The towering waves triggered by the underwater earthquake off the coast of Indonesia on December 26, 2004, claimed victims as far away as Somalia and triggered aftershocks in Alaska.
The worst natural catastrophe of the century thus far, the tsunami left a trail of havoc along Thailand's Andaman Coast.
The most prominent memorial is a police boat on Khao Lak -- the beach community north of Phuket that bore the brunt of the waves' wrath in Thailand.
Some 20 meters long and 50 tons huge, the vessel was swept about one kilometer inland, where it's remained immobile at the bottom of a foothill.
It's a few minutes walk from the International Tsunami Museum, heavy on photos and videos but light on science and artifacts.
Farther down the coast, in the coastal village of Ban Nam Khem, which was almost completely annihilated after being slammed by three successive waves, two fishing trawlers, known locally as the "Blue Angel" and "Red Devil," have been left in an empty lot a kilometer inland to commemorate the 6,000 victims in Thailand.
Also in the village, the Tsunami Memorial Park features a wave-shaped tunnel leading past plaques, photos, flowers and other offerings for the dead.
The images in the nearby museum chronicle the collaborations between volunteers and locals, travelers and expats, monks and medical professionals and manual laborers, who formed an hoc team of altruists in action.
When grasping for superlatives to describe the extremities of that tumultuous situation for the final novella, "Tsunami," in my new collection, I recalled a line from Malcolm Lowry's novel "Under the Volcano," set on the Day of the Dead in Mexico, one of the most important events on the dark tourism calendar: "But it's amazing when you come to think of it how the human spirit seems to blossom in the shadow of the abattoir."
Perhaps that could also serve as a guideline for those who dare to travel on the dark side of the road.
The International Tsunami Museum and police boat is at 39/8 Moo 6, Bang Niang, in Khao Lak; +66 81 442 5660. The Ban Nam Khem Tsunami Memorial Park is located in the village of Nam Khem, about 30 kilometers north of Khao Lak.
The towering waves triggered by the underwater earthquake off the coast of Indonesia on December 26, 2004, claimed victims as far away as Somalia and triggered aftershocks in Alaska.
The worst natural catastrophe of the century thus far, the tsunami left a trail of havoc along Thailand's Andaman Coast.
The most prominent memorial is a police boat on Khao Lak -- the beach community north of Phuket that bore the brunt of the waves' wrath in Thailand.
Some 20 meters long and 50 tons huge, the vessel was swept about one kilometer inland, where it's remained immobile at the bottom of a foothill.
It's a few minutes walk from the International Tsunami Museum, heavy on photos and videos but light on science and artifacts.
Farther down the coast, in the coastal village of Ban Nam Khem, which was almost completely annihilated after being slammed by three successive waves, two fishing trawlers, known locally as the "Blue Angel" and "Red Devil," have been left in an empty lot a kilometer inland to commemorate the 6,000 victims in Thailand.
Also in the village, the Tsunami Memorial Park features a wave-shaped tunnel leading past plaques, photos, flowers and other offerings for the dead.
The images in the nearby museum chronicle the collaborations between volunteers and locals, travelers and expats, monks and medical professionals and manual laborers, who formed an hoc team of altruists in action.
When grasping for superlatives to describe the extremities of that tumultuous situation for the final novella, "Tsunami," in my new collection, I recalled a line from Malcolm Lowry's novel "Under the Volcano," set on the Day of the Dead in Mexico, one of the most important events on the dark tourism calendar: "But it's amazing when you come to think of it how the human spirit seems to blossom in the shadow of the abattoir."
Perhaps that could also serve as a guideline for those who dare to travel on the dark side of the road.
The International Tsunami Museum and police boat is at 39/8 Moo 6, Bang Niang, in Khao Lak; +66 81 442 5660. The Ban Nam Khem Tsunami Memorial Park is located in the village of Nam Khem, about 30 kilometers north of Khao Lak.
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