PHANG-NGA, Dec 26 (TNA) – Tsunami memorial services have
been held in Thai provinces hit by the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004.
On the 15th anniversary of the Indian Ocean Tsunami,
families of the victims joined multi-faith memorial services in the provinces
on the Andaman Sea coast on Thursday, in remembrance of over 5,300 people
killed in Thailand.
At the Tsunami Memorial Park in Ban Nam Khem fishing village
in Phang-nga province, the hardest-hit community in Thailand, a remembrance
service was held with religious rites dedicated to those who perished.
An official conveyed a statement by Prime Minister Prayut
Chan-o-cha marking the tsunami anniversary which is also observed as a national
disaster prevention day.
In Phuket, locals and foreigners attended a religious
ceremony at Mai Khao cemetery. They laid flowers and wreaths to honor the
victims from 45 countries on a tsunami memorial wall.
Residents, tourists and local officials gathered at
Swordfish Sculpture for a remembrance ceremony on Phi Phi Island, Krabi
province, where 722 people were killed in the deadly tsunami.
The Boxing Day Tsunami ravaged six provinces in southern
Thailand and claimed, in total, an estimated 230,000 to 280,000 lives across
the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004. (TNA)
