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Reporter Jack Barton was an eyewitness to the tsunami disaster and covered the story and its aftermath for AFP (French newswire).
HBO:
Did anything in your prior experience prepare you for what you encountered? When did you realize the enormity of the situation?
JACK BARTON:
If viewed in fragments, each situation encountered had parallels to other tragic events covered in the past, but nothing prepared me for the scale of the crisis.
The first time the enormity of the tsunami began to dawn on me was as AFP photographer Saeed Khan and I approached Khao Lak and saw vehicles of all descriptions transporting shrouded bodies south. Then we rounded the last bend of the hill leading to the main resort strip and the full enormity of the disaster lay before us in a landscape torn bare of vegetation and solid structures. Between this point and the town of Takuapa we would count the remains of more than 2000 victims.
HBO:
What was it like reporting amidst such chaos and tragedy?
JACK BARTON:
A large part of myself remained as detached as possible from the scene. That was not always possible, but there is a 'space' that automatically materializes in such a situation from covering traumatic events in harsh situations in the past.
There is also a sort of 'black humor' reporters and photographers tend to develop to shield themselves from the tragedy around them. That's not to say what I saw during the tsunami did not profoundly affect me.
But those thoughts and emotions were put aside at the time and only allowed to emerge later in an environment away from the actual scene.
HBO:
There must have been many moments when you had to stop reporting and just assist help with the tragedy. Can you share any of those experiences?
JACK BARTON:
This happened frequently in the first 48 hours. Many of the victims were German package tourists who spoke no English or Thai. With a rudimentary knowledge of German and Thai there were times I had to assist people communicate. During these periods it was natural to be very affected by the crisis as the things being communicated were usually highly distressing. It required a concerted effort to adjust back to a sense of 'distance' after these encounters.
HBO:
Can you describe what it was like when you tried to report on the cremation of victims?
JACK BARTON:
On a personal level I sympathized with the monks cremating the remains. There were hundreds of bodies laying beside their temple in an rapidly accelerating state of decay. At any given time there were three or four pick-up trucks dropping off more remains.
Completely unprepared for this task they were also trying to shelter and feed Westerner tourists who had survived and, more incredibly, had set up a free internet and international telephone service to allow people to contact loved ones. They simply felt overwhelmed and did the only thing they knew. I reported it with a sense of it being a fact of the tsunami as well as the need to stop it so relatives could find closure.
HBO:
When did you realize developers were grabbing land from the locals?
Was it difficult getting that story told?
JACK BARTON:
Soon after entering Ban Nam Khem, where roughly half the population perished, I began hearing stories of land-grabbing. One survivor had fled the town for only 24 hours to return to a house guarded by armed thugs. That person was not allowed to remove the bodies of relatives or personal items, but commanded to leave and not return. These stories were common, and it did become a burning issue in the Thai press.
But it was a hard story to press upon an international audience understandably grieving in the immediate aftermath for their own significant losses in Thailand.
HBO:
What's happened with all the oceanfront property since development began?
JACK BARTON:
Some old resorts have been rebuilt, but the land-snatchers probably soon realized that Khao Lak may never rebound as a major tourist destination and most of the shoreline remains deserted or dotted with shattered building. That did not stop these would-be-developers from holding on to the land, and most of these disputes are still being fought out in Thai courts.
HBO:
Are you still in touch with any of the villagers?
How are they doing?
JACK BARTON:
I remain in touch with a few people who helped Saeed and I while we covered the tsunami. After a long haul they are finally getting their lives back on track.
That is not to say they have completely moved on or will ever completely recover from what happened.
HBO:
Were there any particular stories or experiences that you were NOT able to report on?
JACK BARTON:
Yes, there was one powerful story I consciously decided not to report, though would have if I had stumbled on to it a week earlier when a report could have made a difference. But because that story would still serve no good, and probably cause great pain to some people, there will probably never be a right time to tell it.
HBO:
How did the tragedy affect you personally? Are you a different person as a result of covering it?
JACK BARTON:
The tsunami did not change me as such, as whatever subtle changes that may have been wrought on my psyche by such events have undoubtedly be shaped covering past stories. However, there were certainly moments of intense reflection after I returned to Bangkok and the brief pang of intense emotion most people, in my experience, tend to express privately around the moment they leave the scene of such an event.
HBO:
Are there any happy developments/stories to report in recent months?
JACK BARTON:
Thailand has largely rebounded in a material sense though the plight of relatives and partners of the perhaps more than a thousand 'invisable' Burmese who died in Thailand remains dire. Burmese victims were mostly illegal migrant workers whose remains were left unclaimed because identifying remains for Burmese meant arrest and either incarceration or deportation.
On the second anniversary there is still not so much as a plaque for these Burmese who were driven by poverty and oppression to take underpaid jobs building and working in hotels for foreign tourists to Thailand. In Indonesia's Bandah Aceh province a ceasefire with separatist rebels announced in the wake of the tsunami is still holding. However, two years on many people there are still living in tents.
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