On a sunny day in November, local residents, children and young people gathered at Ban Koh Phi Phi School to play and compete in Koh Phi Phi's major football tournament. Playing football had kept Kwanrudee Kaphokla and her teammates close. But what kept them closer was the difficult moments they shared during the tsunami that devastated their island 10 years ago, when Kwanrudee was 13.
Kwanrudee Kaphokla stands in front of a picture in her aunt’s house depicting Koh Phi Phi in the wake of the tsunami.
"On that morning, some of us were right here playing football," said the now-23-year-old Kwanrudee, recalling one of the deadliest disasters in Thailand's history. "Luckily, we managed to escape and everyone on our team survived."
The tsunami, which struck Thailand's Andaman coastline on Dec 26, 2004, killed more than 5,300 people in Thailand, with some 2,800 others missing. The giant waves hit the heart of Koh Phi Phi, swept away houses and killed more than 1,300 local villagers and tourists. The island, one of Thailand's most popular beach resorts, was covered in ruins, debris and corpses.
"Ten years have passed, but the memory of the tsunami never goes away," Kwanrudee said, her voice shaking. "I remembered I heard people shouting that a big wave was coming. At first, I ran towards the ocean. But then I changed my mind and started following everyone up the hill. It was chaos. People were looking for their loved ones. There were dead bodies everywhere and adults were covering children's eyes with their hands so they didn't see them."
Kwanrudee did not lose any immediate family, but her home and the family's restaurant were completely destroyed. Some of her relatives were killed, including a two-year-old cousin who was pulled out of her mother's arms by the force of the wave. The massive devastation led the government to temporarily close off the island and evacuate local residents to mainland Krabi province.
After the tsunami, Kwanrudee and her family members spent a year living in a temporary shelter in Krabi. Various organisations, including Unicef, provided emergency assistance such as shelter, safe drinking water and food for the survivors. Toys, books, stationery and sports equipment were sent to affected children, while psychosocial activities were organised to help them cope with the loss.
"I talked to other children, asked them how they felt and told them to write it down," said Kwanrudee, referring to a recreational activity organised by Unicef. "It made me feel better and I could understand those children because we were in the same situation. We lost everything. But what can we do? It's already gone. We just had to start again."
One thing that kept Kwanrudee and her friends going was football. Playing the sport helped ease their suffering. Throughout the year, the Koh Phi Phi team members kept playing and practicing together, and their efforts finally paid off.
"I think it was because we all survived and kept playing football, so other people started to pay attention to us," Kwanrudee said. "Many reporters came to interview us and then a lot of people started to offer their help."
From a small team that nobody had heard of, the Koh Phi Phi team became known as the young survivors team. The children had a chance to play at national and international tournaments. They were offered scholarships and Kwanrudee later played for one of the best regional school teams. Some of her teammates later joined the national football team. In the aftermath of the tsunami, they became an inspiration for other children on Koh Phi Phi.
"I think what we got was an opportunity," Samruay Chomchoei, the team's coach, said. "The tsunami was actually a turning point in their lives."
Nine students at Ban Koh Phi Phi School were killed by the tsunami. The school itself was badly damaged by the tsunami. All of its 180 students, from kindergarten to grade nine, were transferred to other schools on mainland Krabi and nearby provinces, where they were teased by other students and called "tsunami kids".
Meanwhile, Koh Phi Phi school received support from several organisations on reconstruction and learning materials so that children could return to school.
To address water shortage problems, Unicef helped improve the water distribution system so that children had enough safe drinking water. On Nov 1, almost a year after the tsunami, the school was able to reopen. Forty-eight students returned.
"The children were very happy when the school reopened and more kept returning," said school principal Weerawat Chaokaew, adding that today there are 117 students who attend the school.
"Here, nobody called them 'tsunami kids'," he continued. "The children felt safe and secure. They stayed at the school playing until it got dark. Their parents would leave them here while they worked overtime to regain their livelihoods. School was a refuge for the children as they gradually returned to normality."
Today, hotels, guest houses, shops and restaurants have been rebuilt. Tourists from around the world arrive in ferries and speedboats to sample the island's impressive limestone cliffs and white sandy beaches. A decade after the tsunami, life is back to normal on Koh Phi Phi.
But talking about the tsunami is still an emotional subject for the island's residents.
"I'm still afraid of it," said Kwanrudee's 54-year-old mother, Yara Haphonkla, as her eyes began to fill with tears. "I remember coming back here three months after the tsunami to help clean up the island. I could still smell the dead bodies."
For many children, large-scale disasters can have a long-term psychological impact, which may only dissipate years afterwards.
"In the end, many children affected by the tsunami did not finish school, especially those who lost one or both parents," Weerawat said. "Many families could not cope with the loss. There was nobody for the children to hold on to."
Although the support in the aftermath of the tsunami brought her new opportunities in life, this could not make up for what Kwanrudee had lost.
"Without the tsunami, our football team would not have come this far," she said. "But if I could change the past, I wish the tsunami had never happened at all."
Students at Ban Koh Phi Phi School brush their teeth after lunch. With an improved water distribution system, the school no longer faces water shortages.
A kindergarten student at Ban Koh Phi Phi School, which was damaged by the 2004 tsunami.
Today, 10 years after the tsunami, Koh Phi Phi is packed with tourists from around the world.
