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Tsunami in Phuket Thailand, December 2004

The tidal wave hit Phuket at approximately 9:45 am on December 26, 2004. I was surfing the internet in my bungalow at Rawai Muay Thai Camp. It was a hot sunny day and everything was normal until one of my Thai friends rang me to tell me "Big Wave come the beach!" I thought she was talking about good surfing conditions so I finished up what I was doing online, hopped on my bike and went to check out the surf at Nai Harn Beach.

The 3 km ride to Nai Harn beach was normal until I got 200 meters from the beach and saw deck chairs and beach umbrellas hanging in trees that were 100 meters from the beach. When I saw the deck chairs and beach umbrellas my first thought was wow it must have been a freak wave or somthing but when I got to the beach I could see a lot of boats anchored off shore. I was thinking they should be sunk if there had been a tidal wave, there were many boats anchored 100 meters from shore so my brain could not register that 20 minutes earlier there had been a tidal wave, a tsunami. The photos below are from the the next 2 hours hours of my day.

Photo taken 45 minutes after the tsunami. The photo was taken from the Wind Mill look out at Rawai, over looking Nai Harn beach. In the photo you can see all the boats in the bay. Many people were heading to high ground as there was talk of the possibility of another tidal wave.	Many of the students at Rawai Muay Thai Camp ride past this house on the way to Yanui Beach. The house is still the same today as it is in this photo. A reminder of Boxing Day (26 December) 2004 and of the many people that did not survive.
100 meters from Yanui Beach	Yanui Beach restaurant
100 meters from Yanui Beach	Yanui Bungalows - 200 meters from the beach
Main street of Patong - 1 hour after the Tidal Wave	Main street of Patong
Main street of Patong	Patong Beach
Main street of Patong	Main street of Patong
Main street of Patong	400 meters from the beach - Soi Bangla in Patong
Patong main street - 200 meters from the beach	Patong Beach - Phuket Thailand
Earthquake Reports	Earthquakes/ tsunamis with 1,000 or more deaths since 1900