"After a week Pon and I went back to Bangkok having lost absolutely everything except our lives and my bank account and a pair of my shoes that we found later upon our return to the island which I proudly still wear today! The owner of the resort was at a loss of what to do next and asked me and Pon to return to the island after a weekтАЩs rest to assess the situation and advise him on the next steps to be taken. We spent three weeks there living like hermits on a deserted beach, no water, no electricity only debris and a million mosquitoes. We had to dig for everything we needed to survive and make life livable. After assessing the damage it was obvious that rebuilding would require massive clearing and reshaping of the grounds as the tidal waters had created massive channels and lakes where the resort had once been. We had to tell the owner that it would require a huge investment and an almost impossible logistical task to rebuild. After advising the owner of this we gave up. Pon was dead scared being there amongst the spirits of the dead and I had had enough of living from bottled water. There was no hope of any future development for a long time.

Now we are back in Bangkok. Pon and I are starting life all over again at O..HoтАжRestaurant; but still remember with horror the tsunami and thanking our respective Gods for the good fortune of life. And those who did not make it may they rest in peace away from the fears of this world. " extract - link to full article

http://www.spicemag.net/?page=articles&(page)=14wavefromhell

A friend told me how impressed he was with this article on the Phuket tsunami. I realised that I had skipped it and so I read it. It is an intense personal recollection of the huge drama of the day and written with heartaching compassion. I was so surprised to find in the last paragraph that it was the owner of O Ho Restaurant (off Bangkok's Soi Ngam Duphli) who was the author.

Whilst on the topic - do yourself a kindness and have abrowse around STICKY's website it is blossoming and crammed with information and amusements. The maps are a visitor must. Now we have both that and the old Sticky Rice website still meandering along.

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