The palm trees are swaying gently in the breeze, the water is crystal clear. Phuket, Thailand is picture perfect and an iconic holiday destination for travellers around the world.
On Boxing Day 2004, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Northern Sumatra resulting in a tsunami that reached as far as South Africa. Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand were worst affected, with collectively more than 200,000 deaths and 1.7 million people displaced.
In this episode, Andrew and Josh are joined by local restauranteur and Executive Manager of the Baan Rim Pa restaurant Group, Sue Ultmann. Sue was born in Australia and has lived and worked in Asia for more than 20 years. Prior to moving to Thailand, she was the Associate Publisher of TravelWeek magazine with staff across 23 countries. Back in 2004, Sue was in Phuket at the time of the tsunami, managing three restaurants within the Baan Rim Pa group.
Today on the show, Sue shares her story and experience from the impact of the tsunami in 2004, how the business community recovered from the disaster, and what advice she has for communities preparing for the threat of a tsunami. Sue also discusses the risk perception in the community to future tsunami and what early warnings were received prior to the impact of the tsunami.
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