An Irish holidaymaker who survived the Indian Ocean tsunami when it hit the Thai resort he was staying in has paid tribute to the local people for the way they coped with the tragedy.
Mr Michael Lee (36), from Midleton, Co Cork, had gone to Patong in Phuket for Christmas and was staying in a hotel about 600 yards behind the beach when the wave struck.
"I actually went over to meet a Thai girl that I met there last September. We woke early enough and we walked down towards Banga Road. Next thing we were met by water coming out from the beach, which is another 300 yards away," Mr Lee said.
"It was scary. We didn't know what had happened. There were people running everywhere. The beach in Patong is about a mile and a half long. It's all lined with shops and homes and they were just wiped out.
"There were hundreds killed there, but the Thai people, I must say, were brilliant. They were trying to get people to the hospital as fast as they could - in the back of pick-up trucks, on the backs of motorbikes, on anything.
"The wave hit around nine o'clock and when we went down the town at a quarter to 10 there was a helicopter circling over the sea. The pilot was doing his best to pick up as many people as he could who had been washed out to sea and were managing to stay afloat." Mr Lee called home on his mobile phone immediately after the tidal wave struck to tell his father, Noel, and mother, Patricia, that he was safe and well.
Meanwhile, an Irish family sailing around the world saw their boat smashed to pieces by the tsunami.
Nurse Mary Heaney Clawson from Thurles, Co Tipperary, her husband, Merle, and daughter, Crystal (16), all survived the flood on Phuket island. But they were devastated when their vessel Tír na nÓg which was also their home was destroyed by the force of the wave.
Mr Clawson, who is still in Phuket, described what happened in an e-mail to friends in Ireland. "It was a sight we will never ever forget," he wrote. "A monstrous wall of water was heading towards us at an amazing speed. An eight to 10 metre wave broke over our home smashing her on her port side and burying her under water. We all just stood there in utter shock.
"We looked at the water's edge to see close to 50 people on the ocean floor. The entire bay had drained. Mary screamed that we have to help these people. As I started for the water's edge the second wave just as massive hit Tír na nÓg.
"Mary and I got separated from Crystal and we thought she was gone, but we managed to find her later."
This is the second time the family have seen their boat damaged by nature. Two years ago it was hit by a typhoon near Guam in the South Pacific.
