Boxing Day Tsunami

The story titled “Tsunami” in Joss Paper concerns an actual event that is one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern history.

On Dec. 26, 2004, a major earthquake in Indonesia created a massive tsunami with waves up to 100 feet high. The tsunami swamped the coasts along the Indian Ocean, inflicting wide-scale destruction and killing an estimated 250,000 people in 14 countries, including Indonesia, Thailand, and Sri Lanka.

The catastrophe came to be known as the Boxing Day Tsunami.

Khao Lak, a Thai coastal village, was one of the places devastated on that fateful day. 

The movie The Impossible (2012), starring Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor and Tom Holland, is based on the horrific true-life experiences of one family who was holidaying in Khao Lak when the tsunami struck.

I was already living in the U.S. by that time, but I have family in Penang (Malaysia). I also vacationed in the past in Langkawi (Malaysia) and Phuket (Thailand). These three islands—Penang, Langkawi and Phuket—saw extensive damage from the tsunami. Phuket is only about 50 miles south of Khao Lak.

My story "Tsunami" revolves around a couple who return to Khao Lak many years later after surviving the Boxing Day disaster.