Can anyone share their stories of near misses of the 2004 tsunami in Thailand?
I stayed at Kamala Bay on Phuket Island, Thailand but left four days before the wave hit in December 2004.
I was snorkeling off an island off Ko Phi Phi. think it was called Phi Phi Lei. Just got off the boat and the currents started and I looked up and the beach was gone and then the beach was in my face. got smashed up on the island and started climbing up the rocks and cliffs to get to higher ground. Went back down because one kid was crying about her mother, and the second wave took me out again and bounced me off one of the cliff faces in the bay. Made it back to shore (kids mom was standing on shore, perfectly ok) and started to climb again. To make a long story short, some local thai people and some other tourists huddled together for a few hours (no hotels or phones on this island) untill the dive boat came back and took us all back to the hospital in Krabi.
Raw Tsunami Video Phuket Thailand 2004