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I was in Phuket and Phi Phi island over Thanksgiving. The Andaman Sea is so calm and beautiful, it's hard to imagine this happening. I spent the day with a speedboat crew that took us out to the island. I'm hoping the wave hit before they launched from Phuket.

An early report stated that the morning boats from Phi Phi had arived on the mainland and Puket but the day trip boats had mostly not yet left. The reporter believed the death toll would be somewhat less as a result. However, at least 260 are thought to be dead on the island. Also, some 200 longtail boats are missing. Most would be fisherman but a good number might have had 2 to 10 tourists on board. In addition to being the height of the foreign tourist season, Thai tourism for New Years is sizable now.

As it is night now, I expect that it will be some hours before much more is known. Among the West Coast (Andanam Sea) locations one would expect a high toll are Surin and Similian Islands, KO Lanta, Ko Tao National Park and countless small coastal villages. Of course, not much has been heard from Burma yet. Not much has come from Malaysia yet either. It is sickening. No reason to expect tnat today would be any different than yesterday. Many fine people are no more.