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as you know, i've been to Betong a few times, for periods of 1 wk+, my friend there is the mayor's right-hand girl, so i've been outside the muni offices several times, my 2nd visit we had a lovely dinner just down the street partway up the hill that collapsed...

i visited the old pier at Pak Meng, back in 2015 or so; not sure why a new one was needed, except to line some influental local pockets with cash...

shame about the dugongs, hope they are saved from complete eradication in Andaman!

although i wasn't in Thailand for the tsunami (first visited Sep/Oct '08, visited again Apr '09, moved to Lanta Sep '09), i met many people who were in Phuket and Lanta during the tsunami, including a guard at the Tropica Hotel on Patong Beach Rd who told me he was on duty during the waves... he tried to outrun the first one, but it swept through the narrow alley from street to hotel faster than he could, he held on to a post of the hotel facade and saved himself...

my next door neighbor in Lanta told me the waves stopped just 10 meters from my back door, Lanta was quite fortunate in that Sumatra was blocking most of the direct force of the tsunami, unlike Phi Phi and Phuket (and other places) that ot the full force of the waves ( the second one was as high as a 3 story building in direct-facing areas!)

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