Being located on a steep hill was a virtue on Tsunami Day and TRBR lost none of it's bungalows to the waves. They did lose their beach bar (since replaced). They lost 4 bamboo chill-out huts down by the beach and 2 of the 3 SeaCanoes got washed away. Like everybody else on Koh Jum their wellcome sign went missing, never to be seen again. They lost their longtail boat. All in all it was not as bad as some of the other resorts.  However, the beach in front was badly damaged by the tsunami. The wonderful coral offshore got ripped out of it's beds and deposited on Ting Rai Beach. The headlands between Ting Rai Beach and North Beach were pulverized by the waves and ancient rock formations were crushed, releasing god-knows how many thousand tons of red soil into the sea. The incredibly clean water at Ting Rai ran muddy for the first month afterwards, but had cleared up nicely when I left two months later. The trees and underbrush got torn to shreds. TRBR has cleaned up the beach in front of the resort and the absentee landowners of the property on either side of TRBR have done a nice job of getting the rocks and coral off the beach.

The Tsunami muddied up the waters for a couple years but the clarity of the water has improved immeasurably. The fish have returned (which is a good thing) and so have the phosphorescent algae which make the waves glow green at night, which is also good. Those little critters only thrive in very clean water.

I could go on and on about what a great place this is, but you get the general idea. I always meet nice farangs and have fun here. Book early, book often.