Tsunami survivors and relatives of the dead laid wreaths and prayed on the Thai island of Phuket on Saturday as they began marking the first anniversary of the disaster.
About 150 Norwegians gathered for a garden church service near Kata Beach to honour the 84 nationals who died when the tsunami struck Thailand's Andaman Sea coastline last year, killing 5,395.
"Thailand is a warm country, sunshine, palm trees. But for some people it also feels cold because of their loss," Rune Birkeland, a priest with the Norwegian Seaman's Church, told the sunset ceremony.
Emotional family members wept and consoled each other throughout the ceremony as one relative sang two solos.
The Phuket service was one of several events held in the region as Thailand prepared for a full day of commemorations on Monday on the first anniversary of the disaster.
Thai authorities say at least 10,000 people will attend memorials to be held in the six southern provinces affected by the tsunami, which killed more than 2,000 foreign tourists. Suwat Liptapanlop, chairman of the tsunami commemoration committee, said the Thai government was sponsoring about 2,000 survivors and relatives of victims so they could attend the events.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra had earlier announced plans to pay for the flights and accommodation of survivors and the immediate family of victims from December 25 to December 27. Groups helping foreign families to attend services said the Christmas period would be especially tough. "For people who lose someone, the first year is always the hardest. You go through it all alone," said Knut E. Pedersen, who is helping Norwegian survivors and relatives in Thailand.
BOAT LADEN WITH FLOWERS:
Other ceremonies were also held across the region to remember the death and devastation caused by the disaster which struck Asia last December 26, leaving 231,000 dead or missing. In Khao Lak, where most of the Thai casualties occurred, the Moken sea gypsies launched a ceremonial boat laden with incense and flowers into the ocean to ward off evil spirits.
The Moken are nomadic fishermen whose ancient beliefs warn them to flee to higher ground if ever the ocean recedes. Hundreds of Muslim and Buddhist villagers watched as fisherman launched the brightly coloured four-meter-long boat, wrapped in yellow and pink cloth, into calm seas.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will join survivors in prayers on Monday evening, officials said.
Up to 10,000 people are expected to attend the prayers at the historical Baiturrahman mosque in Banda Aceh, capital of the province of Aceh which took the brunt of the tsunami.
During his two-day trip to Aceh, Yudhoyono will also visit mass graves and maintain a moment of silence at the Baiturrahim mosque in a coastal suburb of Banda Aceh. "There will be a moment of silence at 8:16 am (0216 GMT), which was around the time the first waves hit Aceh last year," Adlai Goldberg, manager of the Media Centre at the Aceh Reconstruction Agency which oversees the rebuilding process in Indonesia's tsunami-hit areas, told a news conference.
The tsunami left nearly 170,000 dead or missing and half a million homeless in Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra island.
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