More than 50 people turned up for the quiet ceremony including local officials, residents and tourists.
After Buddhist, Muslim and Christian prayers for those lost to the waves that devastated Phuket, Acting Thalang District Chief Wikom Jakthi led the small crowd in hanging wreaths along the Wall of Remembrance.
Pastor Thikhun “Yai” Phapsaneh, President of the Phuket Christian Committee from Seed Church in Cherng Talay led the Christian ceremony.
“Tsunamis and earthquakes are unpredictable and unforeseen events and we need to be aware of these natural disasters and understand that they are a part of life,” he said.
“One must seek spiritual guidance and have faith in the afterlife by realizing that the suffering we endure here on earth is just temporary.”
Also this morning, Phuket Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada led local residents and tourists to give alms to 26 monks at Provincial Hall to mark the 11th anniversary of the tsunami.
Attendance at the annual morning service at the Tsuanmi Wall of Remembrance in Mai Khao has dwindled in recent years, but the main event – the “Light Up Phuket” candlelight ceremony on Patong Beach this evening – remains a mainstay of remembrance services on the island.
Thousands of people turn out each year to place candles in the sand to remember those who died in the tsunami.
Services at the Light Up Phuket event held near Loma Park on the Patong beach road, begin at 7pm.