Kata Beach, Phuket, Thailand

Phuket is Thailand's most famous and popular tourist destination.  It became popular in the 1970s with backpackers and by the 1980s hotels and resorts were everywhere. 

Then, in 2004, Phuket was hard hit by the tsunami.  Tsunamis in this area are rare and there was no warning system in place at the time.  One of the characteristics of a tsunami is that the water will recede drastically from the shoreline.  This happened here in Phuket.  The water went out 100 metres for 5 minutes and people flooded down to the shore to check out all the fish flopping on the beach.  Then, the first wave hit, catching people off guard.  Most people didn't know that more, larger waves follow the first one and they ventured down to the beach to see what was happening.  Three more waves followed that first one, causing thousands of people to be swept to their death. 

The critical timeline of the Tsunami that hit Thailand was:
* 7:58a.m Earthquake off west coast of Sumatra measured at 9.3 on the Richter Scale.
* 9:35a.m. Sea receded to 100 meters from the Phuket coastline & islands for around 5 minutes.
* 9:38a.m. Large wave strikes, 2-3 meters high.
* 9:43a.m. First tsunami strikes - 6-7 meters high.
* 10:03a.m. Second tsunami strikes up to 10 meters high.
* 10:20a.m. Third tsunami strikes, 5 meters high - creates hour long inundation of all coastal areas.
* 1200p.m. Sea level returns to normal.
Now, Thailand has a warning system in place. 
Our hotel, The Avista, is at the top of a very high, steep hill, and so is the tsunami safety location.  So, as we huff and puff and sweat our way up this incline we remind ourselves that at least we will be safe if another tsunami hits Phuket.




Steeper than it looks.  The telephone poles are on an angle.


Elephants live in Thailand, and just prior to the tsunami, many elephants broke their chains and headed for high ground.  Scientists suggest that elephants have sensors in their feet and that they could detect the underground rumbling (still didn't help warn people though).  Elephants were used to help rescue people and move the heavy debris left after the tsunami. 
We heard a really loud trumpeting noise from our hotel balcony.  This noise kept up and we didn't know what it was.  Al thought it might be an elephant and sure enough, it was.  We went exploring and we found a small building with an elephant tied to the front of it.  This is metres away from our hotel!

Look just behind the chickens on the perch-there's the backside of an elephant.

Here in Phuket we are enjoying the beach.  This feels like a real vacation-sand, sun, surf, good food.  We've taken a boat ride to an offshore island and tomorrow we're going on a snorkeling tour of three different islands. 

View of the pool from our balcony

Al helping the chef cook up some Pad Thai



Longtail boat plying the water between islands

Getting around Thailand.

Scooters rush to the front at every light

Helmets for adults






Family scooter




Workers sitting on the back of a flat bed truck