Mr. Haegler

Meet Mr. Haegler. A retired banker and restauranteer from Switzerland. Kind enough to share his outdoor table at this nice pub in Sala Daeng with my friend Q and I. The bracelet on his left hand is a memorial and a symbol of survival from the great tsunami that hit Thailand in 2004. He and his friend were on holiday in Phuket. When the tsunami hit he and his friend were using the internet at a local cafe. In the chaos they were separated. Everyone ran to higher ground. The wife of his local friend was on a motorbike, saw Mr. H and drove him up into the hills. Two days later he found his lost friend at a shelter eating breakfast. He has never taken off this bracelet and he never will.