The earthquake long feared in Japan arrived with a vengeance on Friday. The magnitude 9 earthquake was the strongest they have ever experienced, and was followed by a deadly 10m tsunami. The world is in shock at the scale of the event, and many countries have responded quickly to offer material and logistical support as well as condolences.
While our thoughts are with our Japanese friends, we must count ourselves lucky to be so far away from this disaster – Thailand has no Pacific coastline and is completely unaffected, so the Thailand Open will proceed as planned.