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Baan Nam Khem Fishing Village
(Full text available on request)

On December 26th 2004 an earthquake of the coast of Sumatra measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale caused a tsunami which cost the lives of 275000 people in Asia and Africa. For the people of Baan Nam Kem, the hardest hit fishing village in Thailand, the sea was always their provider. In one morning it took everything away family: friends, homes and boats. The village is slowly recovering with the help of NGO's and the government. Fishermen are back doing what they have always done, fishing - but going out at sea will never be the same again, most admit to being afraid of the sea.

On the morning of Dec 26 Chana (above) was squid fishing in his long tail boat with his brother, Man. He saw a massive wave come from behind him, turned his boat around and somehow managed to cut across the side of the wave and over it. The boat was damaged but still afloat.
Chana and Man returned to a scene of horror “All we could see were dead bodies and destroyed houses and boats, my first though was: where are my parents”. Chana lost countless friends in the disaster but incredibly all his family members were spared. Dec 2005

This clock stopped at the exact time the wave hit Baan Nam Kem 10h42 AM. It now hangs on the brand new wall of a rebuilt house in the same spot where it always had, now frozen in time... Dec 2005

A distraught villager a few days after the tsunami. Dec 2004

Baan Nam Kem, a few days after last year's tsunami. Dec 2004

L: A day's catch. Nov 2005

R: At first light, a longtail fishing boat rebuilt with the help of a foreign NGO heads out at sea for a long day of squid fishing. Nov 2005

L: A villager form Baan Nam Khem repairs a fishing net. Nov 2005

R: Portrait of a villager. Nov 2005

Met (in the foreground) was in the village when he heard a radio call from his older brothers Chana and Man describing a massive wave. He ran to take the family's second boat to go and help his brothers. He didn't get very far before the wave caught him, he was found alive on the other side of the village in a tree.
He now fishes with Chana, Man goes out at sea with a friend on another boat. Nov 2005

L: Burmese ship hands on a trawler in Baan Nam Khem R: A Burmese ship hand repairs a fishing net on a boat in Baan Nam Kem. One year after the boxing day tsunami it was still not clear how many Burmese people died in the disaster since very few were registered workers in Thailand...

Joann Johnson came with her evangelist family 8 months ago to volunteer as a teacher in Baan Nam Kem school. She teaches English and Art. Hundreds of volunteers have helped in the village in the last year, with very few staying as long as the Johnsons. Dec 2005

R: When the wave came, Pisek was enjoying a day off with his father. As he saw the wave, he ran to pick up his younger sister's son and managed to escape the killer wave, his father could not run fast enough. Pisek described his late father as his best friend, a relationship developed over ten years of fishing together. He now goes out at sea with his younger brother Tanisak, who also survived the wave.
Pisek had his boat replaced by a foreign non-profit but he cannot afford a radio and GPS system needed to go further out at sea to catch bigger fish. Because of this, like many he is finding it hard to survive. Dec 2005

David Johnson and his Daughters walk along the beach with a tree they will use as a Christmas tree. Johnson, an evangelist volunteer teacher came to Baan Nam Kem eight months ago with his wife and 3 daughters, also teachers, to help with English and Art classes at the village's school. Dec 2005

Jeng (on the right) plays with a classmate during an art lesson at Baan Nam Kem School. She lost both her parents to the Tsunami, she now lives with her grand mother. Dec 2005

Shipwrecks left abandoned on the beach since last year's tsunami. Dec 2005

Met (in the foreground) was in the village when he heard a radio call from his older brothers Chana and Man describing a massive wave. He ran to take the family's second boat to go and help his brothers. He didn't get very far before the wave caught him, he was found alive on the other side of the village in a tree.
He now fishes with Chana, Man goes out at sea with a friend on another boat. Dec 2005

Met pulls a bamboo squid trap up form below the surface with the aid of a pulley system. Dec 2005

Pichai (right) chats to his neighbour after a day's fishing. On Dec 26 2004, Pichai (51) and his wife Sunantra (44) were both out in their boat shrimp fishing close to shore. When the wave hit, their boat was shattered to pieces, they desperately held onto whatever they could grab and both washed ashore on an island directly across from the village. All members of their family staying in the house died: Pichai's parents, his sister and brother-in-law and their child. Pichai and his wife were given a boat by the Thai government and their house was rebuilt with funds donated by a private TV station. His neighbour (pictured left) lost 16 family members. Dec 2005

Foreign Christian volunteers play with local children in Nov 2005. Baan Nam Khem saw a huge number of organizations come through over the years following the tsunami. The NGOs, companies and government bodies helped with rebuilding boats, houses, donating radios, fishing nets and providing teachers for the local school.

Most houses in the village have now been rebuilt, but pictures of lost loved ones in almost every living room serve as a reminder to the tragedy of Dec 26th 2004 which cost the lives of over half the population of Baan Nam Khem. Dec 2005

L: A days's catch. Villagers carry squid of a fishing boat

R: Met, gazes out at sea during a long day of squid fishing..

A longtail fishing boat heads out early.

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