Phang Nga - Boxing Day Tsunami

Today, a 10 cm high tsunami hit Thailand's Andaman coast. How a 10 cm tsunami is distinguishable from a 10 cm high normal wave I don't know. But I know that the Boxing Day tsunami waves were easy to spot.

At that faithful day in 2004, I was at Ao Nang, Krabi. Due to a stroke of luck, I was half an hour late for an appointment to go on a day tour in sea-kayaks.

As I was rushing down the hill to get to the meeting point at the beach, people were running up the hill. When I came down to the beach, I saw people walking around in a daze. The beach road was wet and filled with debris from shattered long tails boats and washed out shops.

Is that a tsunami out there?

That was in Ao Nang where the three tsunami waves were relatively small – crests of only 2-3 meters - compared to the waves that hit Khao Lak, Phang Nga.

The photos in this blog were shot at the Khao Lak beach called Bang Niang. The interesting thing is the similarities between these photos and what I heard / saw in Ao Nang.

At first. people see the water recede, but don’t think much about it. Some even follow the receding water.
Then there is a wave coming, but again people don’t pay much attention – probably because the water/shore line is now so far away. Then the wave comes closer - it doesn't look tall, but it does look more “violent” and powerful than the normal waves.

Hmm, that wave is bigger than it looked

Then as the wave roars towards the beach, people suddenly realize that it is not a good idea to stand around like a dummy. But in Khao Lak, most people realized this too late and didn’t get off the beach alive.

The tsunami wave on these photos looks deceptively small; it was the first of three waves. As I remember from Ao Nang, the third wave was the largest.

Notice the two navy patrol vessels in the photo above. The largest of these vessels ended up three kilometers inland at the foot of the hills, i.e., basically at the furthest point the waves reached.

Tsunami waters flood Khao Lak

The whole Bang Niang are was flattened as water height reached six meters. Many of the small family-owned resorts were not insured. The owners either drowned or survived but were unable to repay their bank loans and big business subsequently moved in.

The last photo was taken two weeks after the tsunami and shows what was left - basically nothing. The place was rebuilt (still called Chong Fah Resort) by the original owners.

In the Khao Lak area, I used to stay near Laem Pakarang at a family-owned resort (Pakarang Beach Cottage) and enjoyed the wonderful beach and personal service. However, this family were among the victims. After the tsunami, a Best Western holiday complex totally dominates Pakarang beach. The charm is gone.