Yesterday we drove a couple hours north to the mainland to see the areas worst hit by the tsunami on December 26, 2004. Our host for the day was Reid Ridgway, an ex-pat from California who has lived in Thailand for the last five years. Following the tsunami he wanted to find a way to help, and saw an opportunity to assist young adults in rebuilding their livelihoods that had been destroyed by the tsunami. He established the Ecotourism Training Center (ETC), which trains local young adults in English, Computers, and Scuba diving. After the nine month program, the students are able to get a job that pays about six times what they could make without the training.
After a brief introduction, we went to the most devastated area. There are now rows upon rows of basic concrete homes that house the locals. The wave in this area was about 5 meters tall. In this photo, where the trees are cut off is how high the initial wave was. In the same area, the wave turned what used to be a white sandy beach into a vast sea of coral rocks that stretches as far as you can see. This police boat is about 2 kilometers inland. Tragically, it caused many deaths as the wave carried it out over the people who were trying to escape. It is going to be a permanent memorial to the victims in the area. There were many other sights we visited, but you'll have to look through my photos on zenfolio to see them.
After the tour we went to a local beach with the ETC students and then out to dinner as well. Many had only been learning English for about three months, but still did a pretty good job communicating.
Today was mostly a lounge-around day and tomorrow I'm going to Coral Island which is supposed to have fairly good snorkeling.
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