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Memorial Service
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Dr Orapin Dawson and Reverend Philip Ind attended the Memorail service at St Pauls Cathedral on 11 May 2005 to commemorate the UK victims of the Tsunami, also attended by the Queen, Tony Blair and many other leaders of communities in the UK.
 Orapin Dawson, who visited the region in March, was asked to speak at the service. Below is an extract from her speach.
"Good afternoon, Ladies & Gentlemen. It is an honour and a privilege for me to share my experience of Tsunami Disaster with you today.
I visited villages in the worst Tsunami effected area , Khao Lak, Phangnga Province 80 km. north of Phuket in March, on behalf of the Anglo-Thai Society and Maidenhead InterFaith Group, to find out if there would be any village that we can adopt to help rebuild their lives.
Even expecting to see devastation, the evidence of such colossal scale of disaster was unimaginable and overwhelming. In the one village alone, three kilometers of housing simply disappeared.
I met number of affected villagers. One villager Mrs Ratree, lost six of her family; daughter, parents, brother, aunt and nephews and her home. She is now living in a tent, which she has to share with three other families. She has no hope of help.
Another traumatic case was a mother, leaving her two daughters age 9 & 7 having breakfast with her mother to get some gas. She watched as her entire family was swept away by the wave, helpless.
Villagers in Ban Nam Khem are coming to term with the lost of their families, homes and their livelihood. They are trying to rebuild. Having seen their suffering and their positive aptitudes, I feel very humble.
Is there anything we can do to help?
Firstly, I would urge everyone here in the West not to fall into the trap of believing help is no longer needed. It is. People live in tents, with nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Next, I would like to urge the Thai Government to change their policy and consider accepting offers of help from international community.
But we in the West must also honour our pledges of support. It is a tragic state of affairs to promise a lifeline to a drowning person, only to fail to deliver it.
Finally, we need to be aware of the overwhelming love and support bursting from people in Britain so saddened by the enormity of suffering of so many people.
We can make a difference, no matter how little."
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