Sunsets After the Tsunami . . . Dateline, Thailand

Early last year I posted a blog item about the coastal village of Bann Talae Nok in southern Thailand. This was the place that lost nearly 200 residents, including 16 schoolchildren playing on the beach, when the 2004 tsunami devastated that part of the world.

(You can read that post if you click on "Breaking News" at the bottom of this page and scroll down to Feb. 10, 2008.)

The blog Global Citizens recently asked me to pick one of the most memorable sunsets I've seen in my travels, and I chose the sunset I saw (and photographed) on the beach at Baan Talae Nok when my television crew and I were there shooting part of an episode on southern Thailand for the most recent season of "Rudy Maxa's World."

Not only was the deep, orange sky noteworthy, but every night, as the sun sets, a herd of wild buffaloes comes down to the water's edge and seems to debate for awhile whether to wade into the Andaman Sea.  The decision is always, eventually, "Yes," and you can see them in the photo I loaned to the Global Citizens blog.