Patong –
The annual remembrance ceremony was held at Patong Beach for the 20th year of remembrance for the victims of the tragic 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami in Phuket.
The ceremony was led by the Patong Mayor Chalermsak Maneesri. Many foreign and Thai participants were standing still for one minute to remember the victims. Flowers were placed to remember those lost in the incident.
In Andaman provinces in Thailand including Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi, Ranong, Trang and Sutun, officially released numbers from the Thai Government stated that there were more than 5,000 people confirmed dead, more than 8,000 injured and almost 4,000 missing, presumed dead, all lost to the tsunami.
Unofficial numbers mark the missing as significantly higher and memorials to those are common in affected areas.
Even now, many years later, hundreds of Thai tsunami victims remain unidentified despite large efforts by forensic teams to do so from the Disaster Victim Identification Unit.
Many Andaman coastal provinces on December 26th offered tributes to the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
