Special report: Asian Tsunamis Disaster

    BANGKOK, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Various remembrance ceremonies were held in Thailand's southern coast provinces along the Andaman Sea Wednesday to mark the third anniversary of the Dec. 26 tsunami that hit the region, killing more than 5,000 persons.

Tourists hold red roses during a memorial ceremony marking the three-year anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami in Khao Lak, located in Thailand's Phang Nga province, about 110 km (68 miles) north of Phuket Dec. 26, 2007. The Indian Ocean tsunami on Dec. 26, 2004 killed almost 6,000 people and left nearly 3,000 missing in Thailand.  (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

    Families of tsunami victims and tourists attended a rite at the Patong Beach, Phuket province, one of the busiest resort as well as the most seriously hit site in the disaster three years ago.

    At Mai Khao Cemetery in Thalang district, where unidentified bodies are being kept, religious ceremonies -- Buddhist, Christian and Muslim -- were held.

    During the evening, a "Light Up Phuket" activity will be held to let the victims' relatives and the general public to join the candle-lit ceremony at the beach to pay tribute to the dead and other victims.

    Meanwhile in Phang Nga province, Princess Ubolratana, the eldest daughter of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, will preside at a series of commemoration ceremonies.

    The Princess lost her son, 21-year-old Poom Jensenof, in the boxing day disaster.

    Families of victims and tourists will lighten up "floating lamps" to release to the sky to pay tribute to the deceased.

    A forum was also held to discuss "Experience of post-recovery from community sight."

    Thailand's six Andaman coastal provinces -- Phang Nga, Krabi, Phuket, Ranong, Trang and Satun -- were hit by the unprecedented tsunami of Dec. 26, 2004, with some 5,400 people, including local residents and Thai and foreign tourists, losing their lives in the billows. Another over 2400 people went missing.

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