Phuket Parish: Anger, prayers and solidarity among survivors
There is need of food, houses and work to restore the economy of the area, based on tourism. Christians are working as "translators" between foreigners and local people.
Phuket (AsiaNews) The Thai people have a "very profound" religious sense and they are seeking comfort in their faith for their "immense pain". Fr Peter Bancha Apichartvorakul, parish priest of the Catholic Church of the Assumption of Phuket, told AsiaNews about the pain of people " who have lost their loved ones, their home, their work" and who search for relief "in masses held every day" and in revering "relatives who disappeared by participating in their funeral".
Fr Bancha emphasised the commitment of Catholics who "sought in all ways to help people who have lost everything". People need "food, homes and work to restore the economy of the region, largely based on tourism."
"Besides," continued Fr Bancha, "Many local people do not speak English, so Christians are serving even as interpreters and they are fast becoming a point of reference for foreign relief workers who want to communicate with people from the place."
The tragedy which struck the coast of Thailand "has shocked people", but even "greater is anger, because no warning came from the competent authorities".
The seaquake "took everyone by surprise", said the parish priest, because "it was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and people were enjoying the holiday. All of a sudden, the wave came and it struck the defenseless people, who were powerless to take shelter."
The reason why thousands of people died lies in "the lack of alarm signals or other signs which could have averted the tragedy". The "anger and reproach of people is evident" because with a little more attention, "plenty of lives could have been saved", and the tragedy "would have assumed lesser proportions".
In these days, said Fr Bancha, the most pressing problem is a "lack of food", but in future the real problem "will be thousands of homeless people who live in southern Thailand: they have lost their home and have nowhere to live. We must help them to find a new home and new work: we want to guarantee them the possibility of building their life anew." For the moment, displaced people have found refuge "in churches, temples and parks", but the commitment of Christians is to identify "a new means of livelihood for them as soon as possible".
Solidarity and closeness are not lacking in this difficult moment: even those struck by the tragedy "are busying themselves recovering corpses, sustaining those in difficulty and in need." The situation is "critical in the coastal area, the worst-hit by the sea quake", while further inland and in the cities "there was no great upheaval and people are trying to go on with life as usual, as far as possible". (DS).
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