tsunamitsunmaitsunami

i'm watching a year old episode of ellen on the namibian tv station in my room in phuket, thailand. there's nothing else on tv in english except aljazeera, which isn't necessarily pre-bed, relaxing tv programming. my mind wanders and i watch a little tiny gecko scurry around on my floor. i'm bored. i think about the tsunami. the water stopped just a few doors up the street from here. a few more doors up the street is this supermarket:

From Thailand 2006/07

the majority of the 250 people who died in patong, died in this market. the water poured down the steps and filled the building to the roof. no one survived. one of the more famous images from this area of the aftermath is from a video take of rescuers pulling bodies from this market.

these signs dot the streets near the beaches:

From Thailand 2006/07

and every thai person i see makes me wonder if they lost someone, too.

all the bootleg dvd stalls sell a dvd about the tsunami and some street vendors sell framed photos of the aftermath. i wonder who was staying in my room at the time, and did they survive?

the place my folks are staying at had the only restaurant still serving after the tsunami. people were lined up for hours and by the end of the day, the joint had run out of food.

the tsunami has touched everything, like this tattoo parlor:

From Thailand 2006/07

and now i'm heading to koh phi phi, where the worst of the damage was in all of thailand. people talk about pre-tsunami phi phi vs. post-tsunami phi phi like they're two different places. should be interesting... but i tell yas, it doesn't feel bad spedning money here at all.

posted by Courtney at 7:40 p.m.

Sick of paying so much for calls from prison? Click here, DO Something