Thailand Tsunami 26 December 2004

[Gladiator]

At that time was I liviing in the Riverside Condo and only realized what was happening and how tragic by the reports on BBC World.

My brother had spent the afternoon at the contruction site of the Resort in Nam Phrare and came home to say that the water in the fish lake appeared to be 'boiling'.

I had an ex-collegue, friend and family who were in Phuket at that time and they were lucky to escape wih their lives.

Thanks to all that is holy tha we do not have a similar situaion today.

[onthedarkside]

I know there was a Tsunami alert today but this seems a strange topic to start in the Chiang Mai Forum, Maybe we should move it to Phuket forum ??

[Gladiator]

Thanks 'On the dark side'. Okay with me

[LivinginKata]

Where was I - at that exact moment I was working on a construction project in Kata.

[HongKongPhooey]

Standing on 200 year road Patong. The first we knew was the bangs of what turned out to be the electricity poles shorting out. At the time I was convinced (and others thought the same) that a gun man was running around shooting people. It's funny how the brain takes in all the information and comes to the best conclusion it can. With the bangs and the people running that's all I could think of.

The next thing was knee deep water moving fast and carrying cars and people coming around the corner. No danger by then though all the impact had been taken by the beach road.

Had changed plans to be on Phi phi for boxing day only two day earlier!

Today was a nice reminder that devastation on that scale will never be seen again on Phuket.

[LadyinRed]

Seriously? I propose to close this sensational thread...

[HongKongPhooey]

^ Saying where you were isn't sensationalising it in any way.

[Rickster]

I think we've all moved on since the tragedies of 2004 and it's best left in the past. Some people lost loved one's, personally although kind of on topic I think it's in bad taste and best deleted IMO....

No offence to Gladiator what so ever....

Edited April 11, 2012 by Rickster

[LadyinRed]

Standing on 200 year road Patong. The first we knew was the bangs of what turned out to be the electricity poles shorting out. At the time I was convinced (and others thought the same) that a gun man was running around shooting people. It's funny how the brain takes in all the information and comes to the best conclusion it can. With the bangs and the people running that's all I could think of.

The next thing was knee deep water moving fast and carrying cars and people coming around the corner. No danger by then though all the impact had been taken by the beach road.

Had changed plans to be on Phi phi for boxing day only two day earlier!

Today was a nice reminder that devastation on that scale will never be seen again on Phuket.

Seriously? I propose to close this sensational thread...

^ Saying where you were isn't sensationalising it in any way.

HKP: I was hoping you'd look at this in a way such as this:

01. This original post was made about 9.30pm - a good few hours when the earthquake happened.

02. Your account of the situation which you described you were in is scary, yet to me, and most I know, nothing much drastic happened (not to put down on what you had experienced though coz I am not in your area)-

03. there were mentions of knocked out electricity poles, electircity poles, people running about, knee deep water, the possibility of a gun man, etc.

04. You also possibily indicated that I was whining about bringing a topic being 'sensational'..

So, that is all really I have to reply to this- I am just v. glad we now have a very effective warning system in place that brings early and effective warnings which keep us all away from what could/ will be a castrophic disaster scenario.

[LadyinRed]

OK I will retract on my earlier post to HKT because I just saw the 2004 in the subject line; though it still feels like how Titanic is being exploitedlikefark retold/ re-visited/ 3D-ed to no end no matter how its still fascinating for some.

[HongKongPhooey]

OK I will retract on my earlier post to HKT because I just saw the 2004 in the subject line; though it still feels like how Titanic is being exploitedlikefark retold/ re-visited/ 3D-ed to no end no matter how its still fascinating for some.

You obviously missed the words 'Tsunami' & '26 December' in the title as well then! You completely got the wrong end of the stick yet it still feels like you're giving me a hard time!!

I don't see how you can compare the recounting of real, personal experiences with the making of dramatised Hollywood film, loosely based on an historical event, and I don't agree with 'Rickster' that just not mentioning things is the way to deal with them either.

Someone asked the question, I answered it honestly with no sensationalisation at all, and I would never dream of saying anything unsympathetic or disrespectful about it.

Either way the question only has one answer and I've given it already so I have no reason to post on the thread again.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

I was in Khon Kaen.

Again not very sensational.

Edited April 11, 2012 by WinnieTheKhwai

[Rooo]

Why the bickering? If you do not wish wish to participate in a sensible manner , please move along.,

[stevenl]

I think we've all moved on since the tragedies of 2004 and it's best left in the past. Some people lost loved one's, personally although kind of on topic I think it's in bad taste and best deleted IMO....

No offence to Gladiator what so ever....

Whilst I agree it has happened and best left in the past, I fail to see why it would be bad taste.

I was on the road, on the way back with a guest from the airport. Quite a surprise to reach Kata, eary, go to the beach and watch things unfold. At that point communications were still intact and fully functioning, so I managed to warn my parents of what happened before they heard about it on the news.

[happyaussie]

I flew out of the Maldives Xmas day and was in Bangkok deciding whether to visit Phuket or Chang Mai. I chose Chang Mai.

The resort I stayed in Maldives was all over water bungalows. They were demolished......luck or fortitude. I have no idea.

And I agree, there is nothing wrong with this topic. Some people seem to want to find fault in everything.

[longstebe]

Patong Beach.

Luckily enough I'd had some drinks the night before and I was laying in bed. My hotel was on the second road between soi Bangla and soi Sawatdirak.

[seaeagle]

As an expat from north Europe, one of the crass things that such people do, I feel, is to insist on going to the beach on Christmas Day. You can't do that where I come from!

However, I usually try to do the opposite of what is 'expected' of me, so refused to do the beach-thing on Christmas Day, but said I'd go on Boxing Day instead.

Fortunately, we woke up feeling pretty lazy on that morning, and just stayed in the house. Fate played a hand for me then, I'm certain.

Didn't know anything at all about it in Chalong, until Mother-in-law rang to inform us at 2pm. Then, I turned the TV on, and found all sh1t breaking loose 10km away from me.

[madmitch]

I had returned to England for Christmas and received the news via a phone call from the GF at about 2:30am.

It was another three hours before the BBC first made mention of a quake off Sumatra, as I spent most of the rest of the night/early morning waiting for some news.

Went back to bed and woke up to find blanket coverage on just about every TV channel.