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After the Tsunami: Hua Laem, Thailand

17 images Created 22 Jan 2015

The road to Hua Laem, a small fishing village on the east side of Koh Lanta island in Southern Thailand, is a snake of red dust, pocked with potholes. Few tourists travel this way as most come to Koh Lanta to go diving in the Andaman Sea's exotic reefs or lounge on the exquisite beaches on the island's west side. Through a cloud of copper dust, motor scooters buzz past us, some with veiled drivers and families with as many as three children squeezed onto the seat.
My husband, David Karam, and I were about to head to Southeast Asia on a long-planned trip when the Tsunami struck Southern Asia on December 26th, 2004. As the images of horror and devastation quilted the newspapers and played out on news broadcasts, we began to rethink our plans. David, who has a Design-build business on Cape Cod, MA, has skills we thought might be of some use and, as a photojournalist, I thought I might be able to bring some attention to a community otherwise ignored. Bangkok's newspapers were full of stories about the Tsunami's effect on Thailand's tourist industry. Money was pouring into Phuket, Thailand's most popular resort island; volunteers were already reconstructing damaged hotels and beaches. Finally we read an article about fishermen in Southern Thailand whose longtail boats had been severely damaged or completely destroyed. These men and the communities that depended on them had lost their source of income and were receiving little aid because they were not as central to Thailand's economy as tourism. This is the thread we followed from Bangkok to Krabi where a Thai Baptist Minister happened to mention Koh Lanta island and we began our journey on the dusty red road down to Hua Laem.
The first day we visited Hua Laem and assessed the damage, the power of the Tsunami was made tangible to us. Most of the village's homes had been built on stilts right on the beach and what was left of many of them was a collection of wood, concrete, clothing and household items strewn about. Septic pipes and children's toys, school books, shoes, fishing nets, plastic tubs, longtail boats beached like dead whales. Villagers seemed dazed, walking around in the rubble of their homes, picking up occasional items and then dropping them as though not sure what to do with them. I watched two little boys play with their home-made carved wooden boats in a ditch of water. Picking up a board of wood, one cried out "Tsunami Tsunami" and began creating great big waves that soon overwhelmed the toy boats. An old man pointed to the trees above us. We could see the leaves below a certain height had turned brown from the salt water. This was how high the waves had come. Everywhere one looked--from the skeletal remains of boats and homes to the weary expressions on villagers' faces--one could see the destruction the Tsunami had wrought on Hua Laem.
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  • Koh Lanta, Thailand--Gitnmairee Ningthong, 2, and her mother, Korntip Leamkoh, try to keep cool in their tent after their home was destroyed by the Tsunami in the village og Hua Laem on Koh Lanta island, Thailand. Leamkoh also lost her father who was attempting to save his fishing boat when the second wave came.  The family has yet to find his body and is unable to proceed with funeral services without it.  The family is currently living in a tent provided by "World Vision" on the hill above their ocean-side town.  01/21/05 © Julia Cumes / The Image Works
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  • Koh Lanta, Thailand--Talek Khlongdee (4), plays with a bucket of water next to what used to be his family's home in the village of Hua Laem on Koh Lanta Island, Thailand.  While many of the residents of Hua Laem lost their homes to the Tsunami, the villagers were able to repair pipes that bring fresh water from a municipal tank supplied by a nearby mountain stream.  Behind Talek, his father picks through the rubble of their home, looking for salvagable items. 01/17/05 © Julia Cumes / The Image Works
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  • Koh Lanta, Thailand--Talek Khlongdee (4), plays with a bucket of water next to what used to be his family's home in the village of Hua Laem on Koh Lanta Island, Thailand.  Behind him one can see his neighbor's house with partial new construction.  While many of the residents of Hua Laem lost their homes to the Tsunami, the villagers were able to repair pipes that bring fresh water from a municipal tank supplied by a nearby mountain stream.  01/17/05  © Julia Cumes / The Image Works
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  • Koh Lanta, Thailand--Bottled water supplied by the Thai government sits on a communal table waiting to be distributed to Hua Laem residents who lost their homes to the Tsunami on Koh Lanta Island, Thailand.  In the background are the tents provided by "World Vision" which many of the villagers have been living in since the Tsunami hit December 26th.  Some residents stay in the tents, which are on the hill above their town, because they fear another Tsunami may come. 01/20/05 © Julia Cumes / The Image Works
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  • Koh Lanta, Thailand--Ten-month old Suwaimee Ninthong bathes in a bucket in front of the tent he shares with his family after their home was destroyed by the Tsunami in the village of Hua Laem on Koh Lanta island, Thailand.  In the background, his mother, Korntip, tries to coax her daughter, Gitnmaree (2) to put on her clothes after her bath.  The family also lost Korntip's father who was trying to save his fishing boat when the second wave came.  The family has yet to find his body and is unable to proceed with funeral services without it.  01/21/05 © Julia Cumes / The Image Works
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  • Koh Lanta, Thailand--Chetdia Suwankadree sings to and rocks her 17 month-old son, Abdun Karim Khlongdee in their makeshift home after the Tsunami destroyed their house in the village of Hua Laem on Koh Lanta island, Thailand. At right are Yit and Hyrun Mon, 87 and 84 respectfully with whom Suwankadree shares the tent.  Hyrun uses crutches to walk and like all those who lost their bathrooms along with their homes, must go over to the Mosque across the street to shower and use the bathroom.  01/17/05 © Julia Cumes / The Image Works
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  • Koh Lanta, Thailand--Two boys play "Tsunami Tsunami" in a ditch in their village of Hua Laem on Koh Lanta island, Thailand, after the Tsunami destroyed most of the village's longtails fishing boats and many of its homes.  Research shows that children often express their trauma through play by reenacting the experience that traumatized them.  By playing "Tsunami Tsunami" these children are showing in all likelihood signs of post traumatic stress disorder.  © Julia Cumes / The Image Workss
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  • Koh Lanta, Thailand--Hua Laem fisherman, Bangmon Bootmin, examines the damage done to his longtail fishing boat by the Tsunami on December 26th on Koh Lanta Island, Thailand.  Most of Hua Laem's 50 longtail boats were severely damaged by the waves and their owners are unable to bring in the fish they rely on for their income.  01/25/05 © Julia Cumes / The Image Works
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  • Koh Lanta, Thailand--Hua Laem fisherman, Bangmon Bootmin, prepares a new rib for his brother's longtail fishing boat after the Tsunami damaged it severely on December 26th on Koh Lanta island, Thailand.  Bootmin's own longtail boat was damaged even more severely. Most of Hua Laem's 50 longtail boats were severely damaged by the waves and their owners are unable to bring in the fish they rely on for their income.  01/25/05 © Julia Cumes / The Image Works
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  • Koh Lanta, Thailand--Two boys show each other the trasures they've found in the debris after a Tsunami destroyed their village of Hua Laem on the island of Koh Lanta in Southern Thailand.  While children approached the slow clean-up process as though is were a treasure hunt, their parents had to deal with the reality of having lost most of their worldly posessions along with their homes and fishing boats. 01/18/05 © Julia Cumes / The Image Works
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  • Koh Lanta, Thailand--Villagers clean up the debris left by the Tsunami which destroyed many of their homes in the village of Hua Laem on Koh Lanta Island in Southern Thailand.  Almost everyone in the village got involved in the clean-up, from young children to men and women in their 70s.  In the foreground is a window frame ripped out of a house by the powerful waves. 01/24/05 © Julia Cumes / The Image Works
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  • Koh Lanta, Thailand--Two men work on rebuilding a house after a Tsunami destroyed it in the village of Hua Laem on Koh Lanta island, Thailand. Despite the fact that the Thai government is threatening to move the village to another location away from the ocean, many of the  villagers are repairing or rebuilding their original homes.  01/18/05 <br />
© Julia Cumes / The Image Works
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  • Koh Lanta, Thailand--Haolam grandmother, Hapkla Nalaman, helps rebuild her son's house after it was destroyed by the Tsunami.  At right, her grandchildren and daughter-in-law watch and cheer her on.  Despite her age, Nalaman also helped find and extract reusable wood from the debris and was active in the clean-up efforts.  01/21/05 © Julia Cumes / The Image Works
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  • Koh Lanta, Thailand--David Karam (left), of Brewster, MA, helps Taluk Khlongdee build a deck for his new home after the Tsunami destroyed it December 26th in the village of Hua Laem on Koh Lanta island, Thailand.  Khlongdee's was just one of many homes destroyed in the village. Karam was on his way to Southeast Asia when the Tsunami hit and headed to Koh Lanta to see how he could help.  01/25/05 © Julia Cumes / The Image Works
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  • Koh Lanta, Thailand--At the end of a long day of construction, David Karam, of Brewster, MA, blows up balloons for Hua Laem children after the Tsunami destroyed much of their village on Koh Lanta Island in Southern Thailand.  Karam, who was heading to Southeast Asia when the Tsunami hit, changed his itinerary and went south to see what he could do to help.  After seeing the devasation in Hua Laem, he helped supply the village with materials to rebuild homes, got involved with building himself and also aided in the clean-up effort.  01/20/05 © Julia Cumes / The Image Works
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  • Koh Lanta, Thailand--Esteemed Buddhist monk, Buddha Isara, addresses the villagers of Hua Laem after many of them lost their homes and fishing boats to the Tsunami on December 26th, 2004.  "I know you are Muslims and I come to you not as a Monk but as a Thai," said Isara who pledged to supply the materials and experienced labor needed to repair the village's fishing boats.  In addition, Isara plans to live in the village for several weeks, primarily to send a message to the Thai government of peaceful resistance to the relocation plans. Within Thailand, Isara is seen as a modern-day Gandhi figure, thus giving the villagers a powerful voice. 01/31/05 © Julia Cumes / The Image Works
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  • Koh Lanta, Thailand--Esteemed Buddhist monk, Buddha Isara, walks through the remaining debris in the village of Hua Laem on Koh Lanta, Thailand, after the village lost many of its homes and fishing boats to the Tsunami on December 26th, 2004. Isara, who pledged to supply the materials and experienced labor needed to repair the village's fishing boats.  In addition, Isara plans to live in the village for several weeks, primarily to send a message to the Thai government of peaceful resistance to the relocation plans. Within Thailand, Isara is seen as a modern-day Gandhi figure, thus giving the villagers a powerful voice. 01/31/05 © Julia Cumes / The Image Works
    24Isara.jpg
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