People in provinces along Thailand’s Andaman coast held remembrance events on Thursday to mark the 20th anniversary of the 2004 tsunami that killed 230,000 people across Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and nine other countries.
Remembrance and religious ceremonies took place at Mai Khao Cemetery and on Patong beach in Phuket, at the Tsunami Memorial Park at Ban Nam Khem in Phangnga, and at the Sailfish Sculpture on Ao Nang beach in Krabi.
At the Mai Khao Cemetery, local and foreign mourners observed a minute’s silence. Merit-making ceremonies performed according to Buddhist, Islamic and Christian rites were followed by the laying of flowers at a wall of the memorial park.
Wasawat Hongsasupasakul, deputy chairman of the Mai Khao Tambon Administrative Organisation, read a message from Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra to mark National Disaster Prevention Day, which falls on Dec 26.
Ronny Karlsen, a Norwegian man who survived the 2004 tsunami, said he had learned about the event and wanted to participate to remember those who perished.
“Things that happened on that day still remain in my memory,” he said.
Noi Rakthong, a 52-year-old Thai woman, said she and her Norwegian husband owned a restaurant on Karon beach when the tsunami struck 20 years ago. They returned to Phuket for a holiday and were taking part in the ceremony to make merit for friends who were killed by the giant waves.
“Our Norwegian friends and customers died in the tsunami. After the incident, we moved to live in Norway,” Mrs Noi said. “Although the incident occurred 20 years ago, our memories remain the same.”
In Krabi, guests handed metal wreaths and garlands to divers who placed them at an underwater tsunami memorial on the seabed in Tonsai Bay, about one kilometre off Koh Phi Phi Don.
In Phangnga, more than 1,000 survivors and relatives of victims from five other Andaman provinces — Ranong, Phuket, Krabi, Trang and Satun — as well as from foreign countries attended a religious ceremony and had breakfast at the Ban Nam Khem Tsunami Memorial Park. This year’s ceremony attracted the highest number of participants ever.
A candlelight vigil is also scheduled at the memorial park at 7pm Thursday. (Story continues below)
A woman visits the wave-shaped monument for the victims of the 2004 tsunami in Ban Nam Khem, a fishing village destroyed by the wave that struck Phangnga, during a ceremony on Dec 26. (Photo: Reuters)
‘The sea took my daughter’
Urai Sirisuk, who lost her 4-year-old daughter, was among the hundreds visiting the Tsunami Wall to pay their respects to lost loved ones.
“I felt that the waves took my daughter away, I was so mad at it,” said Ms Urai, now 62. She said she would not go near the sea, just 50 metres away.
“I cannot bring myself to go near it, not even to put my feet in the sand. I wouldn’t come around here if not necessary, never. The sea took my daughter from me,” she said.
Phangnga was one of Thailand’s hardest-hit provinces, with the disaster claiming 5,400 lives there, including many foreign tourists.
A two-day academic forum also opened on Thursday at the Khao Lak Marriott Beach Resort & Spa to strengthen cooperation and share knowledge among local and international experts from the public, private and civil society sectors.
The focus is on five key topics: public health and emergency medical services; national warning systems, research and innovation; promoting community immunity to natural disasters; and the development of sustainably safe cities.
The tsunami on Dec 26, 2004 was triggered by a 9.1 magnitude quake off the coast of Aceh province in Indonesia, sending waves as high as 17.4 metres slamming into coastlines of Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and nine other countries.
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