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The Happy Snapper story

Happy Snapper Story

In mid-October 2002 (2545), I received a phone call from my older brother inviting me to Khao Lak. I asked him where exactly in Khao Lak he was located, and he replied, "I'm in Khao Lak, of course." I agreed to go.

During that time, I was playing music with The Sun band and performing with the Latin Jazz band at Saxophone Pub every weekend. The touring schedule of The Sun band was decreasing, giving me more free time. I discussed with my newlywed wife about what we should do next, and Khao Lak was one of the three options we considered.

A few days later, we made our way to Khao Lak and arrived at the designated meeting point. Khao Lak at that time was beautiful, peaceful, with small roads stretching parallel to the sea. There were communities, shops, restaurants, and international tourists. On our way to the accommodation, we saw a two-story building with a thatched roof and small wooden fences, and a sign with a phone number that said "Seng."

We called the number, scheduled a meeting, and agreed to make a contract in the following two days. My brother and I split the investment, and he provided the initial funds. He ran the dive shop, and I ran the bar and restaurant.

December 9, 2002, was the first day we opened our establishment called "Happy Snapper." From that day until March 20, 2020, we had to close due to Covid-19...

Happy Snapper #1

I forgot to mention that before coming to Khao Lak, we also visited Turtle Island. And here, we met Otto Rasta Man, who later became an important part of Happy Snapper. He was the only one.

Since I had no prior experience in running a bar and restaurant, we started from scratch here. Otto took on the role of bartender, and we learned through trial and error. My wife took care of the food and beverages, and we slowly found our way.

Apart from Otto, we also met a young musician from my hometown, Chumphon, named Boy. Boy was a talented blues guitarist and singer, playing the acoustic guitar. We started hosting live music, becoming the first in Khao Lak.

During 2003-2004, Happy Snapper was quite far from Khaolak Center, and not many people walked all the way to us. The road was dark and seemed intimidating at night, unlike now. But we were fortunate enough to have some luck. Divers and diving instructors would come to drink and listen to music every night. We met many new friends who became like family.

Gradually, we became more recognized, step by step. My wife and I would talk about how we didn't have reverse gear; we were moving forward with full force. And by the end of April, the tourist season came to an end.

During the low season, the town became deserted, quiet, without tourists or divers. It was just a ghost town. It rained heavily for many consecutive days, and of course, when it rained, the power went out. But it was still beautiful. We experienced the charm under the rainy sky.

Happy Snapper #2 and #3

Happy Snapper #2

On October 9, 2003, the tourist season began again after a few months of rest. This year, we continued with the Bar & Restaurant, and we encountered someone we can't leave unmentioned. That person is Mr. Nigel Pike or Joe Pike himself. He was both a friend and a supporter of Happy Snapper. We played music together throughout the past 17 years.

This year, we started to gain more recognition, especially among divers. It was like a small community where divers would gather after their trips, exchange stories about their diving experiences, and some of them started playing music together. It was a fun time. Anyone who could sing or play an instrument could join in. It became known that if you wanted to listen to music or play music, you should come to Happy Snapper. Our reputation grew, especially in terms of music. Boy continued to play with us and developed his skills. Eventually, we started calling him Blues Boy.

In addition to Joe Pike, who played harmonica, we also had another musician join us this season. Mr. Alf Hodge, who played the guitar and sang. Now our team was complete. I took on the bass guitar, and we formed a separate band called Happy Bastard. We played on Saturday nights and holidays. Many musicians came and performed with us. At that time, there were no laws prohibiting smoking in bars, so the atmosphere was lively. Divers from all over the world who came to Khao Lak gathered here. It was considered an entertainment hub for foreigners.

This year, besides musicians, we also added one important staff member. In addition to my wife, my brother (Blues Boy's girlfriend), and Otto, we had Kho Nom (Kho is the local language of Phang Nga and Phuket, meaning "big brother"), or as our foreign friends called him, Nuno Snapper.

This season ended at the same time as the previous one. It marked the beginning of good and impressive live music. We started to see the path we would take and had hopes waiting ahead!

Happy snapper #3

October 9, 2004, the season has come again, but this time we are excited, full of energy and hope. Everything is ready, the team is ready.

I have to say that this year there has been an increase in the number of people coming to do business. There are more hotels, big and small, and Khao Lak has become known to foreign tourists and divers because the Similan Islands are one of the top ten diving spots in the world.

Until now, we have formed a new band after Blues Boy left to start his own business. Ronny plays the guitar, Golf plays the drums and sings lead, and I play the bass, under the name Snapper Brother. We play Rock & Roll songs from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, and it's a lot of fun. We alternate with the band Happy Bastard every Saturday night, led by Joe Pike on drums, Alf on guitar, and I still play the bass, but this band plays Punk Rock, Hendrix, and so on.

In November, the crowd started to get denser until Christmas Eve on the 24th. We organized a Christmas Party with our musician friends from Bangkok, Joe Pike's friends. On the nights of the 24th and 25th, friends, musicians, customers, and younger siblings who like to come and chat meet almost every night. We all have fun and happiness, knowing that tonight, the 25th, it will be the last night for many people. After closing around 2:00 a.m., we went home. Before going to bed, I looked up at the sky, and the full moon was there, but we noticed that tonight the moon had two circles instead of just one, which looked strange. Normally, there's only one circle. I told my wife to look, and we talked about how beautiful and unusual it was. Then we went to bed as usual.

On December 26, 2004, at 9:30 a.m., someone knocked on the door. There was a commotion, and they were saying, "Water! Water! The water is coming!" We quickly got up from bed and went to open the door. We saw a group of people walking, running. They were only wearing one layer of clothes. Some were bleeding, injured, and covered in mud. Following them, some people were helping and supporting each other, going up the hill near the place where the incident happened. The situation started to look worse. I picked up the phone, trying to call people to ask what was happening, but there was no phone signal. I couldn't contact anyone. So we left the house and went to the Happy Snapper store. My wife and I hurried to the shop across the street to get some supplies, water, food, and candles. We started seeing bodies being carried and piled up near the shops, and there were many injured people. We gathered at the main Seaford restaurant and in front of the Happy Snapper store, helping each other, distributing shirts and water, and providing first aid as much as we could. No one understood what was happening, including myself. After a while, I heard people screaming, "Water is coming! Water is coming!" Everyone who could walk started running up the hill behind the store. Those who couldn't make it stayed together in the shop. We stayed on the hill for about two hours and still didn't know what was happening. We could only hear the screams. People started coming out to look for each other. There was no phone signal, no electricity, and the roads were cut off. We couldn't contact the outside world at all.

Joe Pike arrived at the store with his wife and Alf's wife. They gathered at Happy Snapper and were informed that a guitarist named M and his girlfriend went to stay at Bang Niang Beach. They didn't know what happened there yet. Joe Pike told us that they were lucky that the water didn't reach the second floor, so he and his wife were safe. However, the lower level, which was a shop, was completely destroyed. There was nothing left. The water was swirling around like a washing machine.

In the late afternoon, everything seemed to have calmed down. We decided to split up and search for our friends. My wife and I drove our motorcycle to explore the surrounding areas that were accessible. As we went further, we started to see what had happened. The road leading to the beach was filled with corpses, including shrimps, fish, and various marine animals. Male, female, and child bodies were scattered, some with clothes and some naked. We could see arms and legs sticking out from the debris. It was a heartbreaking and shocking sight. We had to be careful not to drive over the limbs and bodies. Fallen trees were blocking the way, making it almost impossible to distinguish one place from another. We searched until it was nearly dusk but couldn't find any survivors or friends. We decided to go back to the store and take care of the injured and cook whatever food we had for everyone staying there.

In the evening, we gathered pillows and cushions to make beds for everyone. I remember there were about 20-30 people, and we were all exhausted, drained, and disoriented. There was no electricity in the city, only starlight and candlelight. We slept listening to the sound of the waves, filled with anxiety about what might happen next, until we fell asleep.

On the morning of December 27, 2004, we set out to find M again, this time searching at the temples nearby. The roads were being cleared for vehicles to pass through to Takua Pa and Phuket. Many organizations and charities were providing assistance, searching for survivors and collecting bodies to gather as evidence. We saw bodies at each temple, hundreds of them, some stacked together, forming a mound. Most of them were foreigners. We walked and examined almost every body. The ones that died from drowning were especially distressing to see. It was a heartbreaking scene, and it made us contemplate how fragile life is and what people had gone through before ending up in such a state. We had no idea who they were, what they had done, or where they had been. It was unimaginable to see bodies piled up so close to each other like this.

We continued to search at several temples until the late afternoon when we returned to the store because there were still injured people there. Thai and foreign volunteers, diving friends, and diving instructors were all helping each other tirelessly. We transported the injured to various aid stations for further assistance.

On the morning of December 28, 2004, we continued our search for M. At the same time, we helped transport people to different aid stations as before. This continued throughout the day. Trucks carrying bodies and various charity vehicles were running back and forth. It was getting dark, and all we had was darkness and uncertainty.

By now, everyone knew that the event was caused by an underwater earthquake, resulting in a tsunami. A couple of days later, my wife and I started to feel mentally drained, combined with the stench of decay that pervaded everything. We decided to travel to Koh Samui to look for job opportunities and rented a shop there to work for about four months. We eventually returned to the main beach and started anew.

Happy Snapper #4 and #5

Happy Snapper #4

In the year 2005, it was a difficult year because there were no tourists. There were only Thai volunteers and foreigners who volunteered to help the affected people and the families of those who were missing from the Tsunami event. It was considered a chaotic season, but we got through it well. We had fun together at times, following the rules. However, we still had to be cautious about natural disasters, as there were frequent news about earthquakes.

Happy Snapper #5

On October 9, 2006, we opened the season again with full readiness. The staff remained the same, and we added singers and musicians in the form of a Live Music Bar, which was the first in the main area to have live music. From then on, I would like friends and fans who visit Happy Snapper to help write down their memories from here. And if anyone has photos or videos, if you remember the year, it would help many people who come to view and remember, and we can share the experiences together. Please write or post photos and videos at http//www.facebook.com/TheSnapperKL. Thank you, everyone.

Pitak Srisung