tsunami, seven years on

Being in the zone impacted by the tsunami seven years ago gets one thinking. And when appropriate, its hard not to ask a few questions. The sensitivity in asking is around the loss a person could have incurred from this tragic event. The island of Lanta is east of Phuket and in a part of the Andaman Sea that was impacted by the tsunami. Fortunately, their was very little loss of life on Ko Lanta (it is estimated at 13 people). One of the challenges when the first (and smallest) of three waves hit Ko Lanta was due to it being a full moon and people expected the tide to be very low. When the water retreated unusually low people thought it was odd but it didn't trigger thoughts of tsunami. It seems people began to retreat during and after the second wave, so tragedy may have been lessened when the third and largest wave hit. Wondering around on Ko Lanta you see very little evidence there was ever a tsunami here seven years ago. The biggest indicator is the relatively new emergency horn tower.