February 12, 2005 - Siboya Bungalows - Ceremony photos 

The Tsunami hit the west coast of Koh Siboya at about 11:00 am on December 26th. At Siboya Bungalows, Mr. A had heard on Phuket radio that the wave had just devastated Patong Beach and was headed east towards the mainland. He ran to tell the farangs on the beach. A long line of white could be seen on the horizon... it took about 15 minutes to hit the beach. Luckily everyone at Siboya Bungalows and all the locals on Koh Siboya escaped. 

AROUND KOH SIBOYA
Mr. Lepp's daughter was working on Koh Phi Phi, she perished. In the southern village of Tung Mai Pai, one family lost their house... it was reduce to shattered sticks. Along the west coast about 30 long-tails were damaged beyond repair.

AT SIBOYA BUNGALOWS
Major repairs were needed on 4 bungalows... all 3 bridges needed replacing... the seawall held for the 1st wave, but was tossed here and there by the 2nd... most of the food stored in the kitchen was lost. The surge was 1.5 meters deep in the restaurant. Everyone headed for higher ground up past the Tak-raw court. When the water finally receded it left 10-15 cm of silt everywhere and squid hanging in the trees.

What to do with the generous donations from abroad? We were stuck trying to manage the distribution as we saw fit or just hand it over. In the end Siboya Bungalow's expenses were taken care of and moneys were to be given to the locals affected by the Tsunami. It was decided that there would be a ceremony and feast to distribute the funds. The Muslims on Siboya do things with ceremonies... it's their culture. The headman of the village (Mr. Suman) was enlisted to gather a list of people and decide on the breakdown amount of each gift. Mr. Suman and Mr. Chung then filled 45 envelopes with a total of 220,000 baht, labeling each with the name of the recipient. The local people of Siboya were quite speechless. How was it that all this generosity would come from people around the world who didn't even know them? Even their own government had forsaken them.

Early on February 12 many of the affected locals and their extended families gathered at Bow's house to prepare the food for the ceremonial feast. Goat curry, chicken vegetable soup, rice and soft drinks. 3 goats and 11 chickens were prepared. Fresh jack fruit was added to the goat curry.

At about 1:00 pm everyone gathered in front of the restaurant. the envelopes were handed 1 by 1 to the recipient by a farang. (this is what the village elders wanted). A short prayer then the feast was on. It was a little strange to laughing and joking, but the past is past and life is for living.

Thank you for your support