Thailand's tsunami Christians celebrated their first Christmas yesterday with folk songs, prayers and tears for loved ones killed in the disaster nearly one year ago.

?Merry Christmas, na krab!? James Garwood, a backpacker-turned-missionary, told 30 worshippers, most of them new converts since the tsunami nearly wiped out their fishing village, Ban Nam Khem, on Dec 26.

?We are here to just celebrate Jesus. To worship Jesus. To celebrate the life he has given us,? said the 27-year old San Francisco native. Inside the Calvary Chapel, new Thai Christians sat on plastic chairs or the concrete floor, shoulder-to-shoulder with a handful of foreign volunteers working in the rebuilt village.

Accompanied by an electric guitar and tambourine, they sang folk hymns celebrating the birth of Christ, some clapping while others raised their hands in the air. ?They sing a lot and that makes me feel happy,? said Manop Battanakam, who lost two relatives last year and was attending his first Christian service.

The modest one-room chapel, festooned in coloured streamers, gold tinsel and a blinking Christmas tree, was built in April. It is one of several churches that have sprouted up in Khao Lak, where most of Thailand's 5,395 deaths occurred.

A 40-metre blue and red fishing boat sits a few feet from the chapel ? a stark reminder of the huge waves that destroyed homes and killed hundreds, leaving behind scores of orphans.

?I think about my husband all the time when I come to church,? said Pensri Palaphol, 52, fighting back tears as she clutched a worn Thai-English bible. Her husband, daughter and son-in-law were fishing when the tsunami struck and are presumed lost at sea.

?My husband was a Christian and I wanted to follow in his steps to make him happy,? said the former Buddhist who converted after the tsunami. ?I hope he will meet God in heaven just like the bible said?.

Faith-based aid groups and volunteers, who flocked to devastated Khao Lak to build homes, feed the hungry and aid the sick, say its about compassion, not conversion. ?My heart was breaking and I had to come here,? said Garwood, a backpacker who was teaching in central Thailand when he read about Ban Nam Khem days after the disaster.

He said the chapel does not actively try to recruit souls. ?Most of the people who come here have asked me first and then I tell them about it,? he said.

Buddhist Thailand generally takes a relaxed view of missionaries, unlike Muslim Indonesia's Aceh province where students protested several months ago over rumours a Christian group had distributed pills stamped with the Mother Mary's image.

On the eve of the tsunami's anniversary, Suda Klaytalay, 49, said her new faith has helped calm her fears of another tsunami. ?I am scared and that's why I became a Christian. It makes me feel better,? she said.

Darren SCHUETTLER