In short
The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami’s approach and impact in Thailand, told through multiple viewpoints: a Thai fisherman’s family, tourists at resorts and attractions, and a U.S. seismologist trying (and failing) to warn Indian Ocean countries.
Guest backgrounds
No podcast guests appear in the transcript. The episode follows fictionalized/reenacted real people: Wachere Thongte (Nam Kem villager), Wiman Thongte (fisherman), Ed Moosh (59-year-old sailor), Helen Moosh, Michael Moosh, Monica Ribeiro (13-year-old tourist from Macau), Barry Hirshhorn (seismologist at Pacific Tsunami Warning Center), and Olivia Su (17-year-old visitor at Emerald Cave).
Key claims
The quake was at least magnitude 8 (possibly 9+), creating a tsunami; the Pacific warning system doesn’t cover the Indian Ocean; the tsunami’s trough can pull water away, luring people onto beaches.
Notable examples
the bay draining at Phi Phi/Pee Pee Don; Monica finding dying fish on exposed seabed; Wachere grabbing her daughters as the wave surges through Nam Kem; Olivia trapped in the Emerald Cave tunnel as the wave arrives.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOWachere's Ordinary Morning
0:14 to 2:44
Wachere Thongte enjoys a peaceful morning with her children before the tsunami strikes.
“34-year-old Wachere Thongte sits on the front steps of her home in the village of Nam Kem, Thailand.”
The Tsunami Approaches
2:44 to 4:24
Wachere realizes the impending disaster as a massive wave approaches her village.
“Her mind flashes to her children, and she turns around and runs back to her house.”
The Impact of the Tsunami
4:50 to 6:24
The tsunami strikes Thailand, leading to chaos and destruction as people react.
“Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, or early and ad-free on Audible.”
Ed and Helen's Journey
6:24 to 9:18
Ed and Helen Moosh prepare for their sailing adventure while coping with grief.
“Ed Moosh cuts the motor on his 43-foot sailing boat, the Tahlequah, and steps from the bridge out onto the deck.”
Christmas in Thailand
9:18 to 11:46
The Moosh family aims to find joy during Christmas amidst their loss.
“Occasionally, Ed goes below decks and finds Helen sobbing.”
Monica's Vacation Experience
11:46 to 14:01
Monica enjoys a memorable vacation in Thailand with her parents, filled with fun activities.
“But at least they can be together as a family.”
A Joyful Family Moment
14:01 to 14:42
Monica enjoys a fun moment with her family on vacation, capturing memories.
“Just then, the elephant lets out a trumpet and her father bolts away.”
Weimon's Morning Routine
14:49 to 17:25
Weimon prepares for a day of fishing, reflecting on family responsibilities.
“He listens for a moment in the darkness, but she doesn't stir.”
Tsunami Warning Detection
17:26 to 19:06
Seismologist Barry Hirshhorn detects a massive earthquake leading to tsunami concerns.
“They've been doing this for so long that their movements are automatic.”
The Scale of the Earthquake
19:07 to 20:00
An earthquake over nine on the Richter scale is a potential disaster.
“especially when they occur under sea, like this one.”
Show all 20 chapters
No Alert System in Place
20:01 to 21:40
Barry realizes the Indian Ocean lacks tsunami alert systems, increasing the danger.
“He runs a finger over Indonesia and Thailand, and he shudders to think of the destruction that may be heading right at them.”
Exploring the Beach
21:41 to 22:44
Ed and Helen enjoy a peaceful morning on the beach unaware of the danger.
“Hand in hand, they stroll along the boardwalk that faces the beach.”
An Eerie Discovery
22:45 to 23:46
Ed and Helen notice the ocean water has receded, sparking concern.
“But then he realizes how absurd that sounds.”
Urgent Tsunami Warning Efforts
23:47 to 25:00
Barry's team struggles to send tsunami warnings as time runs out.
“All he's focused on is trying to get a tsunami warning to Indonesia, Thailand, and other countries near the massive undersea earthquake his team detected 30 minutes ago.”
Understanding Tsunami Dynamics
25:01 to 25:57
Barry explains how tsunamis form and the dangers they pose.
“Stu shakes his head, eyes still fixed on the scrolling numbers on his screen.”
Monica's Beach Arrival
25:58 to 28:00
Monica arrives at the beach to find the ocean has disappeared, leading to confusion.
“Over deep water, the wave will be small, barely a foot high.”
Monica's Eerie Beach Encounter
28:00 to 30:39
Monica explores the receding beach, finding dying fish and sensing something is wrong.
“Her mother arranges their towels on the sand.”
Wiman's Fishing Trip Turns Strange
30:40 to 32:48
Wiman and his brother notice the tide receding, leading to an unsettling realization.
“He and Prakong decided to take lunch early, given how successful the morning's catch was.”
Olivia's Swim into the Unknown
32:49 to 36:23
Olivia and her family prepare to swim through a narrow tunnel to a hidden lagoon.
“And as it moves over shallower water, its height grows, until it blocks the view of the entire coastline.”
The Unseen Wave Approaches
36:24 to 40:38
A massive wave threatens the beachgoers, leading to panic and frantic escape.
“They're trying to haul it back out to the water, but Ed can see they still have a ways to go.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Ed Muesch:Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of Against the Odds ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app.
0:08Helen Muesch:A listener note. Against the Odds uses dramatizations that are based on true events. Some elements, including dialogue, may be invented, but everything is based on research.
0:27Wimon Thongtae:34-year-old Wachere Thongte sits on the front steps of her home in the village of Nam Kem, Thailand. She sticks a knife into a watermelon and cuts off two slices. Her daughters, 8-year-old Rathikhan and 3-year-old Sudarat, eagerly hold out their hands. Wachere smiles at them as she hands them the fruit. It's late morning on December 26, 2004, and already a bright, warm day. Watchery loves where she lives, just a few feet from the beach. From her porch, she can see the white sand glittering from between the stands of palm trees. She goes back to slicing the watermelon, but then a commotion distracts her.
1:11Wimon Thongtae:It sounds like people are arguing on the beach. She tilts her head, but she's too far away to make out what they're saying, and she can't see who it is. She shrugs. It's probably a squabble among fishermen. Still, she wonders if it might concern her husband, Wiman. He's a fisherman himself, and he left early this morning with his brother to fish from their boat a few miles out to sea. As the commotion continues, Watcheri decides she should make sure that Wiman's not involved. She tells her daughters to stay put and walks toward the sound of the voices. A few seconds later, she steps through the stand of palms onto the beach.
1:52Wimon Thongtae:But instead of fishermen fighting, she finds a group of her neighbors gathered on the sand. They're pointing toward the horizon, talking excitedly. Watcheri follows their gaze and can't believe what she sees. A massive wave stretching across the entire horizon. It's at least 10 feet high, probably more. And it's not far off either, maybe 500 yards away. She stands there for a few seconds, transfixed. But as it moves closer, she notices that it's not breaking. It's just surging toward them. A steamroller of water that seems to grow larger and larger. She's never seen a wave this big, not in all her years living near the sea.
2:38And then she realizes, this thing won't stop at the shoreline.
2:43Wimon Thongtae:When it hits the beach, it's going to keep going. Her mind flashes to her children, and she turns around and runs back to her house. They're still on the porch. She scoops up three-year-old Sudarat in one arm and grabs eight-year-old Ratikan's arm with her free hand. Ratikan pulls back. Mom, what are you doing? But Watcheri doesn't answer. She just runs, pulling Ratakan along.
3:12Helen Muesch:They reach the road behind their house and Watcheri flies across it,
3:16Wimon Thongtae:practically dragging Ratakan through the dirt. Then she sees the pond on the other side. It's 100 yards wide. Watcheri pivots, still clutching her daughters. She runs parallel to the beach now, racing to get around the pond. Other villagers are running too. Some are screaming, but the screams are overtaken by the roar of rushing water. Watcheri glances toward the ocean, only to see that a mighty surge of water is barreling down on them. It's sweeping through the village, destroying everything in its path. Watcheri comes to a horrifying realization. They can't outrun it. It's going to hit them.
3:59Wimon Thongtae:She stops running and kneels down, wrapping an arm tightly around each girl and squeezing. She holds them so tightly, she wonders if she's going to break their ribs. The water rushes forward. Watcher Ree closes her eyes and braces for impact.
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5:16Ed Muesch:Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, or early and ad-free on Audible.
5:45Wimon Thongtae:one of the most intense ever recorded, releasing energy equivalent to 23 ,000 of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima. The sudden movement of the tectonic plates lifted the seafloor and displaced massive amounts of water that rippled outwards, racing toward land. Hundreds and even thousands of miles away, countries with coastlines bordering the Indian Ocean were now in the path of a giant tsunami. One of those countries was Thailand, where vacationers and residents woke up to a sunny tropical morning, oblivious that a monstrous wave was bearing down on them. Caught unprepared, they had just seconds to react as they faced off against the deadliest natural disaster in recorded history.
6:30Wimon Thongtae:This is Episode 1, Strange Tide.
6:39Wimon Thongtae:Ed Moosh cuts the motor on his 43-foot sailing boat, the Tahlequah, and steps from the bridge out onto the deck. He draws a deep breath of the humid tropical air. It's December 24th, 2004, and the morning sun is climbing in the east. This is the moment he never tires of, when the sea breezes fill the sails of his boat, propelling it out toward the open ocean and new adventures. Today's destination? The secluded Phi Phi Islands of Thailand, so small that vehicles aren't even allowed on them. Ed is 59, and 10 months into a leisurely circumnavigation of the globe with his 68-year-old wife Helen and their 23-year-old grandson Michael.
7:24Wimon Thongtae:It's something he and Helen had wanted to do for years. So when Ed retired at age 55, they bought the sailboat, outfitting it with all the equipment they'd need for long ocean crossings. Autopilot, radar, a high-frequency radio, and a life raft. They christened her Tahlequah, from a Cherokee word that means two is enough. And while they'd be sailing alone, they wouldn't be completely alone. They signed on to join a flotilla of two dozen other boats, each following the same route around the globe and meeting up at various ports along the way. For the Mooshes, it was the best of both worlds. They'd have the experience of sailing independently while knowing a safety net and kindred spirits were never far away.
8:13Wimon Thongtae:At least that was the plan. But when they were in Trinidad, readying their boat for their big voyage, they received the worst news imaginable. Their 27-year-old son, Jesse, had been killed in a motorcycle crash. For Ed and Helen, the grief was especially intense. Two years earlier, another son, Ian, had also been killed in a motorcycle accident. The pain seemed too much to bear. They attended Jesse's funeral in America, then returned to Trinidad, still deep in mourning. They thought about canceling their trip, but then they realized Jesse would want us to go. So they did. but they brought aboard a third traveler, their grandson, Michael.
8:59Wimon Thongtae:Jesse's death had hit the entire family hard, and Ed and Helen figured Michael could benefit from time on the open seas. But 10 months into their trip, the loss of Jesse still hangs over them like a shroud. Each glorious sunset, each new tropical paradise feels diminished by their loss. Occasionally, Ed goes below decks and finds Helen sobbing. He tries to comfort her, but what can he say? Ed knows Christmas without Jesse will hit them both especially hard, but he's hopeful that spending it on the Phi Phi Islands will be just the balm they need. It sounds like an amazing place, a chain of pristine, tiny islands southeast of Phuket in the Andaman Sea.
9:46Wimon Thongtae:He's already seen it before, but only on the big screen. It's where the movie The Beach with Leonardo DiCaprio is filmed. He can't wait to see it for himself. A stiff breeze billows the sails, and the Tahlequah picks up speed over the blue swells. Ed scans the horizon looking for land. Helen joins him on the deck, and the two of them peer over the railings, competing to see who will be the first to spot the remote islands. It's Helen who sees one first, a limestone peak emerging on the horizon. Soon, more appear, jutting out of the water. Their destination is the only inhabited island in the archipelago, an island called Pee Pee Don.
10:31Wimon Thongtae:As Michael pilots Tahlequah into the harbor, Ed can see that Pee Pee Don is more like two islands, connected by a narrow isthmus of sand. Hotels and restaurants line the isthmus, all looking out over the bay. They drop anchor in the harbor and lower their small inflatable dinghy into the water. With so many reefs around, the Tahlequah has to stay in deep water, so having a small boat is essential for reaching land. As they motor the dinghy towards shore, Ed marvels at the beauty of the place, even if it does feel clogged with tourists and daytrippers. He looks over at Helen, who's staring out to sea.
11:11Wimon Thongtae:She's smiling, but there's a familiar sadness in her eyes. He reaches over and squeezes her hand. Are you thinking about Jesse? Helen turns to him and nods. It's just that he would have loved this. Now it's Ed's turn to nod.
11:29Helen Muesch:Tell you what, let's find something on the island we can decorate the cabin with. It's Christmas after all. Maybe we can even find a tree.
11:38Wimon Thongtae:Helen seems to brighten at this, and Ed smiles. He knows Christmas without Jesse will be hard, But at least they can be together as a family.
11:52Wimon Thongtae:13-year-old Monica Ribeiro leans back in her chair as the waiters take away her plate. It's been another amazing dinner at their resort in Khao Lok on the west coast of Thailand, where she and her parents have been vacationing over the Christmas holidays. She stares up at the night sky, where the first stars have appeared. The air is thick and warm, and she's decided that today, Christmas 2004, has been the best ever. She has to admit, her parents really outdid themselves. When they arrived here a week ago from their home in Macau, they surprised her with an early Christmas present, five days of scuba diving lessons.
12:34Wimon Thongtae:Monica was thrilled. Every day while her parents lounged on the beach, she got to do what she's dreamed about since she was little, learn to explore the sea. She loves it so much underwater. The quiet, the solitude, the colorful fish and coral. It's like another universe. She swears that in a past life she was a mermaid. She can't wait for tomorrow when she gets to go diving again. The only downside is that the resort is set back far from the beach, so they have to take a shuttle to get to it. She's not complaining. An odd noise draws Monica's attention, and she looks over to see the concierge leading an elephant through the palm trees and into an opening near the diners.
13:20Wimon Thongtae:He invites anyone who's interested to get a photo with the huge animal. Monica looks at her dad. Dad, we need a photo! Her father looks skeptical, but finally he gets up and they all make their way toward the elephant. Monica directs her father closer to the animal. But he's hesitant. She lowers the camera from her eyes and motions for him to move in. Come on, Dad. It's not like he's going to step on you. Her father throws a worried look over his shoulder at the massive creature. Yeah? How can you be so sure? He edges cautiously toward the elephant. Monica raises the camera back to her face. Just then, the elephant lets out a trumpet and her father bolts away.
14:06Wimon Thongtae:Monica laughs. After she fires off a few more frames, they trade places and Monica approaches the elephant confidently. She turns and gives the camera her biggest smile. But her dad isn't even looking at Monica. He's sharing a laugh with her mother. Monica watches her mom run a hand playfully through her father's black hair. Monica's dad is a pilot and often away from home, so it's nice to see them having fun together. Finally, her dad points the camera at her, and Monica strikes a pose next to the elephant. This really is the greatest vacation ever.
14:48Wimon Thongtae:50-year-old Wiman Tongte gets up quietly from the bed he shares with his wife, Watchery. He listens for a moment in the darkness, but she doesn't stir. Sometimes he's too noisy, and she wakes up. And instead of going back to bed, she gets up to cook him breakfast. Today, though, she's fast asleep. Good, he thinks. She needs it. Raising two young daughters is exhausting. And with Weemon out of the house almost every day before dawn to go fishing, she's often on her own with them. He looks at the clock on the wall. It's just after 4 a.m. on December 26, 2004. Through the open kitchen window, he can hear the sound of the waves breaking softly on the beach.
15:34Wimon Thongtae:He built this house with his own hands before his oldest daughter, Ratakan, was born eight years ago.
15:40Helen Muesch:It's a modest home on a sliver of land that fronts the beach of Namkem, a village north of Phuket.
15:47Wimon Thongtae:To Weimon, this is heaven. He tiptoes into his daughter's room to give them kisses on their heads. A few weeks ago, Ratakan broke her leg on a fall from a swing, and it's been healing slowly. But she's sleeping peacefully now. He returns to the kitchen, grabs some fruit for lunch, and then steps out into the pre-dawn darkness. Even though it's early, he already feels like he's running late. Namkem is full of fishermen like him, and they often race to the best spots. Get there too late, and you're out of luck. Within a minute, he's on the beach, where his brother, Pra Kong, is loading up the longtail boat.
16:29Wimon Thongtae:These types of boats are everywhere on the Thai coast. They look like enlarged canoes, but they're powered by outboard motors repurposed from car engines. Weimon's boat is big, 30 feet long and 5 feet wide, made of wood. Some other fishermen have upgraded to fiberglass boats, which are lighter and faster in the water. But Wiemann loves his wooden longtail. It has more character. The two men push off from the beach, and Wiemann starts the motor. As they drift into deeper water, he lowers the propeller. Propellers on longtail boats are fastened to the end of long shafts, so the boat can move through the big waves that sometimes pop up out to sea.
17:15Helen Muesch:But as the skies above the jungle brighten, Wiemann feels like it's going to be a placid day on the water. They motor out of the small bay and head south.
17:25Wimon Thongtae:He and Prokong, who's sitting at the front of the boat, barely exchange a word. They've been doing this for so long that their movements are automatic. At the back of the boat, Wiemann turns the accelerator handle and feels the boat pick up speed. He hopes to fill at least four buckets with fish today.
17:48Wimon Thongtae:Seismologist Barry Hirshhorn wakes up from a nap at the sound of the alert on his pager. He glances at his watch. It's just after 3 p.m. here in Hawaii on December 25th. He gets up from the cot that's laid out in the break room of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. This kind of alert means only one thing. There's been an earthquake somewhere on the ocean floor. He hurries into the control room, where his colleague, Stu Weinstein, is staring at a computer screen.
18:19Helen Muesch:What do we got, Stu?
18:20Wimon Thongtae:Stu doesn't look up, engrossed by the data that's coming in.
18:25Helen Muesch:It's huge. The first notices came from two seismic stations in Australia. But now we're getting readings from monitoring stations all over South Asia. It looks like it's centered in the Indian Ocean, west of Indonesia.
18:39Wimon Thongtae:Barry does some mental math. That part of the world is 17 hours ahead of them, which means it's the morning of December 26th, the day after Christmas. Then, Stu says something that makes Barry's blood run cold. Barry, it's at least an eight. Probably more. Barry's eyes go wide. Earthquakes of a magnitude eight on the Richter scale are rare, which is good because they can be monumentally destructive, especially when they occur under sea, like this one. That's because if the quake causes the seafloor to shift, it displaces all the water above it. The results will be a tsunami that will radiate outward at tremendous speeds.
19:24Wimon Thongtae:And when a tsunami hits land, it can destroy everything in its path. Then a shutter goes through Barrie. As its name suggests, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center's mission is to monitor and send out alerts for the Pacific Ocean. But this tsunami will strike the Indian Ocean, which has no alert system because tsunamis there are extremely rare. And to make matters worse, Barry and his team have no official channels for getting a warning to countries in this wave's path.
Read the full transcript
19:56Helen Muesch:Barry goes to the wall and looks at the map, which is centered on the Pacific. His eyes drift to the bottom left. He runs a finger over Indonesia and Thailand, and he shudders to think of the destruction that may be heading right at them.
20:41The Morning Sun
20:42Wimon Thongtae:grabs an anchor off the floorboards, then drops it into the clear water, careful not to hit his bare feet. He extends a hand to Helen and helps her out of the boat. They start to wade the quarter mile to the beach. Helen looks at him with a wry smile. You think we should have woken up, Michael? Ed laughs. Their 23-year-old grandson got back to the boat late last night, very late. Ed is sure the young man will be asleep until at least noon. Maybe he'll be up just in time to join us for dinner. Christmas yesterday was lovely. Ed, Helen, and Michael exchanged gifts on board, surrounding a little fake Christmas tree that Ed bought in a souvenir shop.
21:24Wimon Thongtae:Later, they all went ashore to gather at a restaurant with friends they'd met on their circumnavigation. Ed's late son, Jesse, was never far from his mind, but he found comfort in the nearness of family and support of friends. And Helen seems to have felt it too. After they have breakfast, they go to an internet cafe to check their email, then order two coffees to go. Hand in hand, they stroll along the boardwalk that faces the beach. This strip of sand and boardwalk that connects the two ends of Pee Pee Dawn is narrow, just a few hundred yards wide. Ed stops to look in the window of a souvenir shop.
22:02Wimon Thongtae:Then he hears Helen's voice.
22:05Helen Muesch:Ed, where did all the water in the bay go? Ed turns and looks toward the bay where less than an hour ago they'd anchored their dinghy.
22:14Wimon Thongtae:But the water is gone. Where once there was water is now exposed seabed and reefs. Fish flop desperately, the sun glinting off their scales. It's as if the bay is a giant bathtub whose plug has just been pulled. Everyone along the boardwalk has stopped, transfixed by the site. Helen points at the dinghy. It's where they left it, maybe a quarter mile from the beach, but instead of floating in three feet of water, it's resting atop a shelf of wet rock. Ed has an unsettling thought.
22:49Helen Muesch:Oh my God. What if Tahlequah is grounded too?
22:53Wimon Thongtae:But then he realizes how absurd that sounds. It can't be grounded. They anchored the sailboat in 20 feet of water. He peers into the distance and is reassured when he sees its mast bobbing in the waves. What a relief. Helen turns to him.
23:11Helen Muesch:This is the strangest tide I've ever seen. Yeah, if we're going to get back to Tahlequah anytime soon, I guess we'll have to drag the dinghy to the water.
23:21Wimon Thongtae:Helen nods, and they start the long, slippery walk across the exposed seabed toward their little boat.
23:31Helen Muesch:Seismologist Barry Hirshhorn slams the phone down in frustration and stares out the window of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. From the west, the late afternoon sun casts a golden glow on the palm trees that line the parking lot below. But he doesn't even notice. All he's focused on is trying to get a tsunami warning to Indonesia, Thailand, and other countries near the massive undersea earthquake
23:58Wimon Thongtae:his team detected 30 minutes ago. But so far, their efforts have been in vain. He turns toward the set of international clocks on the wall. It's almost 10.30 a.m. in Thailand. Assuming there is a tsunami, it will hit the country's west coast any minute. If this were a tsunami in the Pacific Ocean, Barry would know what to do. There are protocols in place for countries like Japan and the Philippines to warn people to evacuate the coast and flee to higher ground. But the center's alert system does not extend to countries bordering the Indian Ocean. So Barry and his colleagues are trying to raise government officials in those countries by phone.
24:39Wimon Thongtae:It's felt futile, though. They don't know who to call. And even if they reach someone, language barriers mean they can't get the message across. Barry walks over to his colleague, Stu Weinstein, whose eyes have been glued to his computer monitor ever since the alarm went off. Barry leans over Stu's shoulder.
24:59Helen Muesch:What's the latest data say?
25:01Wimon Thongtae:Stu shakes his head, eyes still fixed on the scrolling numbers on his screen.
25:06Helen Muesch:The fault line is enormous. It's at least 800 miles long, and the magnitude readings keep going up.
25:13Wimon Thongtae:Finally, Stu turns in his chair and meets Barry's gaze.
25:17Helen Muesch:The initial tremors lasted for over eight minutes. I think this one is going to come in at over a nine. Barry feels dumbstruck. A nine on the Richter scale? Stretched over 800 miles? It defies belief. This will be one of the largest earthquakes in recorded history. And that means it's almost certainly creating one of the largest tsunamis in recorded history. Barry imagines two vast sections of the Earth's crust, one sliding under another. deep on the ocean floor.
25:51Wimon Thongtae:Then he imagines it lifting all the water above it until gravity brings the water back down and sends a wave in all directions. Over deep water, the wave will be small, barely a foot high. Someone on a boat in the middle of the ocean might feel just a small bump, but as the tsunami nears land and the depth of the water becomes shallower, the wave will get higher. And like all ocean waves, tsunamis have a trough, a shallow dip in the water that precedes the wave. What's especially devious about some tsunamis is that the trough can be massive, sucking the water away from shore like a strong tide.
26:31Wimon Thongtae:Without a tsunami warning, people will often walk out onto the beach to watch the strange occurrence when they should be running for higher ground. Barry looks at the clock again, feeling helpless, If they can't reach the right authorities, he can't imagine how many people are probably still on the beaches, completely unaware of the danger they're in.
26:58Wimon Thongtae:Monica Ribeiro gets out of the shuttle bus in the village of Cow Lock and waits impatiently as her parents pay the fare. It's almost 10.30 in the morning, and they're only now getting to the beach. After last night's Christmas dinner at the resort, she and her parents overslept. They miss the hotel's free shuttle to the beach, and then it took her father forever to convince the hotel to run the bus again for a fee. Monica shuffles her feet anxiously. They have just a few days left in Thailand before they fly back home to Macau, and she wants to spend every minute she can in the water. Finally, her father gets his change from the driver, and they start making their way through the stands of palm trees toward the beach.
27:42Wimon Thongtae:But when she gets to the beach, she stops dead in her tracks.
27:46Helen Muesch:The water, which is usually lapping gently onto the sand, is nowhere to be seen. She turns back to her father. Dad, what happened to the ocean? I'm not sure. Must be a low tide.
28:00Wimon Thongtae:Her mother arranges their towels on the sand. She doesn't seem bothered that the water is now 100 yards away. But Monica is annoyed. Now she can't even snorkel.
28:11Helen Muesch:But beyond that, there's something eerie about it all. There's just so much exposed seabed. Boats that had been anchored in the water are now marooned in the sand. A number of people are wandering around, pointing further out to sea.
28:26Wimon Thongtae:For a second, she wants to go back to the resort.
28:29Helen Muesch:At least there she can swim in the pool. But then she remembers how hard her father worked to arrange for the shuttle, and how her parents surprised her with scuba diving lessons this week. She doesn't want to come across as ungrateful or petulant. So when her father suggests that they go explore what the receding ocean has exposed, she agrees. And what they find are fish.
28:53Wimon Thongtae:Dying fish. It pains Monica to see them struggling, suffocating, without water. When she and her dad find depressions in the seabed where the water is pooled, they throw the fish in them. But there are so many. There's no way they can save them all.
29:11Helen Muesch:Then she hears her father cry out in pain. She turns around and he's lifted up his bare foot. It's bleeding.
29:20Wimon Thongtae:This coral is sharp. Monica nods.
29:23Helen Muesch:You probably should have worn flip-flops like me. Are you okay? Yeah, but it hurts to walk on. I'm going to go back to mom. Don't go out too far.
29:33Wimon Thongtae:I won't. As her father heads back toward her mom, Monica resumes her walk. She passes a long-tailed boat, now lodged in the muck. She finds these vessels fascinating, so she stops to look more closely at the ornate carvings in its wood. Then, from a distance, she hears her mother's voice screaming her name. Monica jerks her head around toward the tree line and sees, in the distance, her mother waving frantically. It looks like she's trying to get Monica's attention, trying to get her to hurry back to the beach. Her mom must be worried that she's straying too far out onto the exposed seabed. Monica sighs.
30:16Wimon Thongtae:She's 13. When will her mom trust that she can take care of herself?
30:21Helen Muesch:Monica starts to head back in their direction. And as she gets closer, she hears her mother's voice again. Only this time, what she screams is just one word. Run.
30:37Wimon Thongtae:Wiman Tongtay sits back in his long-tailed boat and bites into a slice of watermelon. He and Prakong decided to take lunch early, given how successful the morning's catch was. They'd been fishing since just after dawn, and now, close to 10.30 a.m., they've filled four large buckets with fish, hitting their goal for the whole day. After lunch, they'll take the fish to the market. Wiman looks around as he eats. The sun is beating down on them relentlessly, and he squints as he counts the other long-tail boats. There are at least two dozen. He recognizes some of them as his neighbors back in Nam Kem, about six miles north up the coastline.
31:19Wimon Thongtae:His gaze drifts down toward the water and his chewing slows. A few minutes ago, this water was crystal clear. Now it's cloudy, as if something has been churning the seafloor. He leans over the side of his boat and peers closer. That's weird, he thinks. Even though it's murky, he can see rocks. But they were in several dozen feet of water before. Even when the water was clear, there was no way to see the seabed at this depth. He looks toward the beach, which has grown in size. The tide has gone out, he realizes. He calls out to his brother, who's sitting at the other end of the boat. You see that?
32:01Wimon Thongtae:Percong nods.
32:03Helen Muesch:Yeah, it's strange. Hey, cut me off another slice of watermelon.
32:08Wimon Thongtae:Weemon grabs the knife and goes to cut off another slice. Just then, he feels his body pressing down into his seat.
32:16Helen Muesch:The watermelon rolls off his lap, and the knife clatters to the floor of the boat. For a second, he thinks they've been rammed by another long tail.
32:25Wimon Thongtae:He tries to sit up, but the force keeping him down is too great. A split second later, the momentum reverses, and he's weightless as the boat and everything in it starts plummeting down. He looks toward the beach, but it's hidden behind a massive wall of water. That must be what he felt just now. A huge swell that lifted their boat and then dropped it down again. And as it moves over shallower water, its height grows, until it blocks the view of the entire coastline. Trees and all. It's that huge. And then, Weemon hears screams.
33:19Helen Muesch:Olivia Su squints out the side of the covered boat as it nears the Emerald Cave, just off Thailand's southwest coast. Olivia is 17 and lives in Malaysia. Every year, the Suis take a big family trip to Thailand. And this year, they've decided to visit one of Thailand's most famous attractions, the Emerald Cave. It's on the island of Kamuk. And the cave leads to a secluded lagoon with a gorgeous interior beach surrounded by limestone cliffs on all sides. The Su family are taking up a lot of seats on the boat. Olivia and her mother are there. plus her stepfather, her brother, his girlfriend, and her two sisters.
34:01Helen Muesch:Finally, the boat slows as the pilot cuts the motor. Olivia sees the opening in the rock, just 60 feet away. The only access to Emerald Cave is through a long tunnel whose roof sits just above the waterline. Because the opening is so small, boats can't fit. So if you want to get to the secluded beach, you have to swim through the tunnel or ride a jet ski. Everyone on the boat stands up and gets ready to jump into the water, but Olivia looks down to see her mother still in her seat. Come on, Mom, it's time. But her mom casts a worried look at the tunnel. A group of visitors is emerging, and they look tired from the swim.
34:43Helen Muesch:Maybe I'll just stay here. You can't. We came all this way, and it won't be the same without you. Her mom still hesitates. Please, Mom, I really want you to come. Besides, you'll be bored just sitting on the boat waiting for us. Okay, okay, I'll go. Olivia smiles, and they all don life jackets before getting into the warm waters. Some guests dive right off the boat's edge, but Olivia's mom climbs carefully down into the water. Her life jackets snug around her. The Suez swim slowly toward the tunnel. Once inside the narrow opening, Olivia sees there's a rope stretched along the tunnel's length that they can use to haul themselves forward.
35:25Helen Muesch:Olivia decides she'll just swim, but her mother holds onto the rope. Olivia grins. See, her mom had nothing to worry about. The tunnel is 260 feet long, and they're about 100 feet into it when Olivia senses something strange. It's a sound, a deep sound that seems to be getting louder. It's coming from behind them. She turns around and sees, through the opening, a huge wave bearing down on them. She looks up at the roof of the tunnel, just a few feet above her head. There's so much water rushing toward them, she worries that in seconds, the tunnel is going to be completely flooded, and they're all going to be underwater.
36:10Helen Muesch:She turns and starts swimming as hard as she can toward where the cave opens up onto the beach. If they don't get out of this tunnel fast, they're going to drown.
36:23Helen Muesch:Ed Moosh and his wife Helen lift the dinghy and drag it slowly across the muddy seabed. They're trying to haul it back out to the water, but Ed can see they still have a ways to go. It's strange to think that only an hour ago, the dinghy was bobbing in three feet of water. Ed grunts, and together the couple moves the boat another few feet. Although the dinghy itself is light, it's powered by a heavy outboard motor, and that's making for a slow, sweaty slog. He straightens up for a minute and wipes his brow. It's just after 10.30 in the morning, but it's already sweltering. He's excited to get the dinghy back in the water so they can return to the Tahlequah.
37:06Helen Muesch:He wants to relax, maybe go for a swim. Their grandson, Michael, who they left sleeping aboard the Tahlequah, must be wondering where they are. Ed looks out toward the waterline, which is still a few hundred yards away. A large powerboat is cutting through the water in the distance. It appears to be headed in their direction. Ed wonders if the boat's captain knows he's about to run out of water. Sure enough, he sees a cloud of sand kick up as the boat runs aground. Ed shakes his head. That boat's going to need a new propeller, he thinks. Just then, Helen points to the left. Ed sees a fisherman scrambling out of his long-tailed boat and pulling it onto an exposed sandbar.
37:50Helen Muesch:He catches sight of Ed and Helen and starts waving his arms above his head, pointing at the beach behind them. Helen frowns. What's he saying? Ed's not sure. For a moment, Ed and Helen stare at the man, who looks back over his shoulder, then turns again and motions frantically. Ed tries to see what the man was looking at farther out to sea, And then he sees it. A thin white line stretching across where the horizon meets the sky. It's a wave. And it's bigger than any wave Ed has ever seen in his life. Monica Ribeiro breathes heavily as she stares in awe at the wave on the horizon. She's out of breath from rushing back to her parents after her mom yelled for her to run.
38:39Helen Muesch:The wave is huge. an endless line that stretches across the horizon. Next to her, her dad takes photos. He seems entranced, but her mother is frantically packing up their stuff. JJ, put the camera down. We have to run. At first, Monica thinks her mom is overreacting because of her recurring nightmare. She told Monica about it once, a terrifying image of a huge, relentless wave churning toward her and her loved ones. Monica feels certain that the wave coming in is just the water that will refill the bay. It won't even reach them. But as she watches, it grows bigger and bigger. She sees it reach a gunmetal gray ship that had been beached by the receding tide.
39:26Helen Muesch:Now, the wave lifts the boat as if it's a child's bath toy. Then she hears it. A rushing water sound that grows in intensity. She realizes that this isn't going to stop at the shoreline. The other bystanders on the beach start to run. Her parents yell for Monica to run too. Monica does as she's told. She sprints toward the tree line, passing through the stand of palm trees. She looks back and sees her parents running behind her. Her eyes lock onto her father's. She sees something in them she's never seen before. Fear. And then he screams at her. Go, go, go! She turns and runs faster. She glances over her shoulder again to see the water is consuming the beach, uprooting beach umbrellas and spitting chairs everywhere.
40:18Helen Muesch:She looks again at her father. Where did mom go? But her dad keeps yelling, his eyes fixed on hers. She tries to run faster, the roar of the water gaining on her. She turns back one more time and now can't see either of her parents. But her father's words echo in her brain. Go!
40:38Ed Muesch:Go! Go!
41:07Helen Muesch:If you'd like to learn more about this event, we recommend the books Wave of Destruction by Eric Krause, Rising Above the Wave by Edward Moosh, and Surviving a Tsunami at 13 by Monica Ribeiro Connolly. I'm your host, Cassie DePeckel. Steve Fennessy wrote this episode. Sound design by Rob Schieliga. Audio engineer is Sergio Enriquez. Original theme music, Scott Velasquez and 2K for Fries on Sync. Fact-checking by Alyssa Jung Perry. Produced by Emily Frost Managing producer is Desi Blaylock Senior producers are Andy Herman and Austin Reckless Executive producers are Jenny Lara Beckman and Marsha Louis For Wondery
From the publisher
On the morning of December 26th, 2004, a 9.1 earthquake struck in the Indian Ocean, triggering a tsunami. Along Thailand’s west coast, tourists like Ed and Helen Muesch, and residents like fisherman Wimon Thongtae went about their days, as usual. They were all unaware that a massive wave was heading straight toward them. By the time they realized the threat, they had only seconds to react and try to survive what would become the deadliest natural disaster on record. Order your copy of the new Against the Odds book, How to Survive Against the Odds: Tales & Tips for Animal Attacks and Natural Disasters, for stories of everyday people confronted by life-or-death situations, showing you how they survived—and how you can too. Learn more at SurvivalGuidebook.com.
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