In Khao Lak

Last Sunday, ponteng church to go to Khao Lak. Well, for those who followed the tsunami news, you'll definitly know where it is. For those who are totally blur, here's a brief decsription. Khao Lak is located on the mainland of Thailand, almost 2 hours drive north of Phuket island. It was badly hit by the tsunami, much worse than Phuket, though the media highlighted Phuket.

As we traveled up north from Phuket, we didn't see anything unusual. But once we hit the beach area we could see what was left of the disaster. Both sides of the road were flatten, with no vegetation except for the cocunut trees and other trees. Minus the trees, the whole strecth was like a dessert, all covered with soil and sand... The buildings all tumbled, leaving the foundation. Some stronger buildings withstood it... but only the pillars and roof were left.

Along the way, we saw some cars left overturned. And also a marine ship, swept to land almost 1km from the shoreline.

It is hard to describe with words especially the situation in a fishing village were almost 5000 people perished or missing. This fishing village was visited by former US presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush Sr. If only I could upload some photos. The whole village was in a mess with lagoons here and there, which I believe was cause by the tsunami. An island about 100m from the shoreline totally submerged, leaving a brown patch in the sea.

We saw some temporary shelters. Some were just mere tents. Some were made from plywood and had zinc roofs. There is a project supported by the King of Thailand were the houses were made totally of zinc and stood on stilts on ground.

Khao Lak started developing only 2 years ago. Its such a pity that its destroyed so fast.