The morning of 26 December 2004 began quietly on Thailand’s west coast. But at 7:59am local time, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake off northern Sumatra triggered a tsunami that would devastate 14 countries and claim more than 225,000 lives.
Jirawan ‘Wan’ Chaisri, from northern Thailand, now living in Sydney, can distinctly recall the events of that day. At the time, she was a massage therapist preparing to open a shop in Ao Nang, Krabi, when she noticed something unusual. Credit: Supplied/Jirawan Chaisri “The water was so low.
You could see the ocean floor and fish swimming around. I had never witnessed anything like this,” she told SBS Thai. “Then, about 10 minutes later, everything went dark and still.
No wind, no sound. It felt like the sky had swallowed the earth. And that’s when I heard people shouting, ‘Run, run! A giant wave is coming!’” Credit: David Longstreath/AP Photo/AAP Image Wan’s boss, the shop owner, quickly jumped in a ute, gathering workers, and sped to a nearby hill.
“We raced to the foothills as the wave chased us,” Wan recalled. They sheltered overnight at Wat Tham Suea (Tiger Cave Temple). When they returned the next day, the beach was “unrecognisable”.
“No restaurants, no shops. Everything was gone,” she said. 'It was complete chaos' As the waves subsided, chaos engulfed the towns.
With no power or phone signals, communication was nearly impossible. Titiwarada ‘Kim’ Kemp, a former radio presenter in Phuket and now a Sunsh.