ABSTRACT
Tom and Arlette Stuip were enjoying breakfast and relaxing on a terrace overlooking the beach and the Andaman Sea in Khao Lak, Thailand when the Tsunami hit in 2004. The couple observed the ocean begin to recede, which at first created a spectacular site for the sunbathing tourists. Instinctively, however, Tom remembered there was an earthquake earlier in the day and realized this forebode of a disaster about to unfold, so he took Arlette’s hand and they sought higher ground. Within minutes a wall of water was coming at them at a speed of 50 miles an hour. When it was all over many of their friends were either swept away, dead or wounded, and the hotel and beachfront buildings were destroyed (Ryder and Dafedjaiye 2014).
