KPIS in Bangkok is one of the emerging schools on the scene of quality international education in Thailand and thus acknowledges the importance of connecting our body of students to the world around them. To do so, we decided to organize an interactive student-author meeting between Bangkok-based British author, Aaron Le Boutillier, author of And Then One Morning – A Personal Odyssey and several representative students from the KPIS Middle School and High School.
It all started when, in October 2009, Aaron Le Boutillier donated two signed copies of his book to the KPIS library. Then, at the school’s invitation, the author agreed to come to KPIS and talk about his experiences during and after the 2004 tsunami in which he lost his best friend on the Island of Phi Phi. The two daughters of his friend were also lost in the tsunami. The invitation was sent after the middle school and high school students read a few chapters from his book, so that we were able to stage a productive question-and-answer session.
The event took place on March 26, 2010 during “KPIS Author’s Day,” a day the school celebrated its 5th anniversary.
Aaron Le Boutillier is one of the 2004 tsunami survivors who, in his book And Then One Morning recollects his personal memories of the events he experienced on Koh Phi Phi before, during and after the tragic tsunami that also hit the shores of other countries throughout Southeast Asia.
During “Author’s Day” our students and guests listened to a student read a few evocative segments from the book, followed by a keynote speech from the author himself. A panel of students then asked Aaron Le Boutillier questions regarding the horrific events that he had been a part of. The author also took questions from the audience who participated at the event for free.
With a half-full auditorium, the event started with a video presentation about the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Then I opened “Author’s Day” with a short speech and then introduced the guest to the audience:
“My dear students, teachers, guests, my friends,
Today is a special day for us. It’s our 5th anniversary. Today KPIS turns 5! And, in order to celebrate this day, we have decided to organize a special event.
It so happens that last December, Thailand, together with many other Southeast Asian countries, commemorated 5 years since the tsunami, a tidal wave, had struck our southern shores.
There have been many newspaper articles and some books written about the events that took place on December 26, 2004 when an earthquake under the sea caused a tsunami. One of these books is And Then One Morning – A Personal Odyssey, written by Bangkok-based British writer Aaron Le Boutillier. The book was published by Big Wave Publications.
On the day the tsunami hit the shores of Thailand, Aaron was on Phi Phi Island, enjoying his holiday with his friend. Many people died that day, over 240,000. One of them was Aaron’s best friend. Those who survived took it upon themselves to share their stories of survival with the rest of the world.
Today, we welcome you all to Author’s Day, a day when students from the KPIS Middle School and High School will engage in dialogue with our guest, the author Aaron Le Boutillier.
So, without further ado, let me introduce to you the panel of students who will be with me, here on the stage: from Grade 7, Mint and Ter, from Grade 8, Ja, from Grade 9, It-Kor, from Grade 10, Mariel, from Grade 11, Ham, and from Grade 12, Sebastian.”
But, before we started the discussion, Mint, from Grade 7, read a short paragraph from the book.
“I looked down the street and at first saw a small rivulet of water trickling down it. My immediate thought was that someone’s washing machine had flooded. People were running – men, women and children – locals and tourists alike. The words “run, run” could be heard in Thai, in English, in Swedish, German, French, Hebrew, and Russian, a virtual United Nations of fear and panic. And now the trickle of water that I previously dismissed as coming from a leaking washing machine was now a torrent hurtling down the street at a terrifying speed, as though driven by some unseen power.” (And Then One Morning – A Personal Odyssey, “Chapter 16 – A washing machine spring a leak,” p. 79)
After we listened to these few lines of what it was like when the tsunami hit the shores, we watched a video presentation of what went down that day. After the multimedia presentation, Aaron Le Boutillier, delivered a short keynote speech:
“I feel that all of you are sitting there expecting me to say something profound, or at least offer some words of wisdom. Of course, the problem with that as both I and you know, is that normally when someone older gives advice the human response from the younger listener is to roll their eyes and ignore it all! And I agree with this… if you did not make your own mistakes you would never learn anything, however, as someone who looked death in the eye and lived to be here today I feel I should offer you something. So, here it is: whatever you do in your life, try not to take yourself too seriously, regardless of what you do, who you become or what you achieve, it can be all taken from you in a heartbeat. Humility is the key to a successful life.”
It was then time to see what questions the students in Middle School and High School from KPIS have prepared for Aaron. They have read most of his book, and have come up with some very challenging questions.
Ter, form Grade 7, asked, “How did you feel when you were on the rooftop and saw many people whom you wanted to help but couldn’t?”
“I think the first feeling I had was one of relief. I remember thinking that regardless of what happens I can survive from this point on. I could see the balcony of the Phi Phi hotel behind me across the apex of the post office and knowing that gave me strength. Of course sometime later I had no choice but to leave this point of safety and go back down onto the streets. This feeling was too strong to ignore, inside I knew I had to be on the ground doing something.”
Ja, from Grade 8, said, “It was very considerate of you to take on your friend’s scuba diving business, but how did you feel of people who were upset because their scuba diving holiday was cancelled? Are all humans selfish?”
“It was only around three months that I was helping before my friend’s wife took it over and rebuilt it, but in those initial 2-3 weeks after the Tsunami it was amazing to see the e-mails from people who were primarily interested in when they would get their refund. Even when they knew the owner and his children had been killed and the dive shop destroyed, still their refund was top of the list. Of course, this was not everyone and for every e-mail like that I had another 100 offering support so one has to put it into perspective. Humans are basically good by nature, just the odd one falls short of the baseline.”
It-Kor, from Grade 9, believed that “And Then One Morning is a powerful story about what you personally experienced. You’re a veteran now in Southeast Asia, being successful in Thailand and Singapore. Do you have any ideas for a new book?”
“Unless I am caught up in an earthquake, volcano, hurricane or typhoon I think we are safe, however, some people have enjoyed my style of writing so maybe I should seriously think about another one. If I did, would you read it?”
Mariel, from Grade 10, asked, “Did you feel the need to rush back to your home country immediately after the tsunami? Did you feel the need to escape the horrors you had seen?”
“My Mum was very upset that I did not return “home” and it took her sometime to realize that it was not my home anymore. I am so pleased I did not rush back to my family as I would have been surrounded by people who could not relate to what I had been through. I needed to be with the people that knew, the people that could understand me and me them. And, most importantly, I needed to feel like I was doing something. Sitting at home in the UK watching the people helping in the aftermath would have been too much for me, I think I would have to jumped on a plane and gone back to Thailand. Absolutely no sense to rush back home at all and so glad that I didn’t.”
Ham, from Grade 11, said, “You were so touched by the open hearts and generosity offered by the elderly Muslim couple in Khao Yao. They offered you shelter and food, to a complete stranger, with no questions asked. You mentioned they were, quote, ‘dirt poor,’ yet they gave you their love of humanity. Have you ever returned and thanked them?”
Sebastian, from Grade 12, commented, “Over 240,000 people died in the 2004 tsunami across Southeast Asia, but you survived. As a survivor, have you ever felt an unseen external power protecting and guiding you to safety?”
With regards to a Thai translation of the book, this is what the author had to say:
After all the questions had been asked and the students were satisfied with the answer, we watched a slideshow depicting the aftermath of the tsunami. After the slideshow, Dr. Declan O’Sullivan had a comment to make.
In an unfathomable gesture of immense kindness, Aaron Le Boutillier offered, for free, fifty books to all the students who were present. The event ended with a book signing session.
Before we wrapped up the even a gift was then presented to the author and we listed to Sebastian and Mew from Grade 12 sing two KPIS songs.
The benefits of “Author’s Day” were tremendous for our students. Not only that they read a few chapters from a book about the history of contemporary Thailand, but they also got the chance to meet the author in person and share with him their own views on his book and the very moving topic.
