One of the hardest things to grasp when your in the thick of the rubble and destruction that the tsunami left behind....

is the overwhelming loss of life that this part of the world entertained and what's even further touching is to speak directly with those that still, after 5 months, are grieving for their lost loved ones.

On Koh Phi Phi everybody knows who An is. He's out everynight in the bars with a big 6 inch grin spread across his face that never seems to leave. He's about 40 year's old, a bit sun weathered, but loved by everybody. Up until 7 years ago he was a big time muay thai kickboxer fighting in the biggest arenas and fights in Bangkok (the mecca for fighters). In the last 7 years he moved he, his wife and their 2 children to Koh Phi Phi to lead a bit of a more relaxed life and just teach boxing on the island.

His wife of 14 years worked at one of the 5 star resorts right on Sunset Beach (roughly where the lone palm frond is laid in my picture of Sunset Beach in "the islands" entry). On the morning of Dec. 26th she went to work just as she did the other days of the week- and An was on the other side of the island.

An is a title fighter and a very tough dude complete with the rippley shins of a kickboxer hardened by kicking banana trees, but after talking to him in very broken English for only about 2 minutes he pulled his wallet out from his gym shorts and showed me a picture of his wife. She was apparently part of what people called the "smoothie" on Dec. 26th. A mixture of people, bungalows, mirrors, kayaks, coconut palms, etc. all swirling through the streets of Phi Phi at about 10:30 AM.

An was obviously taken back when he looked at the photo of his wife- which I'm sure he has looked at hundreds of times in the past. It was a faded photo with the two of them embracing grinning smiles with their arms around each other. I turned to look at a little exhibition kickboxing match that was going on and in the 4 or 5 minutes that we weren't talking, I saw An out of the corner of my eye pull his wallet out at least 2 more times and look at her picture.

He says sometimes he will see something that reminds him of his wife and will cry for most of the day. A legendary thai kickboxer, argueably one of the toughest sports there is- definitely the toughest guy on the island, crying all day by himself on a destroyed limestone island that was once everything to him and his family. The kids survived, but do not live on the island anymore. This is one story, about one woman that lost her life, on one island- there are well over 200,000 more stories just like this one from this region. Uncomprehendable.

An spends most of his days fishing now and EVERY night in the bars. The local people say he drinks too much, but it seems that it may be the only thing that gives him a break from reality for a few hours. He'll spend time on the dance floor dancing the night away with a big smile on his face, but inside he's struggling. He says he will never leave Koh Phi Phi because his wife is here somewhere.