Tsunami First Hand

Here is an update from my friend Jason who is living in Thailand (there is a post from him earlier in my blog...Post election time):

Sawasdee bi Mai, or happy new year from Thailand, no longer the land of smiles... It's our second day back to school in Bangkok, and everyone still seems to be regrouping and trying to focus on education once more, after the insane events of the last two weeks. Almost miraculously, out of the almost 3,000 students and teachers at our school, there seems to be not a single death... Incredible when considering that scores of teachers and students were vacationing along the coasts of Thailand, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and other places. The last two days have been filled with incredible tales of fortune and survival, and I can't tell you how many people have "near miss" stories, where they were "supposed" to have been in one of the places hit hard by the wave.

One good friend who I celebrated new years with had been on Phi Phi island, where there are only two hotels left standing of dozens that had been there... she and her sister wanted to be on a boat on the morning of the 26th off the island so they could get on their late morning flight, but the hotel had recommended she leave the island the evening of the 25th so she would be sure not to miss her flight. The next morning the hotel was washed out to sea.

Another friend I just ate lunch with had been visiting Khao Lak, the area worst hit in Thailand (over 1500 dead on the 8 km beach) and he and his wife (my boss) were disappointed when all the rooms on the beach had been booked so they had to settle for a hotel 50 meters up the side of the hill. On the morning of the 26th he was sitting on his balcony when the waves rolled in, manged to snap several pictures of the four waves as they swept two km inland, and witnessed tourists and Thais being pulled out to sea to their deaths, helplessly watching from above.

Another friend, also a new teacher, had been in the Maldives (average elevation, 1 meter above sea level) laying on the beach on the morning of the 26th, and when the tide suddenly receeded, he knew exactly what was happening. He grabbed his confused girlfriend and raced to the center of the tiny island, just as the wave swept over the entire island... they held onto palm trees as the water rose to their knees, pushing debris from the hotel all the way across the island and out to sea!

A teacher that Liz works with was in Krabi on a climbing vacation, hundreds died there, and she is still not talking about what she experienced, we can only guess how horrible it must have been...

The more teachers I talk to, the more stories like this I keep hearing... and the more I'm convinced that there must be some higher power watching over us here, because it's really incredible that everyone came back alive and uninjured... In the last week, we have received messages of concern from so many of our wonderful friends, and it is very touching that you all thought of us when this happened. We are fine, but Thailand and our neighbors have a long way to go to recover from this event. In the last week, it has been so incredible to see the effort that so many nations are extending to help bring relief to this region, it's truly an impressive show of support from the whole world.