]

We walked between the sparse ruins of the 5 star Laguna Resort. I found the remains of one chalet in which just some bedding cushions and one attractive vase were identifiable.

This is bullshite. Laguna has minimal damage. It definitely isnt in ruins.

The Phuket Governor, head of police and a Japanese forensic pathologist have all told me that an incredible amount has been learned from all this which should benefit the whole world in the future.

But wasn't World War 1 described as the war "to end all wars"?

What?

[sonthaya]

I think both the local and world press has done a lot to damage the image of Phuket the way they twist the truth to get some more sensation in their stories and sell more papers or TV time, it stinks

[The_Moog]

The Sea Gypsies were saved due to their knowledge of the sea - and escaped to higher ground.

Yet he also says the boats and shacks were largely unscathed also -

Did the boats and shacks also run for higher ground?

Here's my alternative explanation - the wave simply didn't strike so hard there.

[Tornado]

The Sea Gypsies were saved due to their knowledge of the sea - and escaped to higher ground.

Yet he also says the boats and shacks were largely unscathed also -

Did the boats and shacks also run for higher ground?

Here's my alternative explanation - the wave simply didn't strike so hard there.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

correct, the sea Gypsy village in Rawai was hardly affected.

[Sunbelt Asia]

Molly Malone's Irish Pub, where Noy and I thoroughly enjoyed 2 nights of our honeymoon 5 years ago, is no longer. It was sold just before Christmas for 4 million baht and the new owners had had no time to insure it.

This is not true. It was acquired for over 20 million two years ago. Molly was fully insured for 20 million plus full compensatory damages (all lost profits.)

The insurance company has already declared it destroyed and has settled. The landlord still wants his 800,000 Baht rent however every month even though their has been structure damage to the building.

The same goes for Scruffy Murphy’s which will get a check for 6 million (water damage) They also have full compensatory damage insurance while it sits empty and is remodeled.