The official memorial ceremony will start at 6pm, followed a candle-lit ceremony, for years known as “Light Up Phuket”, which returns this year after being removed from formal memorial event last year.
Patong Mayor Chalermluck Kebsup explained last year that organisers wanted to reduce the emotional impact of those still suffering from the loss that the tsunami brought. (See story here.)
Remembrance services on Thursday will begin further north at the Tsunami Memorial Wall located at the Mai Khao Cemetery, near Mai Khao Beach, at 8:30am. After the main remembrance speeches there will be multi-faith services to remember those lost to the waves.
Meanwhile, in Phang Nga north of Phuket, the memorial events commemorating 15 years since the disaster will be held over two days: Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
The events will be held at the Ban Nam Khem Tsunami Memorial Center in Takua Pa District.
The small fishing village of Ban Nam Khem was devastated by the waves that struck on Dec 26, 2004.
On Dec 25, there will be a seminar under the topic “Disaster Experience and Community Warning Measures” and an exhibition about tsunamis.
On Dec 26, there will be Buddhist, Muslim and Christian services, and a candle-lit ceremony.
Deputy Minister of Interior Niphon Boonyamanee will preside over the event, and will read a message from Prime Minister Prayuth Cha-o-cha that will also mark Dec 26 as National Disaster Prevention Day.
The Thai government dedicated Dec 26 as National Disaster Prevention Day after the tsunami in 2004. The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation was also established in the aftermath of the disaster.
The aim of the event at Baan Nam Khem this year is to remember those lost to the tsunami and to raise awareness among local people to be prepared for natural disasters, explained Deputy Minister Niphon.
In Thailand, official government estimates marked 5,078 confirmed dead, another 8,457 injured and 3,716 missing, presumed dead, all lost to the tsunami.
While confirmed deaths in Phuket were only 259, another 700 remained listed as missing.
Phang Nga, however, bore the brunt of the tsunami, with 4,163 people confirmed dead and another 2,113 recorded as missing. Records mark that of those killed in Phang Nga by the tsunami 2,213 were foreigners – mostly tourists.
At Bang Niang Beach, Khao Lak, which is backed by flat land, bodies were found as far as two kilometres inland.
The waves also lifted and carried the 24.6-metre Marine Police patrol boat Tor 813, the Buretpadungkit, 800 metres inland.
The 2004 Asian Tsunami claimed an estimated 230,000 to 280,000 lives – in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, the Maldives, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia and even Somalia – with millions more directly and indirectly affected by the waves.