IN THAILAND Tilly Smith, the 11-year-old from Oxshott in Surrey who was one of the heroes of the disaster, read a poem written by a Thai but translated into English.

Tilly raised the alarm while on holiday with her parents Colin and Penny. When the waters receded she recognised the signs of an imminent tsunami from her geography lessons at Danes Hill Preparatory School, and warned others to leave the beach.

In three elaborate ceremonies at Phi Phi Island, Phuket and Khao Lak, where 129 of the 141 British victims died, senior Thai officials including Thaksin Shinawatra, the Prime Minister, were flown in by helicopter to give speeches.

However, the occasion was also marked by charges that the Government was more concerned with rebuilding its tourist trade than remembering the 5,400 people who perished on its beaches.

At Phi Phi Island, where 37 Britons died, relatives listened to speeches promoting the Thai tourist industry and a tsunami song, It’s time to heal, it’s time to smile, was played throughout the morning. James Judd, from the Wirral, who came from Phuket for the day, said: “This is all so surreal. It gives me the shivers.”

Technicians faded the song as Surakiat Sathirathai, the Deputy Prime Minister and Thailand’s nominee to replace Kofi Annan as Secretary-General of the United Nations, called for the souls of the victims to “rest in peace and tranquillity”.

What the Deputy Prime Minister did not see were notices in Thai around the memorial area protesting that Mr Thaksin had reneged on pledges to have Phi Phi rebuilt within a year. “We never got the money or help you promised,” the notices said.

Locals complained that huge sums were being spent on promoting events such as yesterday’s, with the Government bringing in a Thai entertainment company with a record label and many stars on its books to choreograph events.

Some Thais and expatriates boycotted official commemorations and held their own ceremony at the opposite end of the beach. One Thai left the official event saying she “did not feel comfortable”.

Bilitis Somritsuk, 28, an advertising executive from Bangkok, said: “This is not right. This is like a circus. It seems all about money. It’s not the way we normally do things.”

Natawut Khaenthong, a local tour operator, said: “The Government never asked local people for a single word of what we want and what kind of rites or ceremonies should be held.”

In Khao Lak, 50 miles north of Phuket, where most of the British victims died, similar misgivings were expressed. “The Government is organising a jolly celebration party, not a memorial service,” Nantaya Saphanthong, a representative of the all-but-obliterated Ban Nam Khem village, said.

Although Mr Thaksin did not refer to tourism in his speech at Khao Lak, he told Asian tourists afterwards: “Please tell your fellow Japanese and Chinese back home to stop fearing ghosts and return to this region again.”

REMEMBERING THE VICTIMS

“We just wanted to come, to come to see them. We miss them so much. We just want to be together”
Jaysar Gul, from Istanbul, mourning his daughter and her British fiancé

“Somehow I still hold out hope that I will find them but I leave everything in the hands of God”
Tuti Suyanti, 32, an Indonesian, who lost two children and ten relatives

“We lost only our luggage, money. But the people here, they lost everything: relatives, jobs, homes. We left and the Thais had to stay and suffer”
Japan van Loenan, Dutch tourist

“I remember seeing helicopters passing overhead 11 times and several times relief planes but they did not spot me and finally a wave threw me back on the shore”
Meghna Raj Shekhar, 14, from Nicobar Island, India

“I remembered how my parents were swept away. When I grow up I do not want to be a fisherman like my father. I want to be the President of India”
S. Murugapandi, 11, who lost both parents and his two sisters

“You want to talk about changes. We’ve seen nothing. Many promises of aid, but that’s all we get - promises . . . [the anniversary] just means we have existed for one year”
Baihqi, 24, Banda Aceh

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