British siblings “overwhelmed’ by Phuket reunion

PHUKET: Ben and Emily Willgrass have broken their silence to express gratitude to all Thai people for their kindness and generosity after an emotionally overwhelming reunion with their Phuket tsunami saviors last month.

Nearly 10 years later and thanks to a successful call for help via Facebook (story here), the Willgrass siblings were able to track down Yupin Sengmuang and her former partner Pitchat (story here).

“Yupin is an amazing lady and made us feel so welcome in her shop; we visited her every day and she showed us lots of love and cooked us delicious food,” said the siblings in an email to the Phuket Gazette.

“We shared tears, laughter and many hugs with her,” the email said, adding that Emily and Ben also had a lovely time meeting Pitchat, who travelled to Phuket especially to see them.

“It was so nice to catch up with him after so long and to chat about our experiences and our lives.”

The brother and sister said that the trip had brought mixed emotions, as they were reminded of the tragic loss of their mother, who died during the devastating tsunami.

“Our trip to Phuket was difficult at times and often brought back sad memories of our experiences during the tsunami and the loss of our lovely mother,” the email said.

However, they wrote that they were both very happy to have met Ms Yupin and Mr Pitchat again and felt very lucky to have been given the opportunity to thank them personally for their help and support, as well as for the kindness they were received after the disaster.

In the email, the siblings also thanked all of the Thai people they met while on the island.

“We were made to feel so welcome and were shown so much kindness and compassion during our stay. We had an amazing time and now know that Phuket will always hold a special place in our hearts.”