Tsunami in Khao Lak (2004) - Rare Images

Wonder if anyone on the beach in those pics survived…..

It's crazy to think that even though 2004 wasn't that long ago, so much was still unknown about the signs of tsunamis to the general public.

Why would anyone stand there like an idiot and watch this approach?

I've heard that there was no evidence of animal lives lost. They sensed it coming and went inland. Elephants broke there chains and ran. lucky tourists on their backs.

I know a couple that were there, luckily they were on the higher floors of their hotel.

What is so strange is all the people standing around with their hands on their hips & not doing anything, until it's too late.

My late Dad was born in 1927 and grew up spending summers in Stone Harbor at the NJ coast. He said twice, two different summers, when he was a teen, before he turned 18 and had to join WW11, that a huge rogue wave came in. It can happen again here on the east coast, you never know. Mid atlantic fault shifting a bit maybe.

The Japanese Tsunami, of 2011, in a sense rewrote the Tsunami of 2004. The magnitude of the force of the water was clear to see in the HD videos. The videos and picture of the damage caused by the water, after the event, was somewhat baffling. After the Japanese Tsunami the HD videos were a shocking realization of the power of the water.

My work colleague was on holiday in Phuket when the tsunami struck. His hotel room was a beach hut, which he was inside when the tsunami struck. He says it was like being inside a washing machine being tumbled around. He and his girlfriend survived, but lost every item that they had apart from what they were wearing at the time. He'll never forget it.

I dont know how anyone standing on the beach watching could have escaped. Bless them all..

Des photos impressionnantes qui glacent le sang. Les gens sont restés devant ce mur d'eaux grises sans comprendre.

The loss of life is heartbreaking

I think japan tsunami is taller than Indonesia 2004 tsunami?

You never see any person get swept away in the 2011 Japan tsunami.

EU NUNCA VI UM TSUNAME ENTÃO SE AVISTA-SE IRIA FICAR PARADO E QUEM SABE ATÉ FILMANDO ALGO QUE PRA MIM SERIA INUSITADO, A MORTE É A CONSEQUENCIA DO DESCONHECIDO !...CORRER PRA QUE, EU TERIA CHANCE SE ESTIVE MUITO PRÓXIMO DE HOTEIS E ESTALAGENS, MAS NA PRAIA COMO ESSA TUDO FICA A DISTANCIA....

It just amazes me how people just stand there and not run smh, you can’t beat Mother Nature 😮.

Still breaks my heart to see this , so many don’t know how to read the Ocean .
Those pics of the ocean drawn back like that and people Mesmerized, oohhh my 🙏🏼

Incroyable la conneries des gens... Car n'importe quel con ou débile qui voit une énorme vague de plusieurs mètres de haut sur une largeur de plusieurs kilomètres 🌊🌊 ce mettrais à l'abri sur les hauteurs ou les hôtels à proximité.....🤔🤗🤔🤗

I HATE TO SAY IT BUT THE OCEAN DOES NOT SUPPOSE TO LOOK LIKE THAT. I NEVER SEEN THIS FOOTAGE BEFORE. I'M AMAZED THAT PEOPLE ARE STILL STANDING THERE WATCHING WHEN THE WAVES WERE THAT CLOSE. I GUESS COMMON SENSE DIDN'T KICK IN, BECAUSE WHEN YOU SEE A WAVE THAT IS GETTING BIGGER & BIGGER & YOU'RE STILL STANDING THERE, I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY ABOUT THAT. I BELIEVE THESE WAVES DESTROYED 2 BOATS BEFORE IT EVEN REACHES THE BEACH. ALLLLL I CAN SAY IS R.I.P. TO ALLLLL OF THE VICTIMS.

In 2004 Most people had no idea what a Tsunami looks like, but I sure almost everyone does now...

Is sad to know that all those ppl standing in the middle of the ocean or in the beach front most of them didn’t make it 😢 different times there was no way for them knowing what was coming until it was too late.

Sometimes you wish you could go back in time and warn the people about what’s coming and save them

I can’t understand everyone just standing and watching the wave coming at them.

It's like the sea is 25ft tall it's heading for us... Let's stand and watch it..

RIP to all the people in these photos it's pretty certain none survived being that close to the incoming waves

At those times I didn't know it was a tsunami, and it was also believed that earthquakes only occurred in Japan, but everything changed in 2004.

RIP to all poor souls that lost life on that fateful day. I was 14 years old and this was all foggy in my memory. I feel so sad about everyone my age, early 2000s were so traumatic for us born 1990… same goes for 9/11 events.. this was all very hard on our innocent young souls.. i feel sorry for everyone who lost someone in this tragic event.

If the ocean just disappeared….my a$$ is running.

So sad, I can’t believe that people stood and watched that coming in with out running…..

In some pics going around you can see some running and others not like some knew what draw back meant and others were just fascinated, but if I saw others running I'd run too 😅

It called a movie about that the move called The Impossible

Back then tsunamis were very rare events and this one was the first one to be recorded in history so that's why people reacted too slow to save themselves.

Remember this So Well My Wife was in Khao Lak and I was on Surin Island

Man in red color shorts,

What is puzzling to me is how when the ocean went out that far and then returned if the for of a 30ft wave that probably sounded like a freight train , is how people didn't just say hey this can't be go let's run our asses off to higher ground.

My daughter likes to swim, and she argues when I tell her to come out of the water. I fear so much for her safety when I watch these videos.

I can see some people running and others still standing there like it's a parade coming. I watched the movie of a family caught in it. It's called (Impossible).

Standing there staring at this coming straight for them, you do not need to know anything about a tsunami to see that coming straight for you

Those people in that picture in the beginning, dead

I saw these photos on the Internet. But at 1.44, two photos were taken as a montage. These are photos from the video interview. There are only 2 original photos that are shown a little earlier. In general, the selection is consistent, but I found another series of interesting photos from Khao Lak and Bang Niang.

Great video!!!