Background				Tsunami damage Waves approaching Railay Beach Smashed longtail boats on the beach
		January 2005 Having just returned from somewhere many will never return from, we all feel blessed. With this feeling comes a great sense of loyalty, loyalty to a place and to people we have visited over the past few years. As a group we have been visiting Railay in Southern Thailand over the last 5 years, each time we visit we remember what a special place it is, and why it is we keep coming back. We have all made great friends there, infact many of us met each other in Railay. This year, more than ever, we realized how much it means to us all. It's a very special, very beautiful place. Someone said 'the evening light reflects off the cliffs and makes everybody beautiful there' - It's true. Railay got off relatively lightly on December 26th, for some reason the wave was not as strong there as in many of the surrounding beaches. But nevertheless, many people were injured and some were killed. Most of the boats in the bay were flung up onto the beach and smashed to pieces, crashing into and damaging many of the beachfront buildings. We watched as the wave swept up the beach, through the palm trees, coming to a stop just yards from our bungalow. When we walked along the beaches the following day we saw boats pierced into bungalows, upturned dingys in the gardens, even a longtail boat floating in the Railay Bay swimming pool! After the wave we talked a lot about what we could do to help, everybody has their own ideas about giving, but we all agreed that whatever we do it should have a personal aspect. There are already so many funds and charities set up to help the people in all the affected regions, so much money is needed it makes us all feel a bit helpless. So, we decided to concentrate most of our efforts on the people we know in Railay who were directly affected. These are people we have spent much time with over the years, they had set up small businesses, working with tourists around Railay. They lost their homes and/or their livelihoods in the tsunami. We would also like to help some of the local children and schools that have been affected.