Health experts fear disease could increase the death toll

Karen Jones from Dinas Powys in south Wales fled her beachfront hotel in Thailand as the sea surged inside.

Ms Jones, her partner and 16-year-old son had been awoken by 'roaring noises' and people screaming.

They witnessed tragedy and chaos at the hotel before they reached Phuket airport, which she described as 'bedlam'.

Ms Jones had been staying about five kilometres from the town of Patting with her partner, Robert, and son Ashley.

At around 0930 local time on Sunday morning they were awoken by the noise.

Hotel staff were banging on out door and people were screaming, there was blood on the walls Karen Jones

"Our hotel was directly on the beach and we were woken by shouting and screaming and roaring noises," Ms Jones recalled.

She said the effects of the tsunami were devastating and people in the hotel started to stampede around the floors.

"We were on the third floor and people were panicking - at first we didn't know what was happening, we just woke up in shock.

"Hotel staff were banging on our door and people were screaming, there was blood on the walls," she added.

Ms Jones told BBC Radio Wales that trucks and cars were washed into the hotel.

"Ashley stayed calm and grabbed as much of our stuff as he could," she said.

"We were lucky and managed to keep hold of our passport and credit cards."

Ms Jones described the scenes at Phuket airport as "horrendous" as they managed to leave for Kuala Lumpur on 27 December.

"People were fighting to get out - it was bedlam at the airport.

"People were there without passports, who had lost relatives, people were injured and there was no one there to help, which compounded the situation," she added.

Meanwhile a doctor from Wales who was on her honeymoon in Thailand when it was hit by the earthquake has decided to stay there and help treat its victims.

Sue Price and her husband Aled, who are on Phi Phi island, managed to escape injury on Sunday.

Their family in Machynlleth said hearing that they were safe was a huge relief.

John Price received a call from Aled Price to confirm they were both unharmed and said: "Sue is out using her medical skills helping people who were injured."