PHUKET – Tilly, who saved hundreds along Maikhao Beach with her shrieks of “tsunami!” on Dec 26, 2004, was brought back to Thailand after repeated attempts to create a reliable warning system failed.
Officials from the National Disaster Warning Administration (NDWA) admit they have thrown in the towel after three years of trying to replicate the primary school expertise of tsunami hero Tilly.
“We have spent countless hours trying to replicate Tilly’s brilliant predictive powers but we are still not any further in figuring these things out,” confessed NDWA chairman Smith Dharmasaroja. “We understand that tsumamis are caused by earthquakes but what about the wave? How does that create a wave?”
The five-foot Surrey native said she was happy to be back helping the people of Thailand. “I am so scared,” she said, “no, no, no, no, please, I don’t want to go out there.”
In her first day at sea, Tilly did not encounter any tsunamis but she did catch three fish to eat, which should last her through the week.
Monks blessed Tilly and Phuket locals provided her lucky charms, amulets and garlands moments before the Thai Coast Guard locked her in into a buoyant iron cage which they later anchored to the sea bed off the coast.
