Misc. Article

This is a letter from a Colorado couple who was vacationing in Thailand, and on a dive when the Tsunami hit. A local Colorado news station did a story on the mother of the couple, who had to withstand over 2 days not knowing what had happened to her son and daughter-in-law.

With permission from Kirk and Sherry, we are reprinting the letter sharing their story.

To All,

Thanks for your concern. We were in the middle of the tsunami, and have been given a second life. On Christmas day, Kirk and I decided that we would go on a scuba diving trip on a liveboard boat. We were planning on doing day trips for diving, but the Similan Islands were 30 miles from shore and there were no day trips available. We were staying at Bangsak Resort right on the beach and it was beautiful. Because the scuba trip was so far away, we booked a four day trip and then we would return to the resort and spend New Year's on the beach. We left our luggage and passports with the resort and headed off to the Similan Islands.

The morning of the 26th we were on a dive and at about 30 feet deep when a strong current appeared. Sherry was about ten feet form me and I was suddenly spun around and was beginning to be sucked down. Sherry was being pulled up and we were able to get together just as the current became very strong and the sand created a white out. I would guess we were traveling about 20 mph at zero visibility. We kept an eye on our depth gage and were able to maintain our depth at about 30 feet. We surfaced after about ten minutes and found ourselves in very angry water that was boiling and whirl pooling. We were fairly close to shore, but decided to kick away so the boat could see us and could pick us up. After about ten minutes the boat found us and picked us up. We were diving with nine other people and were all spread out over about a mile. Everyone surfaced and everyone was okay. The captain said the water rose about 30 feet instantly. We spent the next two night floating at sea before it was safe for us to come ashore.
On the trip in, the reality of what had happened would set in. We saw numerous bodies floating and the Navy was out trying to pick them all up. Upon reaching the marina, we saw the total destruction of the tsunami. All the buildings had been completely destroyed and we passed many trucks full of bodies on the way back to our resort. Our hope was that the resort was still standing because as we drove through town some buildings remained untouched by the water. After two and a half hours of driving through the horrors of what happened, we arrived at our resort to find it had been leveled. Some workers that were there sifting through the debris told us that many of the guests were okay and staying at a village about six miles away. They had taken our luggage there in hope that we would return for it.

We spent one night in the village with the other guest in a warehouse and listened to their harrowing stories. It was unbelievable that so many of them survived. Many of them had been swept away by the water and had climbed up trees until the water subsided. They said the wave came in about 35 feet high traveling over 50 mph. Not all the guests survived and the scene was very sad. Many of the guests had deep cuts and bruises on their bodies and were badly beaten up. The next morning we were taken to Phuket Airport where there were special flights arranged to take us to Bangkok where we were met by officials from the embassy. The Thai people arranged a free hotel and transportation for us. We will stay here for three nights and clear our heads of the images before returning to Seoul on the 1st. We will be in touch then.

We are truly blessed.

Kirk and Sherry.