Asia's Worst Disaster
...Back from Phuket
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
It's really hear-breaking to hear these
stories when everyone should be merry in celebration of the Christ's birth. I've
known Rita since my stint as Liaison head in 2001 through ECOSOC's alumni
e-group. She vividly describes her own experience when that devastating tsunami
hit Phuket, Thailand. She was there spending the holidays with her husband and
their little daughter.
Here are some images captured by Bunan's (Rita's
husband) lens.
Let's pray for the victims and their families...
**********
Hello everyone!
We got back here in HK - safe and sound - last night
at around 9 pm after leaving Phuket at 1 pm. Flights
were delayed (as can be expected) from Phuket and then
again from the stopover in Bangkok.
I wanted to email last night but I simply couldn't get
myself to start typing anything. Strangely, I couldn't
actually sleep.
We arrived in Phuket on Dec 23. For several days, we
started our day late coz we slept late and woke up
late. But on the 26th, our plan was to wake up really
early and head for the beach immediately.
As God planned it, Gari couldn't be forced to wake up
that day. I woke up early but was feeling really lazy
anyway so I just stayed in bed. Bunan was still
asleep.
At around 8:30 am, I felt our bed shaking very hard. I
thought Gari and Bunan were playing a prank on me and
shaking the bed, but they weren't. When I told Bunan I
thought there was an earthquake (the bed was still
shaking while I was telling him), he said I was just
imagining things. Being so lazy, all I could do was
take a token look outside our resort balcony ... when
I saw that people were walking around as usual, I
thought that perhaps I was indeed imagining things.
(Later on, after everything happened, while talking to
tourists, we realized that so many of us felt the
earthquake but dismissed it when our partners/friends
said we were imagining things. Even the staff
downplayed the early signs (the earthquake) and
attributed the movement to the strong gusts of wind
that were rocking the resort. The shaking of the bed
finally forced me to rouse Bunan and Gari so we could
go down to have breakfast in the open-air ground floor
restaurant (150 meters from the shoreline) so we can
head to the beach and start our day. Gari and I were
even planning to rent a raft again (as we did the
previous day) and ride the waves. Imagine that! God
was whispering in our ear that we should be lazy that
day. Had we been in the beach as Gari and I excitedly
planned, I don't know what kind of story I would be
telling now. (The previous day, I was even pushing
Gari out to sea on the raft and letting her paddle her
way back by herself using her arms).
Surreal is the best way to describe the feeling I had
when the next events transpired. I know that word is
used too often. But this time, it's totally
appropriate.
At around 9:15 am to maybe 10 am (we didn't have
watches), we were having breakfast. We were at the end
of dessert when we saw lots of people (maybe 50
people) running towards us. Gari and I stood up, at
first amused at the sight (for one or two seconds).
Then when we saw their shocked faces, in my case, for
some reason, the first thing that entered my mind was
there could be a rebel or terrorist attack, like maybe
there were rebels coming from the sea bearing machine
guns. Take note that this is all a matter of seconds.
So on one side, you have people running towards us and
then you have us (the people in the resort) who didn't
know what was going on. For some reason, just seeing
those people running towards us didn't make us run
automatically. I guess its human nature to be curious.
In our case, we wanted to know what they were running
away from. Then after a few seconds, we saw the water
rising past the tall coconut trees and beachfront
restaurants that were obstructing our view and rushing
towards us. That's when we (the people in the resort)
finally ran for our lives. From the moment we first
saw the people running towards us to the moment that
we ourselves scrambled that was less than 10 seconds.
Very fast.
Since it wasn't clear to us what was going on
(earthquake or tsunami?) it wasn't immediately clear
to us what we should do. First we ran away from the
beach but stayed on the ground (we're always told that
during earthquakes, it's better to stay on the ground
rather than go up a building).
We stayed together and stayed near the driveway of the
resort, ready to make a run for it. People were
running around, some were screaming, others were
obviously in shock and staring into space while
running. Lots of people had wounds on their feet,
knees, hands, arms, elbows (that was a common sight
yesterday!) The three of us were just quiet, standing
there near the driveway, quietly thinking. Gari was
quietly holding on to my hand.
Then after about three to five minutes, things seem to
have settled down. No more running or screaming.
So we thought everything had indeed settled down and
Bunan, Gari and I went back to the area where we were
having breakfast to see what happened.
Then we saw what was once such a beautiful garden and
beachfront turned into a debris-filled swamp.
We tried to help (I had lots of cotton and band-aids
in my bag and Gari and I walked around giving cotton
and band-aids to the wounded - as if the band-aids
would help! But we just felt like we needed to help!)
So many people were bloody. Then there were tourists
and locals being carried, some were unconscious while
others were in shock while others were badly wounded
and couldn't walk. One unconscious woman was carried
right past Gari and she asked me: "Mommy is she dead?'
I just said, "no, she fainted" so she wouldn't be
scared.
In my case, I preferred that we stayed there where
everyone was - believing there was power in numbers.
BUT, after about five minutes of calm after the first
incident, we saw the waters rising again and people
running again towards us. Bunan was far from us,
taking pictures, and I knew he could take care of
himself, so Gari and I ran. At this point, since we
already knew it was a tsunami, we all ran to the upper
floors of the resort. Gari and I ended up in the sixth
floor balcony, where we saw the water rushing inwards
on the ground, flattening everything that was in its
way. There were so many women who had a breakdown
(screaming for their husbands who were probably on the
beach, shaking, pacing) and seeing and hearing that,
Gari cried and said "Mommy, I don't want us to die.
Where's daddy? I want my daddy."
Gari and I stayed put even when the waters stopped
rising (because we didn't really know if it was over).
Then Bunan found us. We went to our room to quickly
get our passports, tickets, water and wanted to be
ready to evacuate at a moment's notice.
Our resort was very efficient. At that point, they
parked their vans and small truck on the driveway
(which was luckily elevated), ready to evacuate us.
BUT since they weren't sure if evacuating us was a
good idea (we would have to pass through the flooded
road and there might be more tsunamis), they didn't
really enforce the evacuation. It became a matter of
individual discretion. We decided to stay put thinking
that the resort would take care of us if something
happened to us while we were in the resort - and no
one would really feel responsible to help us if we got
washed away on the road.
But we stayed ready to go at all times and only felt
truly safe at around 2 pm. By that time, I realized
that my arms and legs were also shaking. I didn't even
realize it until then. You know, to be honest, part of
the reason I texted some people was to make it known
that we were there, so someone would look for us in
case we died.
Bunan and I and even Gari didn't panic while
everything was going on. BUT, we had to think
fast-forward, think of options and choose which option
was best.
Our resort was 7 storeys high and made of concrete and
was among the few that weren't totally devastated.
What was destroyed in our resort (Club Andaman) were
the rustic-type wooden cottages on the ground level.
There were tuktuks, cars, pick-up trucks, billboards,
concrete slabs, everything and anything in the
cottages of our resort. For tourists who were staying
in the cottages, they lost everything they owned. In
the height of the panic, we saw this woman carrying
the safety deposit box from their room - her husband
yanked it off because their passports were there. Of
course, the pool area, the garden, everything on the
ground in the beachfront was destroyed.
They say close to a 1,000 died in Thailand. But if you
look at the aftermath, it's really a miraculous wonder
how so many of us survived unhurt.
Around 2 pm, when we thought it was safe, I ventured
towards the beach by myself to see what happened and
take pictures (Bunan and I took turns coz we didn't
want Gari anywhere near the beach anymore, obviously.)
What I saw was shocking - cars, boats, jet skis,
lounge chairs, luggages, tvs, refs, billboards,
concrete slabs everywhere around you.
The thousands of wooden lounge chairs, food stalls,
carts, massage tents, etc on the beach were gone,
completely swept away. The concrete breakwater was
destroyed, very old and strong trees were uprooted.
The Starbucks, Savoey sea food restaurant, and Haagen
Dazs where we ate the day before were wiped out. The
bag, shoes, Warner Brothers stores were we shopped the
day before were wiped out. The 7-11 where we always
bought water was wiped out (this was scary coz it was
such a small 7-11 and it was so hard to walk around
the store. I can't imagine what happened to the people
who were inside that 7-11 store).
On a positive note, the Thai people are remarkably
resilient and truly nice people. (I have long felt
that Thai people are the nicest among those I've
encountered in all our travels, but this time I
definitely reached that conclusion!)
In all the chaos and in the aftermath of the chaos,
they weren't shouting at each other or at us or
anything like that. They were mostly smiling while
helping out and answering questions even in the rush.
The policemen were so calm, telling us ever so nicely
to please go to higher grounds. No one was being
rough.
During dinner time, the restaurant staff (a skeleton
staff) were there, feeding us.
The guards and other staff of the resorts (ours and
the other resorts) were still being nice to the
tourists and were ready to provide good service. They
were opening doors for us, raising wires that were
blocking our way, removing debris that we might step
on - I wanted to tell them, "stop taking care of us!"
It was as if it was in their system to be naturally
hospitable (even in the wake of a disaster!).
When we finally got to the airport yesterday morning,
there were so many people there ... many trying to get
a flight out. There were tourists (maybe around 30 of
them) who still had fresh wounds. So I have a feeling
they went straight to the airport as soon as they
could and have been waiting there the whole time ...
they didn't even have bandages on their wounds. They
were huddled, crying, in shock. They had other people
caring for them.
The lines were so long in the airport counters, people
looked tired and eager to get out. Then when our time
at the counter came, we were just stone-faced waiting
for the Thai Airways staff to give us our boarding
passes. Then, the Thai Airways staff said: "Sir, you
requested for vegetarian and child meal?" Bunan and I
looked at each other, amazed at how this Thai Airways
staff could still be so nice, talk to us about our
meals. I don't think we even answered him, we were too
surprised that he even asked.
Bunan and I are actually determined to go back to
Phuket one day ... but not with Gari (she says she
doesn't want to go back there ever).
Rita
We got back here in HK - safe and sound - last night
at around 9 pm after leaving Phuket at 1 pm. Flights
were delayed (as can be expected) from Phuket and then
again from the stopover in Bangkok.
I wanted to email last night but I simply couldn't get
myself to start typing anything. Strangely, I couldn't
actually sleep.
We arrived in Phuket on Dec 23. For several days, we
started our day late coz we slept late and woke up
late. But on the 26th, our plan was to wake up really
early and head for the beach immediately.
As God planned it, Gari couldn't be forced to wake up
that day. I woke up early but was feeling really lazy
anyway so I just stayed in bed. Bunan was still
asleep.
At around 8:30 am, I felt our bed shaking very hard. I
thought Gari and Bunan were playing a prank on me and
shaking the bed, but they weren't. When I told Bunan I
thought there was an earthquake (the bed was still
shaking while I was telling him), he said I was just
imagining things. Being so lazy, all I could do was
take a token look outside our resort balcony ... when
I saw that people were walking around as usual, I
thought that perhaps I was indeed imagining things.
(Later on, after everything happened, while talking to
tourists, we realized that so many of us felt the
earthquake but dismissed it when our partners/friends
said we were imagining things. Even the staff
downplayed the early signs (the earthquake) and
attributed the movement to the strong gusts of wind
that were rocking the resort. The shaking of the bed
finally forced me to rouse Bunan and Gari so we could
go down to have breakfast in the open-air ground floor
restaurant (150 meters from the shoreline) so we can
head to the beach and start our day. Gari and I were
even planning to rent a raft again (as we did the
previous day) and ride the waves. Imagine that! God
was whispering in our ear that we should be lazy that
day. Had we been in the beach as Gari and I excitedly
planned, I don't know what kind of story I would be
telling now. (The previous day, I was even pushing
Gari out to sea on the raft and letting her paddle her
way back by herself using her arms).
Surreal is the best way to describe the feeling I had
when the next events transpired. I know that word is
used too often. But this time, it's totally
appropriate.
At around 9:15 am to maybe 10 am (we didn't have
watches), we were having breakfast. We were at the end
of dessert when we saw lots of people (maybe 50
people) running towards us. Gari and I stood up, at
first amused at the sight (for one or two seconds).
Then when we saw their shocked faces, in my case, for
some reason, the first thing that entered my mind was
there could be a rebel or terrorist attack, like maybe
there were rebels coming from the sea bearing machine
guns. Take note that this is all a matter of seconds.
So on one side, you have people running towards us and
then you have us (the people in the resort) who didn't
know what was going on. For some reason, just seeing
those people running towards us didn't make us run
automatically. I guess its human nature to be curious.
In our case, we wanted to know what they were running
away from. Then after a few seconds, we saw the water
rising past the tall coconut trees and beachfront
restaurants that were obstructing our view and rushing
towards us. That's when we (the people in the resort)
finally ran for our lives. From the moment we first
saw the people running towards us to the moment that
we ourselves scrambled that was less than 10 seconds.
Very fast.
Since it wasn't clear to us what was going on
(earthquake or tsunami?) it wasn't immediately clear
to us what we should do. First we ran away from the
beach but stayed on the ground (we're always told that
during earthquakes, it's better to stay on the ground
rather than go up a building).
We stayed together and stayed near the driveway of the
resort, ready to make a run for it. People were
running around, some were screaming, others were
obviously in shock and staring into space while
running. Lots of people had wounds on their feet,
knees, hands, arms, elbows (that was a common sight
yesterday!) The three of us were just quiet, standing
there near the driveway, quietly thinking. Gari was
quietly holding on to my hand.
Then after about three to five minutes, things seem to
have settled down. No more running or screaming.
So we thought everything had indeed settled down and
Bunan, Gari and I went back to the area where we were
having breakfast to see what happened.
Then we saw what was once such a beautiful garden and
beachfront turned into a debris-filled swamp.
We tried to help (I had lots of cotton and band-aids
in my bag and Gari and I walked around giving cotton
and band-aids to the wounded - as if the band-aids
would help! But we just felt like we needed to help!)
So many people were bloody. Then there were tourists
and locals being carried, some were unconscious while
others were in shock while others were badly wounded
and couldn't walk. One unconscious woman was carried
right past Gari and she asked me: "Mommy is she dead?'
I just said, "no, she fainted" so she wouldn't be
scared.
In my case, I preferred that we stayed there where
everyone was - believing there was power in numbers.
BUT, after about five minutes of calm after the first
incident, we saw the waters rising again and people
running again towards us. Bunan was far from us,
taking pictures, and I knew he could take care of
himself, so Gari and I ran. At this point, since we
already knew it was a tsunami, we all ran to the upper
floors of the resort. Gari and I ended up in the sixth
floor balcony, where we saw the water rushing inwards
on the ground, flattening everything that was in its
way. There were so many women who had a breakdown
(screaming for their husbands who were probably on the
beach, shaking, pacing) and seeing and hearing that,
Gari cried and said "Mommy, I don't want us to die.
Where's daddy? I want my daddy."
Gari and I stayed put even when the waters stopped
rising (because we didn't really know if it was over).
Then Bunan found us. We went to our room to quickly
get our passports, tickets, water and wanted to be
ready to evacuate at a moment's notice.
Our resort was very efficient. At that point, they
parked their vans and small truck on the driveway
(which was luckily elevated), ready to evacuate us.
BUT since they weren't sure if evacuating us was a
good idea (we would have to pass through the flooded
road and there might be more tsunamis), they didn't
really enforce the evacuation. It became a matter of
individual discretion. We decided to stay put thinking
that the resort would take care of us if something
happened to us while we were in the resort - and no
one would really feel responsible to help us if we got
washed away on the road.
But we stayed ready to go at all times and only felt
truly safe at around 2 pm. By that time, I realized
that my arms and legs were also shaking. I didn't even
realize it until then. You know, to be honest, part of
the reason I texted some people was to make it known
that we were there, so someone would look for us in
case we died.
Bunan and I and even Gari didn't panic while
everything was going on. BUT, we had to think
fast-forward, think of options and choose which option
was best.
Our resort was 7 storeys high and made of concrete and
was among the few that weren't totally devastated.
What was destroyed in our resort (Club Andaman) were
the rustic-type wooden cottages on the ground level.
There were tuktuks, cars, pick-up trucks, billboards,
concrete slabs, everything and anything in the
cottages of our resort. For tourists who were staying
in the cottages, they lost everything they owned. In
the height of the panic, we saw this woman carrying
the safety deposit box from their room - her husband
yanked it off because their passports were there. Of
course, the pool area, the garden, everything on the
ground in the beachfront was destroyed.
They say close to a 1,000 died in Thailand. But if you
look at the aftermath, it's really a miraculous wonder
how so many of us survived unhurt.
Around 2 pm, when we thought it was safe, I ventured
towards the beach by myself to see what happened and
take pictures (Bunan and I took turns coz we didn't
want Gari anywhere near the beach anymore, obviously.)
What I saw was shocking - cars, boats, jet skis,
lounge chairs, luggages, tvs, refs, billboards,
concrete slabs everywhere around you.
The thousands of wooden lounge chairs, food stalls,
carts, massage tents, etc on the beach were gone,
completely swept away. The concrete breakwater was
destroyed, very old and strong trees were uprooted.
The Starbucks, Savoey sea food restaurant, and Haagen
Dazs where we ate the day before were wiped out. The
bag, shoes, Warner Brothers stores were we shopped the
day before were wiped out. The 7-11 where we always
bought water was wiped out (this was scary coz it was
such a small 7-11 and it was so hard to walk around
the store. I can't imagine what happened to the people
who were inside that 7-11 store).
On a positive note, the Thai people are remarkably
resilient and truly nice people. (I have long felt
that Thai people are the nicest among those I've
encountered in all our travels, but this time I
definitely reached that conclusion!)
In all the chaos and in the aftermath of the chaos,
they weren't shouting at each other or at us or
anything like that. They were mostly smiling while
helping out and answering questions even in the rush.
The policemen were so calm, telling us ever so nicely
to please go to higher grounds. No one was being
rough.
During dinner time, the restaurant staff (a skeleton
staff) were there, feeding us.
The guards and other staff of the resorts (ours and
the other resorts) were still being nice to the
tourists and were ready to provide good service. They
were opening doors for us, raising wires that were
blocking our way, removing debris that we might step
on - I wanted to tell them, "stop taking care of us!"
It was as if it was in their system to be naturally
hospitable (even in the wake of a disaster!).
When we finally got to the airport yesterday morning,
there were so many people there ... many trying to get
a flight out. There were tourists (maybe around 30 of
them) who still had fresh wounds. So I have a feeling
they went straight to the airport as soon as they
could and have been waiting there the whole time ...
they didn't even have bandages on their wounds. They
were huddled, crying, in shock. They had other people
caring for them.
The lines were so long in the airport counters, people
looked tired and eager to get out. Then when our time
at the counter came, we were just stone-faced waiting
for the Thai Airways staff to give us our boarding
passes. Then, the Thai Airways staff said: "Sir, you
requested for vegetarian and child meal?" Bunan and I
looked at each other, amazed at how this Thai Airways
staff could still be so nice, talk to us about our
meals. I don't think we even answered him, we were too
surprised that he even asked.
Bunan and I are actually determined to go back to
Phuket one day ... but not with Gari (she says she
doesn't want to go back there ever).
Rita
