Two Wairarapa people safe in Thailand | Wairarapa News | Local News in Wairarapa

Two Wairarapa mothers are counting their blessings today with news that their children have survived the south Asian tidal wave that has killed more than 20,000 people.

Masterton woman Pauline Clark has a son, Ace, working on Phuket and Marge Copestake from Eketahuna has a daughter Pamela who was holidaying on the Thai tourist resort island when the tidal wave struck.

News reports say that hundreds of people including tourists died when the tidal wave struck the island.

Mrs Copestake said that her daughter had told her that she was on a boat tour when without warning the pleasure boat headed back to shore and the occupants rushed to higher ground prior to the wave hitting the island.

"We are so blessed. My daughter is okay", she said.

Pamela, the South East Asia finance manager with General Electric Company based in Singapore was on holiday at Phuket with her English born secondary school teacher husband Simon and Simon's brother.

Mrs Copestake said that the first she knew of the disaster was when her son David rang.

He said that he had some news and that Pamela was okay.

I said what are you talking about and he explained what had happened.

Her daughter was now flying back to Singapore.

She had spoken only briefly to Pamela who had described the scene as chaotic.

There had been a lucky escape too for Mrs Clark's son.

She told the newspaper that Ace, a cabinet maker, had recently relocated inland after finishing a job on the beach area.

His Thai wife Sorn and their daughter were also safe.

If he had still been working in the beach area it could have been very different, she said.

She had been able to speak to Ace for only a few minutes before being cut off but he had reported a scene of devastation.

Mrs Clark said she would visit her son as soon as possible

An estimated two million people have been left homeless by the waves unleased when the biggest earthquake in 40 years struck off the Indonesian Island of Sumatra.

One New Zealand has been confirmed dead.

The worst affected areas are Sri Lanka and India but damage has and loss of life has also been reported in Thailand, Malaysia, and the Maldives.