The tsunami hit Thailand's southwestern coast along the Andaman Sea, causing death and destruction from the northern border with Burma to the southern border with Malaysia. The hardest hit areas in terms of loss of life and property destruction were in Phang Nga, Phuket and Krabi, not just because of their location, but because they were the most developed and the most densely populated areas along the coast.The timing of the Tsunami, the morning after Christmas, intensified the loss of life in Thailand, as it struck the country's most popular tourist areas on Andaman Coast during peak vacation season, in the morning when many people were still in their homes or hotel rooms. Of the at least 5,000 people who died in Thailand, almost half were vacationing foreigners.