Affiliate Sites
938live TODAY
 Home
 Quick News
 Singapore
 Asia Pacific
 World
 Business
 Sports
 Technology
 Analysis
 Finance
 Forum
 Lifestyle
 Video
 TV Shows
 Weather
 About Us

   

TV Programmes
Programmes
Top 20 Programmes
Advertising Rates
 TV Guide
TV Guide for PDA
more »

Services
E-mail News
Mobile News
Newsbox
Events
eOffice

Classified Ads
Friendship
Garage Sale
Handphones
Property
Vehicles
 Place An Ad
more »

What's On
LKY Global Business Plan Competition
World Cup Contest Results
Experience Asia

 Bookmark
 As a Homepage


:: Main :: Photo Gallery :: All About Tsunamis :: Videos ::
:: Countries Hit - At A Glance :: First Hand Accounts ::
:: World's Deadliest Quakes :: World's Strongest Quakes ::
:: Send Condolences :: View Condolences :: How Can I Help? ::
:: Satellite Images of Affected Areas ::Singapore's Aid Efforts ::
:: Emergency Summit In Indonesia :: One Month On - Chronology of Events ::


FIRST HAND ACCOUNTS >>>
27-year-old Singaporean freelance actress April Kian sends us her first hand account via email.

Yes... I survived the killer waves aka tsunami during the day dated 26 Dec 2004. I just arrived with my friend to one of the more popular island Railay Beach, 15min boat ride from Ao Nang, Krabi. In less then 10min, before we had a chance to settle down, the first wave approaches.

People were screaming to the swimmers and kayakers. At first, I thought it was sharks, but sharks in shallow water?? or is it because its a private beach owned by the very expensive hotel, Rayavadee?

But as the 1st waves approaches, the smaller boat were overturned.. but the waves did not hit any beach-goers. In less than 10mins, a second , higher, fiercer waves approaches.

This time , the resort Manager ran out shouting "Everyone get into the hotel now!!" I was still standing, motionless, fascinated by the waves that I thought at that point would be a good surfing waves... but as the huge Chinese junk boats overturned, everyone knew then it was not a normal waves.

Chaos broke out as the entrance to the hotel was very small.. There were also alot of other smaller resort that is not build of bricks near to the open water.

My friend and I were very lucky as we were still standing inside the hotel ground, we started running towards the middle of the resort.. but there were also people running from the west side towards us.

So, most of us stayed in the middle of the resort which was the highest ground.. Children were crying, but overall, the situation was not as chaotic as those stuck in Khao Phi Phi or Phuket.

After 30min, the resort management ushered some 400 people, including people like me who did not stay in the hotel up the mountain. We did the best we could climbing up fast as we never know when the next waves will hit us. The locals (Thais) were the most self-sacrificing.. Giving the tourist like myself the headway towards the mountain..

Rayavadee Resort, known for its very expensive rooms, live up to their name as the best resort hotel in probably Thailand. After all the people are safety up on the mountains, the staff unstirred by the fact that there might be a third more powerful waves coming, started going back down to the resort... to bring all of us food and water.

My friends and I promise when we are back home, we will write emails thanking them.. We were then up on the mountains making phone calls back home... trying to stay calm... for the next 4-5 hours.. which seems like eternality...

After that, we thought the worst was over.. But what we saw on the ground was devastating.. Boats that were once the locals only means of livelihood, was destroyed beyond recognisition.. Street peddlers sellings sarongs and shells-made bracelet and necklaces lost their means of money for the entire month.. We were very fortunate that there were only 1one death (God rest his soul), and no serious injuries for the rest of the 400 people.

Another challenge came for a lot of us who came from neighbouring island Ao Nang, Krabi. There were no boats to take us back to the hotel.. Althought there was this very generous young couple that offered us their room to crash, my friend and i decided that it will be the last resort..

We needed to get back to our island, back to our hotel. For about 30min, we were wondering around, taking pictures and asking people on how to get back.. Finally, we saw alot of people, both tourist and locals, walking towards what it seems like endless road by the open water.

We heard.. it was low tide, thus there is a way to walk back to the Holy Land, which from there we could easily hitch a ride back to Ao Nang. The walk was not easy at all, as we were walking on mud and rocks.. and tons of dead fishes.

Another challenge came to us shortly as we heard the locals shouting. We managed to ask and found out that the high tide might come back anytime. We still did not see any dry land. My friend quickly grabbed the next life jacket he found and was holding it. It took us more than 3 hours and alot of pain to reach back the dry land, in time before the high tide came back for us...

We managed to survive that and also managed to get a flight out on Monday, where still countless number of tourist are sleeping and waiting by the airport, for the next available flight.

 Apple unveils new iPad Mini
 Suspected arsonist in Taiwan hospital fire detained
 New Bond film 'Skyfall' gets royal red carpet premiere
more »

  back to top ^
Affiliate Sites :CNA.tv |Teletext |TODAY |938LIVE |Radio Singapore International
News: Asia Pacific, Singapore, World, Business, Technology, Sports, Latest News, Headlines, Summary, 7 Day News Archive Finance: Currency Outlook, Unit Trusts Forum: Market Talk, Currency Talk, Futures Talk Information: Lifestyle, Newsbox, Events, Travel, TV Guide Weather: Singapore, Asia Pacific, World Services: Teletext, Chinese site, SMS News Alert, Video, Singapore Stock Monitor, E-mail News Alerts, Office Tools, Bookstore Singapore: 4D, TOTO, Singapore Sweep About Us: Contact Us, Terms & Conditions, Site Map

Copyright © MCN International Pte Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Use of this Site is subject to our terms and conditions of use.
Your continued use of this Site shall be construed as your agreement to abide by our terms and conditions of use.