Naturally CNN and BBC World carrying full coverage, Thai TV too. Cannot add much more to reports already posted, the airport on Phuket was opened late afternoon and flights getting in/out. Having lived in Patong for many years so sad to see/hear of places so so familiar, gladly all our friends are ok. Of course this has affected so many areas in the whole region our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone.

Has anyone heard anything on the conditons of the islands on the east side of Thailand. I have already made plans of vactioning in Phuket and Phi Phi starting this saturday.(no travel insurance of course). If conditions are ok I may just move my plans to Kho Samui

We are on the Gulf of Thailand and knew nothing until getting some calls from friends in Phuket so we switched on the TV. This happened in the Indian Ocean so the Gulf side is ok.

You might find following site of interest w/posts from locals:

http://asiaweb-direct.com/forums/pos...amp;Board=UBB1

Just came across the screen on Fox - the Seychelles (didn't indicate which islands in particular) have been hit with flooding; also Mombasa in Kenya. Can only assume other coastal areas on East coast of Africa as well.

We had so many people on this board talking about spending the season in Thailand and the wider area. My prayers are with them and with all other people affected in the area, we are all so fond of on this board. Are all our Fodorites accounted for? I can imagine what it must be like, I've lived myself through a quake of 7.2 in Turkey in 99. Put a short message on the board, all of you in the area, please.

It apperas a lot of the affected areas have lots communication, it may be a while before we hear from anyone.

My hearts go out to all those people!!

Email from Mauritius indicates very little effect there.

Here I am sitting at my computer in Ao Chalong in Phuket,waiting for the next reported surge,I'm about 150 mtrs from the sea wall,my Thai girlfriend has done a bunk,saying I'm crazy to stay,I've just taken a ride down to the sea wall and all is calm at the moment,but there are boats upside down eveywhere one of my boats was carried over the sea wall and is now sitting in a restaurant,my bigger boat servived at anchor,so far,and my cruiser was OK untill the jetty it was tied too collapsed on top of it,repairable thankfully.
When it hit I was on charter off Phuket on the east side ,we couldn't decide whether to go to Phi Phi or Phang Gna,we eventually decided on Phang Gna,thank God.
It was our first night out and I commented on the strange currents that where flowing at the time,but didn't worry too much about it because it is nearly full moon and spring tides comming,so we carried on to our night stop at Kho Rang,we had an unusual heavy rain squall go through that night and current just suddenly took off and we were being thrown around 360 degrees.Very early the next morning I got the call to say an earthquake had hit the area and tidel waves were about to hit,so my guests climbed to the highest point on the island expecting the worst,but they got evacuated by a police launch and are at this minute in the Boat Lagoon Spar Hotel,where they treated my cook and myself to a very nice seafood supper.
Phi Phi is devastated, I have heard from a dive shop that many divers have been lost and ferries have capsized,the figure they gave me was 250 dead and many missing.
Krabi,Kho Lanta same story,even kho Samui in the Gulf of Thailand was hit but at this stage can't give details.
I have personally lost a friend to the sea,she was working for a charity organization feeding the many homeless dogs on Phuket,and was doing her feeding rounds on Nai Hairn beach when the sea claimed ,God Rest Her Soul

Dear God... thoughts and prayers.. so many people.. and some many Fodors guests planning trips..... thanks for your report, SydneyX... thank God you are ok.. I am so deeply sorry for your loss...

PHUKET, Thailand (AP) - Thousands of European tourists were begining their day with breakfast or by sunning themselves on Thailand's white sand beaches when massive waves triggered by an earthquake, swept people, bungalows, boats and cars out to sea.

Sydneyx, it seems you had a warning of the tidal waves. Was anyone in Phuket aware they were coming?

So far, the impact to east Africa was mostly psychological, with residents and tourists anxious to see what impact the wave would have here. In countries stretching from the Horn of Africa, down to Tanzania and out into the Indian Ocean, only lowland flooding and irregularly fast tidal changes had been reported.

Beaches at tourist resorts around Mombasa, where hundreds of foreign visitors are staying, were closed because of the extreme tidal movements set off by the earthquake. "We have had four high tides and four low tides in the last six hours," a spokesperson for the Turtle Bay resort in Malindi said, adding the resort would remain shut until the water calmed.

Kenyan authorities said they did not expect things to worsen. "We are monitoring the situation very closely, but we don't expect it reach this far," Mombasa provincial police office Alex Rono said. The British government warned its citizens in Madagascar, Mauritius, the Seychelles, Kenya and Tanzania to be alert for potential danger from the tsunami. In Somalia, strong waves and winds capsized boats and kept fishermen in port.

"I do not know what to expect from the ocean," said a Somali fisherman in the coastal town of Adale, 56km north of Mogadishu. A report that three were drowned by surging waters in fishing village of Garacad, in the northern coastal state of Puntland, could not be independently confirmed.

In the Seychelles, low-lying coastal roads were flooded by a 2m surge and power was knocked out to hundreds of homes. At the airport, fire brigades were forced to wash dozens of fish off of the runway each time disrupted tides sent water rising over the airfield. Residents and tourists were warned to be ready to move to higher ground if need be.

Mauritius seemed largely untouched by the post-quake surge, although minor flooding struck one of the outlying islands in the archipelago, Rodrigues. In the Comoros Islands, residents had seen no ill effects. - Reuters

Sydneyx;

Thank you so much for your post. I feel for the loss of that wonderful woman who was feeding the homeless dogs in Phuket. So many gone.. God bless them and keep them. Please take care of yourself!
Lola

All of a sudden my concern about terrorist's is dwarfed by the serious devastastation of the quake from Sumatra to the Malaysian Penninsula.Based on reports in US 1/2 hr. ago, it will likely be 15,000+ dead when all is said an done. What a shame!!! Thailand and the other affected countries desperately need tourism. This will impact them for most or all of 2005. While my group will not be going we have raised $14,000 so far to contribute to the Thai Red Cross. We are working now on how to get it into the "right" hands.We will likely raise $20,000+ by next week. I AM NOT soliciting contributions but suggest everyone think about what they can/should do.

Thanks to those of you in Thailand for your posts. My thoughts are with you.

This is really a terrible situation. I feel so sad today as I have spent three nice vacations in Thailand including Phuket. I found this site showing the destruction around Patong Beach... http://www.thailand-photos.net/galle...&password=

sydneyx - Sorry to hear of your loss. But thanks for your personal update as to what you experienced before the tsunami hit and the situation as best you have been able to determine. So hard to comprehend the final numbers of dead and missing. My prayers for everyone.

Just to clarify what SydneyX stated - Samui was not affected and as far as all the local news and international news reported - there was no advance warning of the initial tidal wave. There are warnings that a possible aftershock could cause more tidal waves if the quake is in the same magnitude.

Latest report of around 500 dead and many, many missing including a member of the royal family of Thailand.

9 pm news reported 11,600 dead