Tsunami 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.