The brother and sister, who were children when Yupin Sengmuang and her then-husband Pichet sheltered them after the December 26, 2004, disaster, and later drove them and their father to Bangkok to catch a plane out, felt they had never said thank-you properly.
Yesterday (August 3), Mrs Yupin said the duo had visited her several times in the preceding few days, with laughter, tears and hugs amid the reminiscences of those dark hours when the their father searched for their mother Louise who, sadly, was found dead in Patong, a victim of the wave.
In between the hugs, Mrs Yupin said, she fed them, too, with pad Thai and tom yam kung.
She said that they had met quietly, with no fanfare, because they wanted to avoid the glare of the media, which were fascinated by the emotion in the story ever since Ben and Emily asked on Facebook for help in finding Yupin and Pichet.
Within 15 hours, thanks to social media and with help from the Thai media, they had been put in touch. (See earlier story here.)