- Title: THAILAND: MEMORIAL SERVICES AND REMEMBRANCE WALL FOR VICTIMS OF ASIAN TSUNAMI
- Date: 26th January 2005
- Summary: (BN15) PHUKET, THAILAND (JANUARY 26, 2005) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. WIDE VIEW OF BLESSING CEREMONY AT REPATRIATION CENTRE WITH MONKS CHANTING 0.04 2. VARIOUS OF BUDDIST MONKS CHANTING 0.14 3. SMV REPATRIATION CENTRE STAFF PRAYING 0.18 4. VARIOUS OF MONKS CHANTING 0.24 5. SMV REPATRIATION CENTRE STAFF PRAYING 0.29 6. WIDE OF VIEW OF MONKS CHANTING FROM BEHIND 0.33 7. SMV MAN LIGHTING CANDLE ON REMEMBRANCE WALL IN HONOUR OF TSUNAMI VICTIMS 0.40 8. WIDE OF SIGN FOR REMEMBRANCE WALL "WALL OF REMEMBRANCE VICTIMS OF TSUNAMI DISASTER" 0.44 9. SLV FLAGS OF AFFECTED NATIONS ALONG TOP OF WALL 0.50 10. VARIOUS MORE OF PEOPLE LIGHTING CANDLES 0.59 11. CLOSE OF PEOPLE LIGHTING CANDLE UNDER "NEW ZEALAND" SECTION OF WALL 1.03 12. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE LAYING FLOWERS AT REMEMBRANCE WALL 1.11 13. WIDE OF PEOPLE LAYING FLOWERS AT REMEMBRANCE WALL 1.15 14. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE NATIONAL CHAPLAIN DAVID COCKRAM SAYING: "What we're trying to do here is to dedicate a sacred site, a piece of land set aside for those who have lost their lives in the tsunami disaster so that the next of kin, the families, the mothers and fathers, the brothers and sisters, the uncles and aunts, the grandparents, can know that there is a site dedicated and set aside for their loved ones, so that they can be decently and with dignity finally sent home" 1.46 15. VARIOUS OF MONKS BLESSING REMEMBRANCE WALL 1.58 NIGHT SHOTS: 16. WIDE OF CANDLE-LIT CEREMONY AT CITY HALL 2.01 17. VARIOUS OF MONKS CHANTING 2.08 18. CLOSE OF CANDLE IN FRONT OF MONK 2.14 19. WIDE OF FOREIGN EMBASSY STAFF PRAYING 2.18 20. VARIOUS OF MONK LIGHTING CANDLES AROUND BOWL OF WATER 2.26 21. SLV CHINESE BUDDHISTS WEARING COSTUMES OF GODS 2.30 22. WIDE OF PEOPLE PRAYING 2.35 23. VARIOUS OF ABBOT BLESSING PEOPLE BY SPRAYING THEM WITH WATER 2.52 24. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) LOCAL CULTURAL CENTRE PROFESSOR PRANEE SAKULPIPATANA SAYING: "Tonight people come because we have a lot of sad stories and we feel that yes, we have to hold our spirits up" 3.03 25. PAN OF CEREMONY 3.07 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 10th February 2005 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: PHUKET, THAILAND
- Country: Thailand
- Reuters ID: LVA3BDCWWS2749A3PWX4M7FS2UK8
- Story Text: Memorial ceremonies remember tsunami victims in
Thailand.
One month after the tsunami killed thousands in
southern Thailand, memorial services were held in Phuket to
remember the dead and inspire the living.
At a repatriation centre where the bodies of foreign
victims will be kept until they are identified and sent
home, a wall of remembrance was blessed by Thai monks on
Wednesday (January 26).
In a quiet ceremony attended by around 100 staff and
volunteers at the centre, mourners lay flowers and candles
in memory of the dead.
The simple wooden wall holds the flags of all the
countries that lost people in the disaster, and family and
friends will be able to attach photos and letters in
remembrance of the dead.
David Cockram, the national chaplain for the
Australian Federal Police who also blessed the site, said
he hoped it will provide a comfort to families in what
could be months of waiting for the bodies of their
relatives to be returned.
"What we're trying to do here is to dedicate a sacred site, a piece of
land set aside for those who have lost their
lives in the tsunami disaster so that the next
of kin, the families, the mothers and fathers, the brothers
and sisters, the uncles and aunts, the grandparents, can
know that there is a site dedicated and set aside for their
loved ones, so that they can be decently and with dignity
finally sent home," said David Cockram, national chaplain
for the Australian Federal Police.
On Wednesday evening hundreds gathered for a
candle-lit ceremony in the grounds of Phuket's city hall.
Each sitting behind a candle, they prayed with monks for
the spirits of the victims.
Embassy staff from Austria, Britaina and the
Netherlands were also present to pay their respects.
But local cultural professor Pranee Sakulpipatana said
the ceremony was just as much for the living as for the
dead, designed to give hope after weeks of sadness.
"Tonight people come because we have a lot of sad stories
and we feel that yes, we have to hold our spirits up," she
said.
Monks said they would continue to pray until the early
hours of Tuesday morning.
Over 5,300 people were killed when the giant waves hit
southern Thailand on December 26th, and 3,000 more are
missing.
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