A YORK man holidaying in stricken Thailand today told of his relief as it emerged a fully-booked plane may have saved his life.

Stephen Bailey planned to catch an earlier flight from Bangkok to paradise beach resort Phuket on the day of the Asian underwater earthquake.

But luckily for the city butcher, that flight was full, so he booked a later one.

This meant he was in the air when the devastating tsunami struck without warning, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake.

Mr Bailey told the Evening Press that if he had arrived on the island of Phuket earlier he would probably have been on the beach when thousands of people across Thailand were killed by the surging waves.

"I'm so relieved I travelled when I did," he admitted.

Speaking from the Thai resort, the 48-year-old, who owns Scott's Butchers, in Low Petergate, said: "The waves came at about 9.30am and our plane was due to land an hour later.

"After the disaster the plane circled the area, but landed later that night.

"If I had got an earlier flight I would have gone straight to the beach. That's the first thing I do."

He said he watched the tragedy unfold on television before seeing the devastation at first hand next morning.

"When the wave came it picked up all the cars, motorbikes and concrete then smashed them all into the shops. The waves went in about 450 yards - after that everything was untouched."

Mr Bailey spends six months of every year at his Patong home - three quarters of a mile from the sea. He plans to retire there and will remain on holiday in Thailand until February despite the tragedy.

He said if the quake had happened three hours later even more people would have died as the beaches would have been packed with thousands of people.

Updated: 10:34 Friday, January 07, 2005