Had Fun?!?!

First working day after an eventful week... Such were some conversations exchanged...

Character A : So did you had fun?

Character B : So did you have a relaxing time?

Character C : Oh, it doesn't sound that bad...

Character D : Welcome back to the real world...

Chocoindryice : ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I guess that's human nature... personal problems and sufferings will always be worse than others'... when someone says how bad their situation is, it's not unusual to respond by saying "I've seen worse"...

How meek can humans be when we tend to feel that the world revolves around oneself...

Perhaps my photos didn't do justice to the sights and experiences we went through in Ban Nam Kem... Perhaps I've hid the sufferings underneath each of the faces... Perhaps I need to show more...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yan Yao Temple

This temple in Ban Nam Kem became the centre of media attention during the peak of the Tsunami. This very ground we stood on laid up to 6000 dead and decomposed bodies waiting to be recognised via DNA testings. The stench from the dead bodies were so bad that it could even be smelt from 800 m away... 60 cm of the ground was removed and replaced after all the bodies were removed as the Thais wanted to 'restore' the purity of the temple ground.

Fun? I was almost in tears...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Containers at Bang Man Ruan

Within these containers, housed 404 unclaimed and unidentified bodies. They are kept at -10 degree celcius. The total dead bodies unclaimed from here, Phuket and Krabi amount to 2255 as of 24th Aug 2005. It's been 8 months, and bodies are left unclaimed...

Fun? I was almost in tears...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Blue Boat in Ban Nam Kem

This blue boat has become somewhat a tourist attraction since 26th Dec 2004. This very spot is 1 km away from the coast!!! The depth of water required for bouancy is 3-5 metres. This is 1 km away from the coast... I don't need to further explain how much water rushed up shore to Ban Nam Kem...

Fun? Try telling this to the owner who was on the rooftop taking cover when this blue boat came to a halt just centimetres away from his house...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pai San, our beloved driver

Pai San was our "Soong tell" driver. Very friendly and fatherly figure. We got to know that he lost both his children (10 yr old son, and 18 yr old daughter) in the Tsunami. And he was driving us all around this trip learning more about the Tsunami. It might have opened up his wounds again, visiting these places...

On our way back to Phuket on Day 4, he stopped by his house. He went in and brought some photos out to show us. They were photos of his children when they were younger. And then he showed us a few printouts on A4 size papers. They were the pictures of the decomposed bodies of his two children when he went to claim their bodies...

I was in tears... I had to put on my shades to hide my tears...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How do I express my emotions and feelings? Do photos do enough justice to the sufferings? Maybe, to some extent... But what you do not see, you do not feel...

I am truly humbled...