Soft clucking of waves
Silence
A thundering roar like a sonic wall
Swirling masses of water...broken glas...sheet metal...bodies...
The tsunami struck an unsuspecting world with its horrible strength virtually out of the blue. Images where cabled out to an unbelieving and uncomprehending world. A world, that to begin with, found it very hard to comprehend the wast magnitude of the disaster.
It wasn't the first catastrophe to mame man, but somehow the geographical scale of it, the unexpected suddenness and the fact that it happened right in front of our eyes (radio, tv, web, newspapers) on an unprecidented scale made it different.
In many ways, the reaction of most people was a global one, as a direct result of the globalizing times we live in. It was a trauma shared by everyone at the same time everywhere.
Then again, for us Swedes it was the single-file most traumatic and massive loss of lives on such a large scale since the sinking of the ferry "Estonia" 10 years prior. We are pretty much protected from large scale disasters of any kind, so this hit us in a very soft spot. What is a reality to others became an extraordinary shock to us.
It is sad to admit and realize this, but the fact that so many westerners perished in the tsunami, is most likely that one reason why the nations dished out such an incredible amount of money in such a short time. We all did, me included.
That and the fact that most of us either were directly affected by it through a personal loss of close and distant friends and family or knew somebody who had lost somebody. I personally lost several friends on Phi Phi and Khao Lak. It created a national trauma that to a great extent still is with many of us today.
A trauma that is shared by and with many other nations and so initiated such a strong reaction. A kind of community in sorrow was created for the briefest of moments and stands as proof to us all what empathy man is capable of, when everybody makes that extra effort and gives just a tiny portion of their income to support others in need.
How easy it could be to make this world into a much better and different place if we could keep up that momentum of care and understanding. However, memories fade soon enough in the shadows of new disasters drawing the attention of the insatiable eyes of media.
Books tell stories and keep memories alive
My contribution so far, in regard to the tsunami, has been this book that I made together with a dedicated group of people, who all had losses to bear from that day.
The name of the book is "Phi Phi Island - a paradise lost". It tells the story of Phi Phi Island before the tsunami and continues with what happened during and after the tsunami.
By now it is probably submerged in an onslaught of various other recounts of what happened that day. For some odd reason, in part political no doubt, Koh Phi Phi has been kept out of the main focus all the time. All eyes have, with very good reason, been concentrated on the plight of Banda Ache as well as on Phuket and Khao Lak.
It has been difficult to create an interest in people as to what happened on Phi Phi Island, in spite of the fact that over 1300 people still are missing, presumed dead, on the island (among those 578 swedes). This book is one of several attempts to tell that story and to remind people of what happened.
The book is one of several projects initiated by the swedish foundation "Thailand Islands Foundation". The foundation itself is the brainchild of Johan Stael von Holstein and his wife Jessica. For them Phi Phi Island had become a second home to be visited as backpackers over the years.
Johan was one of far to few (in Sweden) who had the possibility to react and act very quickly by going down to Phi Phi to access what had happened and what needed to be done. The foundation was formed to create a formalized and legalized way of collecting funds that could be used to participate in helping Phi Phi Island back on it's feet.
Everything around the book has been made possible through the very generous sponsorship from many, many people and companies, who have contributed with their photos, their stories and their time. We created a little core group consisting of Magnus Rehn as Project Manager, Carin Selvin as Main Writer and myself as Art Director.
We were helped immensely by a very gifted group of photographers (Roger Schederin, Magnus Laupa and Fredric Alm from Kontinent) who did a great job processing each and every photo used in the book. Photos that were sent to us by amateurs and pros alike!
It took time and it was hard work mostly done during what time was left after hours and on weekends. And still it is nothing compared to the pure physical challenge so many faced on Phi Phi Island itself.
The Heroes
Many people grew outside themselves in face of the incredible hardship they were standing up against from day zero after the wave. Entrepreneurs who quickly took command and helped people who were badly hurt and needed medical help.
Men and women who took charge of helping the islanders back to life. Who selflessly aided in the gruesome work of gathering any items that might help in identifying those who had lost their lives on that day. Heroes who with their bare hands tirelessly removed tons upon tons of rubble and debris from the island. Who made sure that help was given where the local government showed scant interest in doing so in the beginning.
People like Carl Magnus Steiner (owner of Carlito's Bar), Emiel Kok (founder and driving force of Hi Phi Phi), Darren Windetts, Geoffrey (Geoff) Colmer, Erik Liungman, DTiem, Jenny and Neill and many many others.
There are so many many more who deserve to be mentioned by name, to never be forgotten. So many volunteers who willingly offered their time, their money and their strength to help. I wish it were possible to gather the names of all those who took part in this, Thai and Farang alike so that a "Hall of Recognition" could be created in recognition of all those who truly deserve rememberance. Would that be possible?
I would set it up if the interest existed.
Today the book exists in two language versions - swedish and english.
The swedish version was released in Stockholm on 28 September at a releaseparty in the restaurant Koh Phangan.
The english version was subsequently relesed on 1 November on Phi Phi Island in Carlito's Bar which was one of the major gathering points for volunteers during the first months after the tsunami.
Anyway...the book is sold out on the island and I am in the process of trying to find the cheapest way possible to send more books from Sweden down to Phi Phi. It is my sincere hope that the book can somehow contribute to the recovery of the island and it's population.
If you feel so inclined :-) please visit the books website www.phiphibook.com and have a look.
It is my intention to continue writing about what happens on Phi Phi Island and about the book. To create an continous update on whatever information I will come across that may be of interest. I will point this blogg at forumgroups (such as www.visomfinns.se, which is a swedish community for people who have been affected by the tsunami one way or the other) that I am communicating with today.
Given time to do so I will try to write on a regular basis (well at least that is my ambition...) and hopefully people will find something of interest and help on these pages.
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