A couple who hail from South Pembrokeshire and were on holiday in Thailand at the time of the tidal wave disaster owe their lives to a raffle prize they won at their hotel. Kay Howells, from Stepaside, and her partner, Rhys Jones, from Ludchurch, were on holiday at Koh Phi Phi Island when they won a snorkelling trip at a Christmas Eve dinner. "We were out snorkelling when the wave hit," 29-year-old Kay told the Observer. "Fortunately, we did not get caught up in the actual tidal wave, but when we got back to the island it was wrecked. "The hotel we had been staying at was completely destroyed and all our belongings had gone. "We had no money, clothes or passports and had to come back to the UK in the clothes we were in." Both former pupils of Tenby's Greenhill School, Kay and Rhys live in Cardiff where Kay works for UWIC and Rhys is an electrician. Kay is the daughter of David and Sheila Howells, of Stepaside, while Rhys is the son of Brian and Mary Jones, of Ludchurch.
