GAZETTE & HERALD: Tsunami survivor Paul Rogers has told his parents he will stay in Thailand for the rest of his three-month holiday, despite the trauma of running for his life to escape the giant wave.

Around 300 people were killed by the devastating tidal wave at the Thai island Koh Phi Phi, where Mr Rogers, 32, was staying.

Now he has moved away from the scene of the disaster to another Thai island, called Ko Samui, and speaking to his parents in Chippenham on Monday, he said he intended to stay for the rest of his winter holiday.

Mother Linda Rogers, of Blackbridge, in Chippenham, said: "The island he has moved to was not affected by the wave. He says he is going on with his holiday and he sounds fine.

"He's the sort of person who just gets on with things."

This is the second visit by Mr Rogers to Thailand and he arrived on the Tuesday before Christmas, just a few days before the terrible tsunami struck South East Asia.

Mr Rogers told how he had to run for his life in front of the 30-foot wave that crashed into his beach hut, following the massive earthquake in the Indian Ocean.

His Thai girlfriend Bali came to fetch him and take him to higher ground when the giant wave appeared. They spent the night on a hill with other survivors until a helicopter airlifted them to a hospital in the province of Surat Thani, where he was treated for cuts and bruises.

Mrs Rogers and her husband Barry had to wait until the next day to hear their beloved son was alive and well and they said it was a miracle he had survived.

"It was after he phoned us that I heard around 300 dead bodies were recovered from the sea. If I had heard that before knowing he was alive it would have been so much worse," said Mrs Rogers. "I would have thought he was gone too."

Mr Rogers was staying in a beach chalet when the water from the wave rushed in.

He picked up his rucksack before running out and then his beach chalet collapsed and everything was swept away.

Mr and Mrs Rogers were away on holiday in Christchurch in Dorset when the tidal wave struck and could not contact their son because his mobile phone was washed away by the sea water.

She said that since the disaster her son's girlfriend had returned to the Thai mainland and hadn't joined Paul on the trip to the new island because she couldn't face the water after surviving the tsunami.

The couple met when Mr Rogers, a former Sheldon School pupil, travelled to Thailand last year for a four-month trip.

He loved the country so much he saved this year to spend another winter in the tropical paradise little expecting to witness the tragedy of the massive wave.

Mrs Rogers said they had received plenty of support from friends and relatives as they waited to hear from their son.

"I think he will be fine now. He's the sort of person who just gets on with things," she said.

Mr and Mrs Rogers will have to wait until March 21 to get a first hand account from their son about the tsunami but he told them the island looked devastated.

Chippenham couple Michael and Margaret Lewis had a heart-wrenching wait to find out if a family they had made friends with in Sri Lanka had survived the disaster. Mr and Mrs Lewis had been in regular contact with the family they met when they holidayed on the island last January.

The couple, whose son Chris was killed in a crash on the M25 in August, were relieved when they received a phone call to say their friends were all safe.

Mr Lewis, who lives at Stanley Lane, said they were upset to see the pictures of their dream destination being battered by the waves.

"We stayed at a hotel in Beruwala on the west coast of Sri Lanka, which is very close to where the train was derailed by the waves," he said.

"We watched our hotel on the television, with people watching from the balconies as waves smashed through the gardens and the swimming pool."

He said they had been extremely worried about the 17-year-old boatman they had made friends with, who called himself Charlie.

"His younger sister, Chaturangawaul, who speaks good English called us to say the family was OK.

"We'd been to her birthday party so we knew they lived four or five miles inland and thought they'd be safe. But we didn't know if Charlie was still boating. It was a very worrying time."