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That could be a very interesting development for travelers to Thailand. https://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/business/2025/08/18/thailand-starts-testing-crypto-to-cash-tourism-payment-system

<h2>Twenty Years After the Tsunami: A Personal Story about Memories and Remembrance</h2><p><strong>Some memories stay with us forever. We remember exactly where we were during major events like 9/11 or life-changing moments like having our first child. Twenty years ago, on Boxing Day 2004, I experienced one of those unforgettable moments. On December 26, 2004, a 9.1 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, triggering a tsunami that killed at least 225,000 people across 14 countries. And I will never forget it.</strong></p><p><!--more--></p><p>Back then, I was living in <a href="https://travel-explore.asia/category/switzerland/">Switzerland</a> and didn&#8217;t know almost anyone from Thailand. In 2003, I met a girl named Bee. She was visiting her sister in the South of Switzerland. They had a small restaurant there, and on a local website, she was posting some entries in a so-called forum. Her sister wanted to play matchmaker. Yes, this was how things worked back then, long before Tinder took over. So I agreed to meet her. She spent one full day with me. I showed her around my hometown and took her on a tour through Switzerland. Yeah, I was 23 or 24 years old and already pretty adventurous. However, since she couldn&#8217;t speak English or German, we struggled to connect. She carried a small book titled &#8220;English for Lovers,&#8221; but communication was incredibly difficult in those pre-Google Translate days. Eventually, she returned to <a href="https://travel-explore.asia/category/thailand/">Thailand</a>.</p><figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="750" height="563" src="https://i0.wp.com/travel-explore.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_5359.jpeg?resize=750%2C563&#038;ssl=1" alt="Kata Beach Viewpoint, Phuket" class="wp-image-806" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/travel-explore.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_5359.jpeg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/travel-explore.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_5359.jpeg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/travel-explore.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_5359.jpeg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/travel-explore.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_5359.jpeg?w=1280&amp;ssl=1 1280w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Kata Beach Viewpoint, Phuket</figcaption></figure><p>A year later, my mother passed away from cancer. The day after, I received a call from Thailand. It was Bee who had learned English, and she could finally speak with me. However, feeling unwell and having just lost my mother, I told her I would call back. But I didn&#8217;t. Moving forward, on December 26, I was celebrating Christmas with my uncle in Switzerland. At 11 pm, we decided to have a drink at his favorite Thai bar, the only one in town. It was likely not an official bar, and drinks were sold at cost, labeled as a private party.</p><p>That bar gave me one of my best Christmas memories. I enjoyed drinking beers and singing karaoke. I remembered Bee and told my uncle: I need to call her tomorrow! Just as we were leaving the bar, the earthquake happened.</p><p>The next morning, I woke up and remembered to call Bee. On my way to the landline phone, I checked my old Nokia mobile phone, where I had saved her phone number. That’s when I also received a couple of text messages. At that time, breaking news was delivered by text message. Mobile internet didn&#8217;t exist. It was the first time I read about the Tsunami. I realized Bee was working in Phuket, and I started calling her. But, of course, no one answered the phone.</p><figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="750" height="563" src="https://i0.wp.com/travel-explore.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_5397.jpeg?resize=750%2C563&#038;ssl=1" alt="The Big Buddha nearby Kata Beach Viewpoint" class="wp-image-807" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/travel-explore.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_5397.jpeg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/travel-explore.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_5397.jpeg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/travel-explore.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_5397.jpeg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/travel-explore.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_5397.jpeg?w=1280&amp;ssl=1 1280w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Big Buddha near Kata Beach Viewpoint</figcaption></figure><p>Two days later, I finally found her sister&#8217;s phone number. She still owned that small restaurant in southern Switzerland. That&#8217;s when I learned that no one had heard from Bee. I made two or three more calls in the following days. As far as I know, no one has ever spoken to or seen Bee alive until today.</p><p>I often wondered: what if she had called me just before my mother died, or what if I had responded differently? What if I had called her back right away? We had plans to spend Christmas together &#8211; either I would visit her in Phuket, or she would come to Switzerland. If our plans had worked out, she might still be alive today. Or I would have been in Thailand on Boxing Day 2004. I know such questions are pointless and don&#8217;t change anything. But even now, 20 years later, I always remember Bee and the Tsunami at every Christmas party.</p><p>Thirteen years later, in 2017, I finally visited Phuket. The photos in this blog post are from that trip. </p><figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="750" height="563" src="https://i0.wp.com/travel-explore.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_5713.jpeg?resize=750%2C563&#038;ssl=1" alt="Karon Beach in Phuket" class="wp-image-809" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/travel-explore.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_5713.jpeg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/travel-explore.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_5713.jpeg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/travel-explore.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_5713.jpeg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/travel-explore.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_5713.jpeg?w=1280&amp;ssl=1 1280w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Karon Beach in Phuket</figcaption></figure></p><p><a rel="tag" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://travel-explore.asia/tag/khao-lak/">#KhaoLak</a> <a rel="tag" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://travel-explore.asia/tag/memories/">#Memories</a> <a rel="tag" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://travel-explore.asia/tag/phuket/">#Phuket</a> <a rel="tag" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://travel-explore.asia/tag/thailand/">#Thailand</a> <a rel="tag" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://travel-explore.asia/tag/tsunami/">#Tsunami</a></p>