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Effect of the 2004 Asian tsunami in the sea cave of Tham Phaya Nak (Koh Phi
Phi archipelago, Thailand) and possible evidence of a prehistoric event

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Effect of the 2004 Asian tsunami in the sea cave of

Tham Phaya Nak (Koh Phi Phi archipelago, Thailand) and
possible evidence of a prehistoric event
a
Eric Gilli
a
Geography Department, University of Paris 8, 2, rue de la Liberté, 93526, Saint-Denis Cedex,
France

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 Geodinamica
Geodinamica Acta 23/1-3 (2010) 79-88 Acta
Effect of the 2004 Asian tsunami in the sea cave of Tham Phaya Nak
(Koh Phi Phi archipelago, Thailand)
and possible evidence of a prehistoric event.

Eric Gilli*
Geography Department, University of Paris 8
2, rue de la Liberté, 93526, Saint-Denis Cedex, France
Downloaded by [eric gilli] at 04:55 13 April 2012

Abstract :
Tsunamis may leave traces on the landscapes whose study provides a prehistorical approach and the analysis of possible recurrences.
In karstic areas, caves and speleothems are good recorders for natural or anthropogenic events. They preserve traces of fragile remains
as prehistoric paintings and they have been used for palaeoseismology studies. The effects of the 2004 Asian tsunami on the karstic
shores have been studied in Western Thailand, close to Phuket. Limestone cliffs of Koh Phi Islands and the marine cave of Phi Phi Leh
have been poorly affected, but a prehistoric-event has provoked the deposit of a layer of coral fragments into the cave. This damage
could be attributed to a tsunami but a storm cannot be excluded.
© 2010 Lavoisier SAS. All rights reserved

Keywords: tsunami, karst, coral, speleothems, cave

1. Presentation Meanwhile Dawson and Stewart [10] pointed out that

A major tsunami may provoke the transport of large boul-
ders on variable distances or the deposit of marine sediments:
sand, sea shells, coral fragments, several hundreds of meters
inland. These morphological effects, and the deposits related
to historic events, have been studied since a long time, and
many attempts were done to attribute a tsunami cause to
marine sediments present on shore. The researches on con-
tinental deposits were initiated by Attwater, [1] in Oregon
and Dawson et al., [2] in Scotland. A great number of studies
were conducted all over the word ever since.
Deposits of coral boulders or coarse clasts and sand,
tens to hundreds of meters inland are frequently attributed
to prehistoric tsunamis [3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9].
evidence of tsunami impact has poor preservation potential,
being often difficult to identify except for the largest ones
[11]. In a study on several Carribean islands, Morton et al.
[12] show that deposits previously attributed to tsunamis are
depositional complexes, several centuries old, and are not
entirely the result of tsunamis, but involve important storms.
Except tsunamis, different mechanisms may explain the
presence of marine sediments or blocks inland, sometimes
at high altitudes: glacio-eustatism, hydro-isostasy, glacio-
isostasy, tectonics, storms.
If geological or paleogeographical data are available, the
question of tectonics or eustatism may easily find answers, but
the storms effects are more difficult to estimate. A systematic
sedimentological approach is needed to distinguish between

* Corresponding author.
Tel: + 33 (0)6 16 49 40 46
Email address: e.gilli@wanadoo.fr

doi:10.3166/ga.23.79-88 © 2010 Lavoisier SAS. All rights reserved

 80 Eric Gilli / Geodinamica Acta 23/1-3 (2010) 79-88
THAILAND
Tham Phaya Nak
PHANG NGA
sea cave
(Viking cave)
N sands of years [45, 46]. This remarkable
PHUKET
KRABI
Maya
PHI PHI DON
cave
North PHI PHI LEH
1 km
10 km
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Fig. 1: Location of Phi Phi islands. Fig. 2 : Location of Tham Phaya Nak in
Phi Phi Leh island (7°41.6N, 98°45.0E).
storm and tsunami deposits. Recent works focused on tsunami
effects after the Papua New Guinea (1998) [3, 14], and the
Indian Ocean (2004) events [15,16] and several research axis
were defined to characterize the sedimentary features of tsunami
deposits [16]. The importance of the backwash is outlined [17,
10] and several criteria were defined by different authors, as
internal stratification of the deposit [15], sediment grain size
[18] and micropaleontology [19, 20].
Boulder complexes deposited by tsunamis are easier to
study [10]; storm waves and tsunamis can likely achieve the
same results, but storm waves need to be much larger at the
shore [21, 22]. The equations of Nott [23] are often used to
define if the transport was caused by storms or by tsunamis.
Several studies are focused on boulders in New Zealand [24,
25], in Mediterraneean sea [26, 27, 28, 29, 30], in the Caribbean
zone [12, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35], in Australia [21, 36], in Japan [37].
2. Research of traces in marine caves
The idea to use marine caves as paleotsunami natural
recorders is not new. In the Caribbean zones calcareous
conglomerate sediments were studied in the entrance of a
cave located on Bermuda. To explain their position, 21 m
above present sea level, different hypothesis were evoked like
eustatism [38, 39] or more probably a large tsunami during
the mid-Pleistocene [40]. This alimented an important con-
troversy [41, 42], but except this Bermuda example no papers
are devoted to tsunamites observed far inside open caves.
Caves are very good places to record natural events. The
speleogenesis depends on climate and tectonics and their vari-
ations are “printed” in the karst features [43]. Caves may be
several millions years old and some places are protected from
the underground flood, the rain, the wind and the sun [44]. They
contain sediments and speleothems that
may include and preserve many objects
PHI PHI LEH
Krabi
Thailand or traces. An example is the study of
prehistoric human remains. The inside
temperature is constant and artefacts, foot
prints and painting are preserved for thou-
ability to preserve has also been used for
paleoseismicity studies [47, 48] as broken
Pileh
speleothems are frequent in caves. Even
if the damage is usually caused by ice or
sediment creeping [49] some breaks could
be related to earthquakes [50, 51]. Caves
are also used to study the paleo levels of
the sea [52, 53] and it is possible to get a
high degree of precision [54].
As the 2004 Asian tsunami affected
Loh Samah
karstic zones we went to Thailand in
February, 2005 to study the effects of
the tsunami in sea caves and to check
if indications of palaeo-tsunamis could
be observed.
3. Koh PhiI Phi archipelago
Koh Phi Phi archipelago is located in Thailand, in the
Andaman Sea, southeast of the island of Phuket (Fig. 1). Phi
Phi Don, the main island, includes two parallel mountains
400 m of altitude, connected by a narrow strip of sand: the
beach of Tonsay. This site has undergone, since the sixties, a
touristic explosion with construction of hundreds of shops,
hotels, bungalows and privates houses to welcome the tour-
ists and the permanent employees. The highest density is in
the sector of Tonsay.
There are several limestone areas in the archipelago
of Koh Phi Phi and the small island of Phi Phi Leh (or
Phi Phi Ley) contains a cave, Tham Phaya Nak (or Tham
Phraya Nak), where bird nests are collected (Fig. 1 and
2). (Nota: this cave is also called by tourists Viking
cave due to the presence of paintings of old asian junks
that look like Viking drakkars on the Eastern wall of the
cave). Thus it seemed interesting to see what had been
the effect of the 2004 tsunami in this cave and if older
signs could be found.
4. The 2004 asian tsunami in Koh PhiI Phi
The earthquake of Sumatra (Ms 9) provoked a tsunami
which ravaged the coasts of Indian Ocean, causing the death
of more than 230 000 persons [16]. The waves of the Asian
tsunami reached the western coast of Phi Phi Don island at
about 10:37 am local time [55]. It turned around the limestone
zone and, penetrating by the bays of Loh Dalhum and Tonsay,
took in vice the village of Tonsay (Fig. 3).
 Eric Gilli / Geodinamica Acta 23/1-3 (2010) 79-88 81

5. Field data IN Phi Phi Don

PHI PHI DON
Trong Cape Krabi
5.1. Size of the maximum wave
Thailand
Tidal data was recorded during the tsunami in Phuket
and Krabi. It was high tide. The water level dropped down zones affected
by the tsunami
1.261 m below normal sea level (medium sea level MSL), Sea Gypsies Village
then it roses up. The maximum wave height was from crossing over wave

1.00 to 1.56 m (in Krabi). The maximum height was not

the first wave, but the second to the seventh ones [56].
Our field inquiry and observations in Loh Dalhum area
allowed to observe that on the shore, the waves rose up to North

6 m in height according to sectors. At the northernmost tip

of the island, the main wave crossed a pass at an altitude
Bakhao Bay

of more than 5 m and poured over to the eastern coast. In

the Tonsay area, where the main human settlements are
located, the inland penetration of the sea water was up to Phak Naam Beach

300 meters from the seashore. main wave Loh Dalhum

Bay
f sandstone
sit o s
depo boulder
5.2. Observed damage Yong and marls Rantee Beach
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l
Gasem cora
Bay
The damage was considerable. According to unoffi-
cial source locally collected by Horn et al. [55] we count
approximately 1200 to 1900 deaths or missing persons. In Tonsay Village

Tonsay area our field observations indicates that all the houses
situated below 5 m in altitude were destroyed or severely Devonian reef Modee Bay
Tonsay Bay
limestone
damaged. Houses generally built in light materials (wood,
bricks, sheet steels) were swept away. Those in concrete, Yao Beach
were able to resist to the waves however some pillars were Wang Long
Bay and Cave
broken by boulders of coral up to one ton (diameter 1 m) Pho Cape

transported for several hundreds of meters by the wave

(personal observations and oral communications). We shall minor wave 1 km

note that the hospital of Tonsay built in the most narrow

place of the sand strip of Tonsay had, its first level flooded
by the water, like several other buildings. The oldest fishermen
(oral communication) indicated that the beach of Tonsay was
interrupted sixty years ago by a navigable portion of sea. Then,
following the accumulation of sand in this zone, palm trees
were planted to stabilize the sand and finally this sector became
urbanized although being highly vulnerable.
5.3. Morphological effects
Fig. 3: Map of Koh Phi Phi island and areas affected by the December
2004 tsunami.
• the presence of ancient coral fragments in the coastal
berms of Loh Dalhum bay,
• on the Loh Dalhum sand beach, north of Tonsay, 50 m
from the present seashore (high tide), we have observed, in
two bore holes, small fragments of coral at a depth of 70 cm,
but their size and position, too close to the seashore, do not
make it possible to exclude a storm origin.

The main morphological effects that we observed on the

shores of Phi Phi Don were:
• washing of the soil and denudation of the substratum
on the shores;
• deposit of unclassified sand, coral fragments, shells;
• creation of a small cliff in the sandy areas;
• important damage to the coral reef is observed at depths
down to 20 m bsl. For instance, several tabular corals are
upside down and are covered with broken branches of coral;
• transport and alignment of big coral boulders in shallow
waters, as testified by the inhabitants (Fig. 3).
Some field observations suggest the existence of previous Fig. 4: Boulder of coral transported for several hundred meters by the
tsunamis or storms in this area: December 2004 tsunami in the Loh Dalhum bay.
 82 Eric Gilli / Geodinamica Acta 23/1-3 (2010) 79-88

6. Tham Phaya Nak cave

Tham Phaya Nak (Viking cave)
Phi Phi Leh island
6.1. Location Krabi Province

The cave is situated in the northern part of the island of Phi 2004 tsunami
Phi Leh. It is a place for the collection of edible bird nests by the Nord sea coral fragments

Sea Gypsies and it is also known for its rock paintings of ships access

that decorate a portion of the walls.

10 m pier

barreer of blocks
Due to the presence of the bird nest collectors, the access to
camp of bird
nests collectors
0m

the cave is strictly forbidden. For the first attempt the author was
welcomed with a gun, for the second one, only a few minutes paintings +3 m

were given to see the cave. This was enough to see interesting site 1
site 2
deposits. A several days long discussion was then necessary to +2 m

obtain a special authorization to study the cave for a couple of

hours. This short time explains the scarcity of our data.
+4 m ancient
coral
6.2. Description of the cave and observation of corals deposits fragments
cross
section

Tham Phaya Nak is a room about 60 x 80 m wide, with +3 m

ceiling up to 92 m high (Fig. 5). The altitude of the floor is 2
Downloaded by [eric gilli] at 04:55 13 April 2012

to 3 m above the high tide level. The room is separated from

the sea by a line of collapsed blocks, except in its northern
part where a breach between blocks forms a low entrance. North ? South
LEGEND
The collectors were present in the cave when the tsunami
waves reached the cave. One worker who was close to the cross section block
sea was injured. According to them, the waves of December stalagmite
2004, bypassed the island, reached the entrance but they did entrance
?

not enter far into the cave. This is attested by the presence of
column

recent coral fragments that were deposited in the cave, but depression

only a couple of meters from the sea (Fig. 5 ) . clastes

layer of clasts

In addition to this recent deposit, a more important layer

guano of salanganes
central depression

10 m

of older coral clasts is observable. It forms a coarse deposit

that extends far into the cave. The size of the fragments (up to E. Gilli & C. Dorrian 02/2005

50 cm) and their position, flattened against stalagmites (site 1) Fig. 5: Map of Tham Phaya Nak cave (Phi Phi Leh, Thailand) showing the position
(Fig. 5,6,7), suggests the existence of powerful waves that of the coral fragments layer. Reference level of the cave survey is the sea level
entered several tens of meters into the cave. (24/01/2005 12:00 am local time) which was during high tide.

7.2. Possible age of the deposit in Tham Phaya Nak

7. Discussion
A dating of a coral fragment from the upper part of the
7.1. Paleotsunamis in South-eastern Asia deposit was done (Table 1).
Laboratory: Beta Analytic Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory
This area has no written or oral data on destructive his- (Florida, USA).
torical tsunamis since at least 200 years but recent studies on Database used: MARINE0 4A
coastal sediments of northern Sumatra and Thailand have found Calibration Database: INTCAL04 Radiocarbon Age
evidence of previous tsunamis. They mainly are deposits of Calibration. IntCa l04 . Calibration Issue of Radiocarbon
marine sand up to 2 km inland: (Volume 4 6, nr 3, 20 04) .
In Northern Sumatra [57] Mathematics: [59]
• a sand sheet, of limited extent, due to the 1907 Indonesian We have only dated one sample, thus this only gives a
earthquake (Ms 7.8) lower limit for the age of the event. The coarse deposit is
• two layers, deposited soon after AD 1290–1400 and AD younger than 6420-6040 cal. yr BP (Table 1). The upper
780–990, probably resulted from earlier tsunamis. limit is unknown .
In Thailand [58] Table 1: dating of a coral sample from Tham Phaya Nak cave (Thailand).
• a layer dated AD 550-700 and com- BETA Received Measured Age 13C/12C Conventional Age 2 Sigma Calibration
parable to the 2004 tsunami layer; 262299 July 27, 2009 5480 +/- 60 BP -1.9 o/oo 5860 +/- 60 BP Cal BC 4470 to 4090
• several older events up to 2800 BP. (Cal BP 6420 to 6040)
 Eric Gilli / Geodinamica Acta 23/1-3 (2010) 79-88 83

East Site 1 West

(sea side) (cave side)
cross section

sample Beta - 262299

stalagmite
layer of coral clasts
50 cm

clay

East map West

(sea side) (cave side)
Fig. 7: Layer of coral fragments flattened on a stalagmite (Fig 5, site 1). On
the background one can see the bamboo structures used to collect bird nests.
10 layer of coral clasts 20 30 40 50 10
altitude above soil in cm
Downloaded by [eric gilli] at 04:55 13 April 2012

stalagmite

Fig. 6: Cross section of the central stalagmite of Tham Phaya Nak (Fig 5,
site 1) with the deposit of coral fragments.

7.3. Deposit due to a higher sea level

7.3.1. Tectonics and eustatism

During the Holocene, higher sea-levels due to tectonics

or hydro-isostasy may offer an explanation for the presence
of coral deposits into the cave. Fig. 8: Layer of coral fragments flattened on the Southern wall of the cave
The Malay-Thai Peninsula is considered as a geologically (Fig 5, site 2).
stable area [60], but no argument is given to support this
affirmation, thus a tectonic origin cannot totally be excluded.
Hydro-isostasy is another mechanism that affects the
shores. The melting of continental ice causes the transfer of high stand
water to the oceans and creates additional load on the ocean
floor. The relative variations of the sea level is a mixing of
rising water level and sea floor subsidence.
A + 3 m mid-Holocene high stand of 4850-4450 cal. yr
BP was calculated on the Eastern shore of the Malay Thai
peninsula [61] (Fig. 9).
A study on coral fossils in the Western part of the Peninsula
in Ko Taphao Kay reef flat, close to Phuket [62] proposes a
+ 1 m high stand (above present spring low tide) at 5945±47
cal. yr BP (Fig. 10). Meanwhile the authors indicate this high
stand is a minimum, as the tops of the dated corals may have
been lowered by erosion.
Previous dating of oyster shells associated with sea-level
notches in a sea cave on Kaew Island, in Phang Nga Bay (north
Fig. 9: Malay-Thai Peninsula relative sea-level index points based on 81
to Koh Phi Phi) give different ages and levels (Sinsakul,1990): different samples from [61].
4195 ± 140 yr BP for a sample at 0.5 m Nota : The data from previous authors has been corrected by Horton to allow
5570 ± 140 yr BP for a sample at 2 m altitude comparisons but no indication is given on the correcting method.
 84 Eric Gilli / Geodinamica Acta 23/1-3 (2010) 79-88

Several 5 to 7 ka old marine shell deposits,

at high elevations between +5 and +10 m have
also been dated [60]. As some of the deposits
exhibit a good stratification, Sinsakul [63]
advanced a storm origin. These studies were
before the 2004 event, thus a tsunami origin
was not proposed. The age and the position
of these deposits are comparable to what we
have observed in Tham Phaya Nak.
As these values are very disparate, it is
difficult to estimate from the bibliography
the elevation of the sea during mid and
late Holocene. Horton et al. [61] compiled
different published studies, pointing out
the difficulties to process the data due to
a lack of information on the reference sea
level used in the previous works. Meanwhile, the obser- Fig. 10: Variations of sea level during late Holocene close to Phuket from [62].
vation of sea notches gives complementary information.

7.3.2. Tidal sea notches and observations in the cave

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Tidal sea-notches in limestone shores indicate more or less

the tidal range and the position of palaeo sea levels. They form
PHI
PHIPHI
PHIDON
DON

quickly and an average speed of 1 mm/yr is advanced by Kelletat

[64]. On Tham Phaya Nak one can observe two notches. The
size of the present one is concordant with the 1 m high stand of
Scoffin et Le Tissier [62], the second notch is higher (5 to 6 m
above high tide) and represents an older sea level whose age depth (m)

remains unknown. The barrier of big blocks at the entrance of

0-4

the cave is only affected by the present sea notch. The blocks
4-8

8-12

form a barrier except in the southern part of the entrance where 12-16
PHI PHI LEH
the blocks are absent (Fig. 5). The position of the coral deposit,
16-20
North
20-24

clearly indicates that the blocks were already present when the 24-28

clasts were transported inside the cave.

28-32
1 km

As neither the blocks, nor the stalagmites of the cave,

32-36

show a sea notch, a high stand of +3m cannot be advanced to
explain the presence of the coral deposit in the cave. Moreover
the deposit contains remains of coral that have not been
transformed into pebbles by wave action (Fig. 7) and the
bathymetry map of the site shows that there is no reef flat and
the depth is important in front of the cave (Fig. 11).
7.4. Anthropogenic deposit
Another possibility is that the deposit was caused by the
bird nest collectors. This is doubtful as the collectors scaffold-
ings are present in many parts of the cave and the deposit is
only observed close to the southern entrance. Moreover, the
bamboo sticks that are used to build the structures are directly
placed on the floor, and no hole nor digging work was observed.
7.5. Hurricane or storm origin
The probability of presence of hurricanes in this region is
weak. Historic data collected by the Joint Typhoon Warning
Center (USA) over a period of 30 years shows that the South
Fig. 11: Bathymetric map of Koh Phi Phi islands from Hydrographic
Department Royal Thai Navy.
of Thailand is relatively spared from typhoons [65]. They
normally form in the meteorological equator and raise towards
the northwest in the Bay of Bengal where they can affect
India, Sri Lanka, and the coasts of Myanmar.
The South of Thailand and the sector of Phuket and Koh
Phi Phi is close to the affected zones and it is difficult to
extrapolate recent data to mid Holocene ages. A hurricane
origin is thus possible but not very probable. The small size
and the position of the fragments are concordant with both
solutions, but the local bathymetry supports a tsunami origin.
Indeed, storm waves only affect the sea to a depth of a few
meters [23]. On the contrary, tsunami waves act as a deep
submarine scrapper and may break and transport deep coral,
as observed during our different scuba dives down to 30 m.
In front of the cave the bathymetry map (Fig. 11) shows the
absence of reef flat, thus the coral clast have a deep origin.
Another argument that supports a tsunami origin is the
nature of the sedimentation. The morphological effect of the
 Eric Gilli / Geodinamica Acta 23/1-3 (2010) 79-88
Downloaded by [eric gilli] at 04:55 13 April 2012
Fig. 12: Left: Limestone cliff 1) present tidal notch, 2) paleo tidal notch, 3) upper limit of broken speleothems »10 m above the sea level. This is supposed
to have been caused by big waves with coral fragments that knocked the limestone wall.
Right: Cross section of a coastal karstic wall with broken speleothems. This is observed in several places around Phi Phi Leh and Phi Phi Don.
backwash is a characteristics of tsunami deposits [17], the
runup causes a sedimentation and the backwash provokes
an erosion and a reverse sedimentation. In Tham Phaya Nak
cave, the deposit is made of coarse coral clasts. The general
aspect of the deposit, flattened on the sea side of the stalagmite
of site # 1, suggests it was protected by the stalagmite from
being washed away during the reverse flow (Fig 6).
8. Complementary observations on wall speleothems.
The presence of the coral fragments in the cave is not the
only observation that could be related to a tsunami. In tropi-
cal areas, limestone walls are frequently covered with wall
speleothems. They can be several meters long.
On the shores of Koh Phi Phi and Phi Phi Leh islands one
can observe that most of the wall speleothems on the cliffs,
below an altitude of 10 m asl are broken whilst those located
at higher places remain intact (Fig. 12).
Several causes can explain the breaking of speleothems [51]:
• subsidence of a clay substratum, may cause the break of
stalagmites, but here we only observe stalactites growing
on limestone;
• tectonic movements, may break formations that cover
active faults, but the broken formations are not observed
on faults zones;
• ice intrusion in caves cause damage to speleothems in
peri-glacial areas [49], but this can be excluded in this
climatic area;
• anthropogenic action is possible when the formations are
85
unbroken
speleothems
broken speleothems
3
10 m
2
older tidal notch
1
present tidal notch
tide
within reach. The ones we observed are not reachable
without climbing equipments or huge scaffoldings;
• earthquakes are frequently invoked to explain the rupture
of stalactites but they can only affect sodastraws or slender
formations [50, 66];
• stalactites grow as long as they are fed by a solution rich in
calcium carbonate, and their weight may exceed a critical
value. But breaks caused by an excess of weight would
provoke a random distribution of the broken speleothems
on the whole surface of the cliffs, while the observed ones
are mainly located close to the sea level.
Thus we assume that the main cause is the existence of
waves more than 10 m high. The presence of coral boulders
in the water could strengthen the action of the waves on the
speleothems. This could be confirmed by an accurate analysis
of the surface of the limestone walls and the speleothems,
using climbing and diving equipment.
9. Conclusion
Limestone areas, with outside stalactites, sea notches and
sea caves are probably interesting places for natural recording
of palaeo-tsunamis. The analysis of speleothems and caves
sediments could be a complementary method for the research
on natural hazards in coastal zones. Karsts are widely present
around the world and sea caves are frequent. The possibility
of accurately measuring the position and size of the damage
may give interesting observations on the direction and the size
of the waves in view to estimate the energy of the tsunamis.
 86 Eric Gilli / Geodinamica Acta 23/1-3 (2010) 79-88
The present work, was realized during a very short field
trip and in difficult conditions. The collected data suggests the
existence of a prehistoric tsunami in this area. This is reinforced
by the observation of a similar coral deposits in Phang Nga Bay,
a few kilometers from Koh Phi Phi (see 7.3.1). More work is
necessary to go further and we anticipate this local trial to be the
starting point for wider studies. A campaign in Thailand, Indonesia
and Malaysia where karst areas are common and sea caves are
frequent, could be organized in view to get data on different
places of a same zone affected by earthquakes and tsunamis.
• The following points should be developed:
• exploration of sea notches and caves with precise altitude
references;
• dating of substrate and deposits to get more precise ages
of the events;
• climbing on limestone cliffs and diving, to observe and
collect broken stalactites.
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Acknowledgements
The author of this work is grateful
• to Claire Dorrian who assisted him during the field work;
• to Jenny and Carl who were severely affected by the
tsunami and provided a precious help;
• to the inhabitants of Koh Phi Island who gave us important
indications and testimonies;
• to the bird nest collectors of Tham Phaya Nak who finally
accepted to give access to the cave and showed us the
different corals deposits;
• to D.R. Tappin, J.de Waele, and G.Mastronuzzi who
accepted to review this paper and highly suggested majors
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