A boxing day with nature in Patong, Phuket, Thailand (Part 1)

[tbhotia]

Citizens (Tour Groups) of Asia’s World City shows true colour in Phuket and the staffs of the Burasari Resorts and the people of Thailand show true colour of what it means to be humane under threat.

What a dark day it was on boxing day in Southwest Thailand, without any warning the beaches were dry, boats that were out in sea were now lying on the bed of the sea, but within minutes the true nature of nature turned the tide and sea water began to return, filling the beach so fast that people hardly had enough time to think and realize what was about to happen. While this was happening, we had just finished our breakfast. It was around 10 am, later than normal days. We had taken the map out and discussed our trip for today, south end of Phuket. Just as we began to wrap up things at the table, we heard a huge explosion, then another and another, at this time all of us where unaware of what was going on, some of the hotel staff at Burasari decide to go and check out the explosion. Within seconds they all came back running and screaming to all people to run and get in the building, at this time we were under the impression that a terrorist attack was in the progress and that they were storming the hotel premises, but as we all rushed to the first floor they began to scream out “get to the roof not your rooms”, we all headed to the fourth floor and began to look down at the hotel premises and realized that we where not under attack, water had enter the surrounding and had reached the first floor and we saw a body of a Caucasian male floating in a near by ally way, judging by the sign colour the person had not been in Phuket long.

It was chaos, people screaming, crying and uncertain of what was to come and unsure of what had just happened. Into our first hour of chaos, people started calling others on their mobile phones and started sharing information, finally we started to put together a picture of what had just happened, the earthquake in Indonesia which was felt in the Patong at around seven or eight am and then Tsunami that followed after a few hours (2-3). As the hotel staff began to gather information from wherever they could, they quickly put together a plan to stabilise the panic and structure the process of nurturing and planning a possible evacuation.

Finally after sitting on the roof for 4 hours waiting for more Tsunamis to hit the town of Patong, the management decided that it was better to being evacuating the guests as soon as possible before the next wave of waves. They (management) had received information from Bangkok that the next set of waves were going to hit Patong in a 1 hours time, we were quickly brief by the management and asked to leave the hotel as soon as possible. A group hotel staff and we began a journey to higher ground, as we left the hotel building we saw the debris in the swimming pools, the lobby was trashed and the carpark was stacked with cars (2 storey high) belonging to the hotel and guest As we came on the street which to the right linked us to the main road away from the beach, what we saw was just absolute madness, destruction that I’ve never experienced before. I had hired a motorbike from a shop near our hotel and as I looked to see if it had survived the destruction, I was shocked with what I saw, all the shops along that street was completely destroyed beyond recognition, I was sad as we had made many friends along that street and now they may not have made it. I also had left my passport as a deposit for the bike and the bike was nowhere to be found. We began towards the main road and every where there was trucks, cars, bikes, jetskies all over the place, hotel with their ground floors all destroyed and debris everywhere. I also noticed something unusual, the locals were walking around and picking up fish from the water puddles and the drains, these fish where everywhere, we found them up to around a one kilometer plus inland. After walking for over twenty or thirty minutes we realized that some of the people were not aware of the situation just down the road, these people where just sitting in the bars and restaurants, merrily eating and drinking away, unmoved be seeing a exodus of people heading to higher grounds.

After minutes of walking uphill there was a massive scream of people, cars, bikes all heading uphill and the people screaming “Run, Run, Run”, we ran uphill for around ten minutes and realized that this a false alarm caused by panic that started at the beach and later carried through the crowds and later ending near us, we were a long way from the hotel and the beach, around two kilometers away (my guess). During this panic, we lost eight members of our group (guests) as they managed to climb onto a pickup truck, me and my girlfriend and the hotel staff where left behind and the truck drove off. We all kept on climbing up the hill and finally reached the top of the hill and saw thousands and thousand of people, Thais and foreigners on both side of the road. My girlfriend and I were unsure what the plan was for us as the staff spoke very little English and couldn’t communicate with us as to what the end goal for us was. Eventually they managed to hail a pickup truck and we quickly scramble to the back, which was filled with engineering equipment, but at this stage know one cared all they wanted was to get to the other side (East).

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[tbhotia]

Finally, we arrived to our destination, the quarters of the staff of the hotel, the staffs that were there was amazed and crying in joy to see their peers and us, this touched both of us and we thanked them for all they had done. However, this was not the finally destination for us, but just a rendezvous point from where another group of staff drove us in their car to another place, a local guest house where they housed another group a staff. We were shown our room, the room was very basic but at this point it was heaven for us. We got showered as the smell began to creep in as the nerves settle down and our basic instincts regained its functions.

We spent a few hours in the guesthouse and began calling home to keep relatives informed with our situation and also to get update as to what was happening, as we did not have any information as there were no television, Internet or radio in this guesthouse and the guests could speak much English. We began to feel frustrated, as we didn’t know what was still happening in the other side of the hill, which could be seen from our room. We thought maybe the Tsunami had stopped and everything was beginning to calm down. At around four pm, we decided to head back to Patong and check if we could get back in the hotel and get our valuables in order to return back to Hong Kong on our flight on 27th of December. From the guesthouse we began to walk towards to the main road, we waited on the roadside to hail a tuk tuk, however, I told my girlfriend we could easily hail any of the cars going past, within minutes two car stopped simultaneously, a pickup truck and a car, we opted for the car as it was closer to us as both vehicles took a while to stop due the speed in which vehicles traveled in this road. We asked the owner if he could give us a ride to Patong, luckily the owner was heading back to Patong as he was a resident there and his wife had been injured by the Tsunami. He had just dropped his wife off at the hospital and was returning to pick up some stuff from his home. As we drove off towards Patong, police had blocked the entrance to Patong and were only allowing a few vehicles to enter; this intervention had allowed rescue vehicles more room to drive through the massive number of vehicles and bikes on a two-lane road. We arrived at Patong near the owner’s home, he asked us to take a taxi bike from here and we were not far from the hotel, the cost was a hundred bhat and we were not going to complain as the driver would be risking his own life entering this zone. At this point, everything around that area (less than 400 meters from the beach) looked very calm and people were cleaning up and helping the injured. The taxi-bike took us through the main road and there was debris everywhere, vehicles, jetskies, bikes everywhere, buildings damaged and shops destroyed. As we approached the turn-off point to the street that led to the beach and our hotel, we saw the military had blocked the road and were only allowing people on foot. As we head on the foot towards to hotel which was around twenty meters from the turn off point we were shocked to full scale damage of the street, I decided to take some photos of the street but my girlfriend did not feel it was appropriate and we kept walking towards to hotel. Just as we were within a couple feet to the entrance, we heard the noise of people, cars, bikes coming towards us from the beach, this was thought to have been another Tsunami heading our way, we quickly turned around and started to run towards the turn off point. As we got to the turn-off point we were looking around to see what our options where, we decided to turn right of the turn-off point and use the building as a shield, later I realized that the ground floor was not solid enough as I consisted mostly of large glass. I quickly shouted to my girlfriend to run towards to the other side of the road and hail anything quickly. We manage to hail a bike with a side cart (cage), quickly we jumped in and the bike set off towards higher ground. The driver stopped and we quickly got off and thanked him and wished him good luck. At this place there were hundreds of hotel guest gathered, all waiting for the destruction to end. Both of us we back to square one, emotions running high, panic stricken and uncertain. We realized that we shouldn’t have come back. Luckily, we found hope as we found the rest of the larger group of people from our hotel that hadn’t left the hotel with us during the evacuation. We were delighted as everyone was there and the management had organized special services taking guests back to hotel to collect their valuables and luggage. The management were taking five people at a time and was not only helping his guests (Burasari) but other as well, we finally managed to get on the last trip as it was getting dark and there was no electricity in the town of Patong. The management took us to the hotel through a different route and the other way was blocked off in order to create a one-way traffic. The route bared scars of total destruction as we headed towards the beach front, there were buses over turned and slammed into the near by shops and boats that were beached and as we reached the beach front the destruction was unforgiving, there loads of Thai people trying to help rescue people trapped in various areas and we even saw an underground supermarket which was flooded and rescuers trying to pump out the water. We reached our hotel and there was a few staff helping out the guest to collect their valuable. As we entered the hotel it was dark and wet and the floors were covered with wet sand, the staff used their torch to guide us to our rooms and we quickly gathered everything we could and headed back towards the car, as we got near the car, there was another warning and we quickly rushed back to the roof. We waited patiently in the dark and there was another guest there who started to cry heavily, later we realized her boyfriend was out there in the street while we returned to the roof. After staying in the roof for about 30 minutes, a young foreigner appeared from the dark and the girl began to burst into tears again as her boyfriend had returned safetly. The staff and we were very happy for them and began to get ready for our attempt to leave the area, this time everything went smoothly. We got back to place where the rest of the guests where being housed and later a bus was organized by the management to relocate us to various hotels around the east side of the Phuket. By the time we got our hotel it was already 10 pm and the new hotel’s kitchen was closed and we had to visit the local mini-mart were I purchase some beers and pot-noodles. We stayed up till 12:30pm at the bar drinking and eating and watching the news (CNN) on the television for the first time.

[tbhotia]

My girlfriend and I were lucky to have confirmed our flights the night before the Tsunami and we asked the reception if the airport had reopened, to which he replied, “Yes, opened at 5pm”, we were delighted by the news but were unsure if we could get on the flight. We packed our luggage and went to bed, the alarm was set for 6:30 and our transportation was departing at 7:30. We checked out of the hotel and went to have a breakfast at the hotel, we where amazed to see a ‘Hong Kong’ tour group, all munching away and oblivious to what had happened on the other side of the town. We also realized that we were going to be sharing the bus to the Airport with this tour group, having figured out that this would be a nightmare for us considering the amount of people and the amount of luggage they possessed we opted to take a taxi. We a found a private taxi who was willing to take us to the Airport for 600 Baht, just a 100 Baht more than the bus. We grabbed this opportunity ASAP and began our journey to the Airport and within half an hour we arrived at the Phuket Airport.

The first things we needed to do was to see if there was anybody who could assist me with my situation as one cannot clear through immigration without a passport which had been lost in the mortorbike rental shop. I went to the information desk and explained my situation and they asked me to return at 9 am, as there was nobody who could help me at this moment. Our plane (Orient Thai) was to depart at 10:30 am and since nobody could help us out at the time, we decided to line up on the counters allocated for this flight. There were three counters and we lined up on counter number 12, which was clearly marked, as our flight. In front of us there stood a Chinese man from Hong Kong and behind us a line of over 50 people from various countries, even local Hong Kong Chinese who weren’t apart of a tour group. As the counter opened up the man in front signaled to a group a people who weren’t in the line and before we knew it the porters from the Airport started to dumped over 4O luggage right in front of us, we realized that the man from a tour group leader and he was queuing for the whole group. This really was not ethically correct and we quickly confronted the individual and his entourage, the man replied that this was a Group checking counter only, however there were no sign to indicate this. Since we’d already queued for over an hour, we didn’t want to waste any more time and quickly went to another counter.

We were sure this was no group check-in counter and there was only 3 counters opened and surely the Airline wouldn’t turn two out of three as Group counters. We waited in line patiently and this time in front of us was a family from Hong Kong who had been golfing in Thailand, in front of them a Chinese lady from Hong Kong and then a couple more people (max two), behind us was a British guy who was living in Hong Kong and had just survived the same ordeal as us but in a different location, Kata Beach. We quickly became friends through sharing our experience of the disaster. Another 20-30 minutes passed and the family in front of us began to complain why the line was not moving forward, to our amazement there was another group leader for another group in this line, this time it was a Chinese lady. As this lady began to signal to her group, a line of baggage and people began zone into he front of the queue and created their own line at a 30-degree angle from the main line in which we were standing. By this time we had already experienced our second tour group who were behaving unethically and inhumane. These people where from the “Morning Star” and “Sun Flower”, both of them Hong Kong local tour groups. All these people were oblivious to what was going on in Phuket and had no concern for the rest of the people at the Airport. We also began to realize that these tour group had most of the Airport staff in their pockets as the way they were treated even when a handle for people began to show their frustration at these group and the Airport staff, some of the people even began to climb on the weighing machine in order to prevent these tour group’s luggage being weighed. Within minutes the rest of the people began arguing with the tour leader, the group and with the Airport staff and the arguments were heating up and I too began to feel this heat. Both my girlfriend and I began to attack these people (tour group) with words of concern, explaining to them that everybody has to line up and also that the country was in a ‘State of Emergency’ to which we received a reply “I don’t know, I’m with the tour guide”. As this was happening one of the Airport staff behind the counter stuck a piece of paper, which read “Group Check-in Only”, this was no proper sign it had just been written by hand behind the counter. This note took the situation to the next level and I began to sense that something was going to go horribly wrong if the note did not disappear within seconds. Everybody was not apart of the group started screaming and shouting “take it off, otherwise”, well I knew in my mind what the otherwise would be and I would definitely have been in the heart of this, but in the end we all had been through so much and we knew how to behave and act like human beings, unlike for these Tour groups. Because of the out cry, the staff took down the sign and I still could see and feel the tension in the air, there were reporters there taking people while all this was happening, unfortunately I did not have any film left in my camera to take pictures to prove my story and also to show pictures of these ‘tour group from Asia’s World City’ or shall we rephrase it to ‘Asia’s Worst City’.

Once everything settled down and the lines began to move slowly and my turn was up. I explained to the lady behind the counter of situation and she explained that she could not help me, instead gave a me a number of a gentleman who was handling all British Nationals in Phuket, unfortunately this person was not based in the Airport (in Patong we were told he was in the Airport) but in Phuket town, I explained to them that I have a identification card of Hong Kong which has all my details, still there couldn’t help me. I went back to the information counter to check whether the person who could help me was back as it was already 9:30am. The counter pointed out a person from the immigration that explained that I would have to go back to Phuket Town to get my documents, each time I explained that my flight was leaving soon. By this time, it was 10 to 10 and I only had a few minutes left (if the flight was leaving in time), suddenly I heard my girlfriend call for me “they can let you through with your I.D. card”, I was surprised and happy and annoyed at the same time. As I got to the counter, there was the lady who had posted the sign “Tour Group Check-in Only”, she explained to me that I could go through with only my I.D. and she hurriedly went to make copies of my card, at the same moment I looked over the counter and cursed at the lady who previously told me I need my passport in order to get through and she replied “this is a special privilege which was just created” both my girlfriend and I knew this was unlikely.

The lady rushed us through the immigration counter and we entered the room where to two top dogs of the immigration resided, in this room we saw loads of people who’s lives had been destroyed by this disaster, they had nothing accept the clothes they was where and some of them in wheel chairs. The process only took a few minutes and before we knew it we were sitting at the waiting room for our flight back to Hong Kong, our British friend who we had met during the line for the check-in greeted us and we began to share more of our experiences during this time of darkness in Phuket. Our plane was delayed for two hours and we weren’t complaining, as we knew we were going home. We arrived at Hong Kong International Airport around 7:30, the local Television crew and reporter were waiting, in mist of the reporter we saw some of the tour groups being interview, both my girlfriend and I said to each “They didn’t see or experience shit”.


To all those of you left behind in Thailand and the rest of Asia, wish you all the best and hope you all recovery soon, to those of you who have lost loved ones my deepest condolences and to those who were in these tour groups “open your hearts and minds”.

My thanks to the management and staff at the Burasari Hotel and to the people of Thailand. I look forward to revisiting you soon.


PS: Lets give blood and make a donation, even a buck counts. Can you forward this message onto many people as you can as part of my reason for this report is to make people aware of these Tour Groups from Hong Kong and to make sure they (tour groups) understand the way the they operate and the people they employ. Pls, make sure you cc me as your forward this on.


Best Regards,



Tsewang Norboo Bhotia

[url]http://www.burasari.com/index.php[/url

[ancientmariner]

I can verify that the majority of Hong Kong people are a bunch of ill manner, rude, uncivilized, conceited, narcissistic, and snobbish animals. From what I’ve observed and experienced, they have no concept of waiting in line, whether waiting for the bus, at the cashier, or at information booth. With or without an opportunity, they will ignore everyone else and get ahead of you seemingly without conscious. One of these days their bubble is going to pop and they’ll realized what a lot of little-minded people they really are.

[tbhotia]

I completely agree with you. However, I wish all those who have suffered not only in Thailand but the rest of the world all the best and wish them a swift recovery (I know its going to be hard).