BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhuanet) -- Survivors in Tsunami-hit areas on the coast of Thailand recall the memories of the disaster and mourn their lost loved ones. Our correspondent Tong Cheng reports from Baan Nam Khem of Thailand.
Ten years has passed in the blink of an eye for Amphun Petchnoi. Her home in the fishing village of Baan Nam Khem was right in the path of the Tsunami. She never wanted to move away afterwards, like many did, but the memories of that morning have never faded. When the wave hit, she was at home with her daughter.
"I was drowning in the water, holding my daughter. She managed to climb over the roof, but I couldn’t. I thought I would die," says Petchnoi.
The memories are still overpowering. Her husband died, and many of her friends, her home was destroyed. But she remarried to another survivor and her family has thrived.
"The government asked me if I wanted anything, but the only thing I wanted was an education for my daughter," she says.
The Village has also survived, although it’s much changed.
Once home to more than five thousand people, they still don’t know exactly how many people died here, but this was the hardest hit community on the coast of Thailand.
Mostly it’s a memory, although some reminders have been left in place.
These plants commemorates some of those died in the Tsunami. It was understandable most of the resident left, but many chose to stay over the last decade and rebuild the town and their lives.
Memorials here too to the Foreign victims, almost as many foreigners died as Thai’s. A little further down the coast in khao lak a memorial is being built to commemorate ten years since the Tsunami. This will be the focal point for the 2014 anniversary events.
At the Hands across the Water orphanage, built to accommodate children who lost everything in the Tsunami, the 26th will be a muted day.
"The children who are living here will never forget, never. Because they loved their family so much.They lost their family. Every year when they mourn their family, they will be very sad," says Totjana Phare-see Thong, from Hands Across the Ocean Orphanage.
But the children who grew up here have thrived, many have gone on to University and beyond. And the community, while it hasn’t forgotten, has moved on.
(Source: CNTV.com)
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