BANGKOK, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Frantic search and rescue operations were mounted Monday for thousands of foreign tourists and Thai coastal residents missing or cut off after massive tsunami waves hit the region.
Thai officials said 451 people were confirmed to have been killed after the waves crashed over some of the country's most popular beach resorts Sunday, with at least 2,000 injured and nearly 400 missing and feared drowned.
They said they expected the death toll to rise further as rescue teams reach several outlying islands, including Kho Phi Phi, where about 200 scuba divers and other foreign tourists were among the missing.
The idyllic island, which was used as a backdrop for the 2000 film, "The Beach," starring Leonardo DiCaprio, was devastated by the tidal waves, with scores of divers swept away.
Among those killed was Thai King Bhumipol's American-born grandson, Bhumi, 21, who was reported to have been out on a jet ski off the southern resort of Khao Lak in Phang-nga province when the killer tsunami hit Sunday morning.
Thailand's world-renowned beach resorts at Phuket were also hit hard by the tidal waves, which crashed into beach-front bungalows and bars and sent fishing boats smashing into hotels and shop houses.
"The beach front is ruined and will take months and months to get back to its former self," Swiss national Shankar Biman told United Press International on Phuket island. "I have not seen such devastation since I experienced ruins left after World War II in northern Italy. And it is the first time I have seen the results of unleashed natural forces.
"The tourists have packed their bags and left," Biman said. "Many thousands of people have lost their livelihood, luckier than the many who lost their lives," he said.
Phuket's governor said the bodies of more than 35 foreign tourists had been recovered from the island's beaches.
Two trawlers were reported missing off the coast of Ranong province, and dozens of fishing boats were also swamped by the tsunami.
The waves hit at the height of the tourist season, when thousands of Western tourists and locals were enjoying their Christmas holidays.
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who flew to Phuket Sunday night to take charge personally of rescue and relief operations, said the evacuation of tourist beaches was proceeding smoothly.
"Don't panic," he said. "Now, there is no problem in the inner city (of Phuket). People have already been evacuated from risk-prone areas. We will try to give them comforts and accommodations as much as we can."
He said ambassadors and other officials from 25 countries were going to Phuket to keep track of their nationals who have been killed, injured or are missing since the killer waves struck the area.
Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphun said medical personnel were being rushed to Phuket's Patong Hospital, which was swamped with hundreds of people injured by the waves.
Thousands of Thai and foreign relatives of the victims waited at the hospital and other points on the island for news of their loved ones.
