I forgot about this article in the Guardian following the Asian tsunami of 2004. I guess in the pandemonium, I never thought of passing it on at the time, even though this blog was mentioned.

But perhaps the saddest site I’ve visited today is javajive, written by another expat who has been waiting on news of friends in Phuket. At the time of writing this post he’s still waiting, although a commenter on his blog tells of their heartbreak at losing a number of their family to the disaster.

Perhaps the most heart-rending aspect of the site is the pictures of playing children he’s posted, taken only a couple of days before disaster struck. The question one is left asking after seeing them is barely worth repeating. An image grabbed from local TV further down his front page (with caution – it may upset some readers) tempts you to fear the very worst.

I truly hope the tragedy will not be forgotten. Perhaps 100 times as many people perished when compared to September 11, and yet I don’t feel its impact reached the Western world even a fraction as much. Many people I spoke with in the States seemed disconcertingly uninformed, despite their best intentions.

My heart goes out to those who lost loved ones.