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FRIDAY, JULY 18, 2014
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WAVE OF LOVE
‘I’ll never forget that day.’ Yupin Sengmuang says she felt very sorry for the family and just wanted to do her best to help them.
Anthika Muangrod & Alasdair Forbes editor@classactmedia.co.th
T
he power of modern technology saw a happy ending in less than 24 hours on Tuesday (July 15) when a Thai couple who helped a British family 10 years ago after the Asian Tsunami were identified. Ben and Emily Willgrass, were in Phuket on holiday with their
Young Brits find Tsunami saviours 10 years on, thanks to the internet and warm Thai hearts
parents when the tsunami struck on December 26, 2004. Their mother, Louise, was killed by the wave but they and their father were helped by a Phuket couple who took them in and then, because Phuket Airport was shut, drove them to Bangkok. Ben and Emily are planning to return to Phuket on July 20, and wanted to meet the couple to thank them properly. But all they knew
were the names “Upin” and “Pitchat”. This afternoon, just 15 hours after Ben first posted on Facebook, asked for help, the Thai couple have been identified as Pichet and Yupin Sengmuang. One of Pichet’s relatives spotted one of the many reports on the internet and called Khao Sod newspaper, which promptly ran a story online. Ms Yupin is originally from Nakhon Sawan while Mr Pichet
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is from Phattalung. Some 10 years before the tsunami they moved to Phuket to open a food and grocery store just above Trai Trang Beach. Mrs Yupin told the newspaper that after the tsunami, they met the Willgrasses, who were searching for the mother, Louise. They fed them and bedded Ben and Emily down and looked after them while the children’s father, Nigel, continued to search for Louise.
LIFE
LIFE PAGE 8
Americana and ribs in Samkong
SPORT
PAGE 31
Java crew rules the waves