His father and mother had sacrified time with their son by sending him to Bangkok for an education. And it had only been in recent years Duk had returned to his island village home. It had taken him time to understand that his parents had not sent him away because they didn't want him, but becuase they loved him enough to get him the best education they could. Duk had finally reached a point where he had regained a close and loving relationship with his parents after the many years of separation.
Duk had worked at the Golden Buddha Beach resort on the island for about a year. Shortly before Christmas he traded it in for a job in Bangkok. His mother and father remained on the island. His mother at the resort and his father a fisherman of Bak Jok village.
Duk spoke with his mother at least 2 - 3 times a day. At a minimum he called her when he got up in the morning and in the evening when he got home. He missed the company of his family and community on Bak Jok. Duk was on the phone to his mother who was asking him if they were safe when she was swept away by the tsunami. It was he who had to search for and identify her body.
His dog actually tracked down the body and now it won't stray more than a few feet away from him. His parents had been married for over 40 years and his father is still grieving deeply for his wife. Duke and his father now live in temporary housing at the Kuraburi Pier camp. When I say temporary I mean extremely temporary, but it's a step up from the tents they were in at first.
Not only did Duk lose his mother, but in total he lost 14 members of his family. All from Bak Jok. He also lost many village neighbors and friends.
Duk's strength in the face of such personal disaster is humbling. Acting as a translator for NATR he helps with sorting out the needs of survivors at the temporary camp. Amazingly when he gets too close to a problem in his village he will say he's the wrong person to ask about something that we need a more impartial answer. He also looks for inequalities in how Thai survivors are treated and other non-Thai tribes or immigrants such as the Moken and the Burmese.
My relationship with the Thai translators and many of the long-stay volunteers evolved into one of being a Mom. Duk became Number 1 son. Pa (Thai, pronounced Ba) became Number 1 daughter. Peach (Thai) and Jel (Dutch volunteer) became Number 2 Twin daughters. Nim (Thai) became Number 3 daughter. And Chris (US volunteer) became Number 3 son.
