PHUKET: British brother and sister Ben and Emily Willgrass, who successfully found the Thai couple who helped them flee from the 2004 tsunami that killed their mother, may be making a documentary about their experience.
An email to Phuketwan advises people who want more information to contact a person at a film company. The British couple are due on Phuket on Sunday.
In an effort to avoid an expected media crush, today's email from Ben reads as follows:
''Thank you for your message. It looks like we have done it. Through the power of social media we have found Yupin and Pichet and we couldn't be happier. We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has helped by sharing our post and getting in contact.
''We are both really looking forward to our trip back to Phuket and cannot wait to see Yupin and Pichet again.
''This will be an incredibly happy moment for us, but this trip will also be very difficult and bring back sad memories of our experiences in the tsunami and the loss of our mother. We would really appreciate it if the press would allow us to meet Yupin and Pichet on our own initially and for them to be given privacy at this time.
''For this reason we have made the decision not to speak to any newspapers or television stations before our reunion with Yupin and Pichet, but we will do an interview afterwards to thank the amazing Thai people for all their help which has been so greatly appreciated.
''Thank you for your understanding.''
As Phuketwan has pointed out, the 10th anniversary of the tsunami is coming on December 26 and the historic occasion cannot be ignored.
The Thai government must mark the occasion with an appropriately solemn commemoration, but should also celebrate the deeds of the heroes and the helpers, the volunteers and the Thai Tsunami Victim Identification unit who managed to return names to all except 388 of the 5400 tourists, Thais and Burmese who perished.
So far, no plans for commemorations in important centres such as Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi and Phi Phi have been announced.
An email to Phuketwan advises people who want more information to contact a person at a film company. The British couple are due on Phuket on Sunday.
In an effort to avoid an expected media crush, today's email from Ben reads as follows:
''Thank you for your message. It looks like we have done it. Through the power of social media we have found Yupin and Pichet and we couldn't be happier. We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has helped by sharing our post and getting in contact.
''We are both really looking forward to our trip back to Phuket and cannot wait to see Yupin and Pichet again.
''This will be an incredibly happy moment for us, but this trip will also be very difficult and bring back sad memories of our experiences in the tsunami and the loss of our mother. We would really appreciate it if the press would allow us to meet Yupin and Pichet on our own initially and for them to be given privacy at this time.
''For this reason we have made the decision not to speak to any newspapers or television stations before our reunion with Yupin and Pichet, but we will do an interview afterwards to thank the amazing Thai people for all their help which has been so greatly appreciated.
''Thank you for your understanding.''
As Phuketwan has pointed out, the 10th anniversary of the tsunami is coming on December 26 and the historic occasion cannot be ignored.
The Thai government must mark the occasion with an appropriately solemn commemoration, but should also celebrate the deeds of the heroes and the helpers, the volunteers and the Thai Tsunami Victim Identification unit who managed to return names to all except 388 of the 5400 tourists, Thais and Burmese who perished.
So far, no plans for commemorations in important centres such as Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi and Phi Phi have been announced.
