More than 50 people, including local officials, residents and tourists, turned up for the quiet ceremony at 9am.
Thalang District Chief Administrative Officer (Palad) Ornanong Timbua led the ceremony, joined by Mai Khao Tambon Administration Organisation (OrBorTor) deputy president Wirat Makaew and Mai Khao OrBorTor Palad Rapin Suwannasin along with local residents and others.
After Buddhist, Muslim and Christian prayers for those lost to the waves on Dec 26, 2004, the small crowd hung wreaths along the Wall of Remembrance, which was decorated with the flags of the 45 nations who lost citizens.
The site of the ceremony this morning, the Mai Khao Cemetery, has long served as a place of burial for sea gypsies living at the northern end of the island.
In the aftermath of the 2004 disaster, the area was used to keep victims’ bodies from Phuket and nearby provinces until they could be identified. Afterwards, the wall was built, with the names of the victims’ countries, as a permanent reminder for the lost.
The annual tsunami memorial candlelight service will be held at Loma Park in Patong and on Patong Beach tonight, starting at 5:30pm. (See story here.)