Tourism & Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn led the official event, this year called ‘Soul of the Sea’, at 7pm.
Following speeches by Mr Phiphat, Phuket Vice Governor Pichet Panaphong and Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Deputy Governor of Domestic Marketing Thapanee Kiatpaiboon, attendees were invited to place candles in the sand to remember those lost to the waves.
The day’s events began with the traditional merit making of giving alms to monks, followed by a series of activities held at Patong Beach to commemorate the anniversary.
Ms Thapanee explained that similar activities were being held in Phuket and Phang Nga to remember the calamity.
As is now tradition, the events were held at Loma Park on the Patong beach front. Smaller events were held at Chom Lay Market on the Mai Khao beachfront.
In Patong, the activities included a Tsunami Remembrance Exhibition, street music show, a light show, an orchestral performance and the candle-lighting ceremony.
Yuang Upatanon, 77, lost her younger brother, Mr Arom Kungkaew, in the disaster. His body was found three days later, she said.
“That day was a Buddhist holy day. I had prepared food to make merit at Patong Temple. I had not yet offered the food to the monks when all sorts of loud noises were heard,” she recalled.
Ms Yuang was told of the waves sweeping over the Patong Beach, devastating the shops and restaurants along the beachfront.
“While the waves were still receding, I drove my motorcycle along [Rat-U-Thit] 200 Pi Rd. Everywhere I looked, all I could see were ruins and floating debris,” she said.
Ms Yuang volunteered to help the wounded, and help recover the dead
“I helped dress more than 100 bodies, most of them foreigners,” she recalled.
In Thailand, official government estimates marked 5,078 confirmed dead, another 8,457 injured and 3,716 missing, presumed dead, all lost to the tsunami that struck in the morning on Dec 26, 2004.
While confirmed deaths in Phuket were only 259, another 700 remained listed as missing.
Phang Nga, however, bore the brunt of the tsunami, with 4,163 people confirmed dead and another 2,113 recorded as missing. Records mark that of those killed in Phang Nga by the tsunami 2,213 were foreigners – mostly tourists.