Back in the UK

[eric-the-viking]

First of all my appologise for not posting while i was away.
As you all know what a terrible disaster it was and still is ,I have to tell you all that in face of death and distruction the true nature of Thai people shone through,
My heart felt thanks goes out to each every one of them as well as my sympathise to all that have suffered a loss.
To evey one who has asked after me Thanks im ok .
Ok where was i when it happened.
We had booked a speed boat trip to Phi Phi island ,anyway as we was about to board the boat some of the tourists that was also on the trip asked if they could use the toilet before we left,which made us about ten mins late setting of,during the journey out towards Phi Phi the skippers mobile phone rang, the was lots of astonisehed looks and talking but nothing clear about what was going on,(even my Thai lady friend couldnt make out what was being said) then he switched the engines off and we started to bob up and down more than normal,a couple of mins later and we was of again,strange i thought ,then another mobile rang and it was a farang phone i heard some thing about an earth quake ,hmm yeah right i thought what ever,
untill we reached Phi Phi ,when instead of entering the bay we joined lots and lots of speed boats all making a high power dash to the back of the island where we stopped ,and was all told to put on life jackets and that was every one no exceptions,so we stayed where we were for about 45 mins and a few phone calls later ,which was followed by all the boats making the fastest dash back to Phuket i have ever known.
on reaching Chalong pier it was like a scene out of a movie each boat would quickly pull up of load the passengers onto buses,pick ups 4x4`s as quickly as they could and then speed out again .well you all have seen the t.v pictures so i shall not go into the horrific scenes,but once again in the face of all this the Thais made sure every one of us was taken to high ground given something to eat and water to drink,but most of all was made safe,even when their own lifes and families are in Danger.
If the boat had left on time then i would of been either just getting of the boat or sitting on the beach when it all happened.
some where i have a guardian angle.
returning to patong it was obvious i was not going anywhere out of Valhalla,so sms messages were sent out to b.m`s and families, i was joined by some fellow b.m`s for the long night that lay a head.
but thats all i have to say.
E.T.V

[Diver69]

Only one thing to say: You were very lucky.

[andy50]

good to hear from u eric , must have been a bit of a shock for ur dad!still ur ok and i am too hope to see u again

[Werwolf]

Hi etv
good to hear that all for you and your dad is ok.

My luck was, at the day when happen, my plane take off at 9.30 in the morning to BKK

[ancientmariner]

Glad that you weren't hurt. Life is like that I supposed, you can't predict what'll happen nor can you stop it from happening.

[andy50]

lifes like russian roulette, sometimes u win sometimes u lose!--i was staying in a guest house near the expat( where i had been staying )(i moved as it was cheaper), i didnt hear a thing, as i was totally pissed from the previous night,
it was about 10-00 when there was a commotion outside my loom,pan was just giving me some "treatment"when the commotion started , she heard what was being said , and flew into a panick--WE GO! WE GO!!i thought wtf?YOU COME YOU COME!so eventually after some cursing, i got my shorts and mai tai bar tee shirt on ,and grabbed my money belt /documents and wandered downstairs ,all i saw was some water coming up the road.

we went to a condo up the hill which her friend nong from the aussie bar looks after,(she took us and organised everything) what a great girl she is !-- and stayed there for 2 days during that time i met people who had not had sutch good luck as i had
one guy arrived with a child,on foot, he was driving along when a wave swept the car away he was with his wife and they had 2 kids, they held the kids above their heads against the roof of the car so they could breath, he elbowed the window and got out through it with one kid but lost his wife and other child --but as he waked up to the condo wher i was staying who should appear ?his wife and other child!!what a reunion!

[ancientmariner]

that's a nice story, andy. i was getting worried as i read to midpoint but am happy to hear that the family are back together.

[Skorpionen]

Good to hear you are ok ETV
we were supposed to be in patong on the 29th, but decided to stay in bangkok for some days, right now in Chang Mai, but we are going to Phuket later.

take care

[eric-the-viking]

Originally Posted by Bono

Good to hear Etv, you are one lucky guy, i hope it not scared you, and your dad away forever

not me ,im already looking into flights for my SOLO return ,as for the old fella ,well ive shown him the way ,he is a big boy now and its up to him.
think he will be back soon as well

[dawsey]

Originally Posted by eric-the-viking

not me ,im already looking into flights for my SOLO return ,as for the old fella ,well ive shown him the way ,he is a big boy now and its up to him.
think he will be back soon as well

Hi ETV,
Nice to have you back.Did your Dad being there cramp your style somewhat? and more to the point what did he make of it all.I ask as its possible my old fellow might be there the same as me and he is 81yrs young!!
Hope you can make it for Songkran for a beer
Dawsey

[eric-the-viking]

Originally Posted by dawsey

Hi ETV,
Nice to have you back.Did your Dad being there cramp your style somewhat? and more to the point what did he make of it all.I ask as its possible my old fellow might be there the same as me and he is 81yrs young!!
Hope you can make it for Songkran for a beer
Dawsey

Dawsey
my old dad really enjoyed himself
next time for him all the sights should be open again and as i have seen them im not that bothered at repeating them over and over again.
but now he has made a few shall we say contacts it should be easy for him .
also i have other sights in mind
Bono my return will be when i have enough cash and free time

[Tarzan]

Originally Posted by eric-the-viking

First of all my appologise for not posting while i was away.
As you all know what a terrible disaster it was and still is ,I have to tell you all that in face of death and distruction the true nature of Thai people shone through,
My heart felt thanks goes out to each every one of them as well as my sympathise to all that have suffered a loss.
To evey one who has asked after me Thanks im ok .
Ok where was i when it happened.
We had booked a speed boat trip to Phi Phi island ,anyway as we was about to board the boat some of the tourists that was also on the trip asked if they could use the toilet before we left,which made us about ten mins late setting of,during the journey out towards Phi Phi the skippers mobile phone rang, the was lots of astonisehed looks and talking but nothing clear about what was going on,(even my Thai lady friend couldnt make out what was being said) then he switched the engines off and we started to bob up and down more than normal,a couple of mins later and we was of again,strange i thought ,then another mobile rang and it was a farang phone i heard some thing about an earth quake ,hmm yeah right i thought what ever,
untill we reached Phi Phi ,when instead of entering the bay we joined lots and lots of speed boats all making a high power dash to the back of the island where we stopped ,and was all told to put on life jackets and that was every one no exceptions,so we stayed where we were for about 45 mins and a few phone calls later ,which was followed by all the boats making the fastest dash back to Phuket i have ever known.
on reaching Chalong pier it was like a scene out of a movie each boat would quickly pull up of load the passengers onto buses,pick ups 4x4`s as quickly as they could and then speed out again .well you all have seen the t.v pictures so i shall not go into the horrific scenes,but once again in the face of all this the Thais made sure every one of us was taken to high ground given something to eat and water to drink,but most of all was made safe,even when their own lifes and families are in Danger.
If the boat had left on time then i would of been either just getting of the boat or sitting on the beach when it all happened.
some where i have a guardian angle.
returning to patong it was obvious i was not going anywhere out of Valhalla,so sms messages were sent out to b.m`s and families, i was joined by some fellow b.m`s for the long night that lay a head.
but thats all i have to say.
E.T.V

Nice to hear you are home safe. And that counts all BM`s that was there over the tsunami.
But i must admitt i was a bit worried since you talked about go out diving....
Im glad to hear your old man liked the place...But you told him the danger about sponsorship i hope... ha ha

See you down there....

[eric-the-viking]

Originally Posted by Tarzan(sweden)

Nice to hear you are home safe. And that counts all BM`s that was there over the tsunami.
But i must admitt i was a bit worried since you talked about go out diving....
Im glad to hear your old man liked the place...But you told him the danger about sponsorship i hope... ha ha

See you down there....

lol to right thats my inheritance

[Yoda]

glad to hear your ok etv!