Some 230,000 people were killed in the Indian Ocean tsunami set off by a magnitude 9.1 earthquake on Dec. 26, 2004. A dozen countries were hit, from Indonesia to India to Africa's east coast. Scores of Associated Press journalists covered the disaster, and as the 10th anniversary approached, the AP asked 10 of them to describe the images that have stuck with them the most. This is the third of their stories, which are being published daily through Dec. 26.
___
Tassanee Vejpongsa, a video journalist based in Taipei, covered the disaster in Phuket, Thailand:
We had just finished our last feed as the sun started to rise. It had been a long night of coverage of what was appearing to be an incredible natural disaster spread over South Asia. One day had passed since the massive tsunami waves crushed the famed beach resorts of Phuket, when we started to hear about the quiet beach town of Khao Lak just to the north.
As my car drove down toward Khao Lak, I stared out the window at the vast stretch of beach. This normally dreamy beach of white sand and saggy coconut trees was lined with colored debris and wreckage as far as my eyes could see. Such a colorful mess, I thought.
Our driver slowed the car, seeming to realize as I was, that this color was not garbage or wreckage, but bodies. The bodies of tourists, wrapped in the festive colors anyone might wear to a beach holiday. Bright yellows and deep reds, swimsuits and sundresses.
The silence was deafening. No other living soul was near us.
That image, and the shocking moment I realized the scale of the catastrophe, has never left me.
