The wave swamped me as I sunbathed

One man told of his amazing escape while sunbathing at Patong Beach in Thailand.

Mick Turner, an electrician from Maidenhead, said: "I was sitting by the pool and suddenly a small wave came in and the sunbeds started to move around. I could see another wave coming in and everyone was shouting and screaming.

"I ran through the hotel and through the reception, and the water was just cutting past me. There was all these trees going past me, sunbeds and everything. It was just unbelievable.

"It was like somebody pulling the plug out of a bath and there was thousands and thousands of gallons of water coming towards you."

Mr Turner, 37, who was on a Christmas break, said: "I took cover in the main road, then a massive wave came through and it knocked out the front window of a shop. I ran into the shop and took cover there and everything was hitting me. I am lucky to be alive. I was running for my life and I thought, this is it."

Mr Turner arrived back at Heathrow today after he and his friend Paul Rooney, 26, were flown off the island by the Thai Air Force to Bangkok where they caught a flight home.

All he suffered were cuts to his toes. He said: "It was just terrible. Everyone was in shock. It was pure pandemonium."