[scratt]

Very wierd...

I woke up this morning in our Condo just North-West of Bangkok.
Not far from IMPACT arena where Whitney Houston played recently... Sting is coming again soon and the International AIDS conference was held here recently...

Our building is 30 floors tall and one of the tallest in the area.
As I lay on the bed I felt the building rock gently from side to side a couple of times.. Having lived in Japan for 10 years I am very familiar with the feeling of an earthquake and how mid to tall buildings behave.

It's not that alarming and not something you expect in Thailand!

I actually put it down to too much Christmas cheer and a slight hangover as we simply don't have earthquakes in Thailand... But the whole thing was eerily familiar!

I didn't think anything of it for a hour or so and it slipped my mind...

We turned on the News at about 10am and saw all the News unfold...

Of course lots of divers are missing which is a concern to me in my business... as well as knowing the effect it will have on the poorer Thais in the coastal regions.

Just thought you guys might be interested that the tremors got as far as North-West Bangkok!

[torifile]

I heard about this this morning! Pretty severe quake from what they're saying. Glad to hear that you're ok.

What a way to wake up!

[scratt]

Originally Posted by torifile I heard about this this morning! Pretty severe quake from what they're saying. Glad to hear that you're ok.

thx..

But wow, I think the worse news is yet to come...

[drewprops]

Yes, the initial predicted death toll is absolutely awful and it's only likely to get worse due to the after effects of natural disasters. This is a big deal.

[Moogs]

I read the story in the Times this morning; an awful stroke of luck for those on the coastal areas of Sri Lanka, Thailand, India and Malaysia. My understanding is the initial toll is about 7000 with many more expected as more bodies are discovered. You can just imagine all those fisherman and such wading in knee-deep tidal areas getting over-run. Awful....

[BenRoethig]

It's up over 10,000 now and I think it's going to rise quite a bit.

[johnq]

Such a shame, so many poor people affected (in all the areas). The resorts are not mere pretty places for foreigners to go to, a huge part of their (Thai) economy is tourism dependent from farmers, suppliers, transport, etc...not merely "rich hotel owners" or bartenders.

What a mess and happening to people who can barely pay to keep it going on a good day.

My girlfriend is ok but I'm still waiting to hear about our friends.

Somehow “mai pen rai” doesn't seem to cut it. :/

My skin crawls when FoxNews has short segments (when it's just a bunch of dead brown people) but then has a Fox News Alert reporting 1 Dead American as if that is the cue for us to start caring. To their credit they did have more coverage than CNN, which split the news into a 5 second piece shared with 5 seconds of a football player dying.

[Moogs]

Fox is a detestable, putrid fucking network. Every year they stoop to a new low and this year they seem to be making an effort to go out with a bang. Who's Your Daddy will be the first volley for next year. I really do wish all of Fox's facilities would get burned to the ground overnight so they would be incapable of broadcasting anything for weeks on end.

[autodata]

My cousin was with his wife and two kids on one of the thai islands until just an hour of two before it hit. Worst part of it was that his phone wasn't working, so everyone was a little worried until he called from japan.

[staph]

Australia has very generously promised AUD$10M in disaster relief.

I really hate our present government. Pathetic. Our nearest neighbour has this happen, and we can manage 50c per head of population…

[Moogs]

That is pretty paltry. NYT ANd Chicago Trib now estimating [over 13,000] dead, with thousands more "missing or unreachable". This could end up being the worst natural disaster since Hurricane Mitch (which killed well over 10,000 people and maybe as many as 20,000 in Honduras a few years back - the official tally was never verified because of it being such a poor country / no way of tracking who was missing, etc)... possibly the worst in the last 100+ years.

[scratt]

Originally Posted by staph Australia has very generously promised AUD$10M in disaster relief. I really hate our present government. Pathetic. Our nearest neighbour has this happen, and we can manage 50c per head of population…

Yeah... I remember the recent crisis in the Philippines and I think the US donated $50,000 (£25,000 at current exchange rates). When you cost out what a bomb, reconnaisance flight, or Hum-V costs in Iraq that seemed a bit tight too!

Strange!

[Moogs]

19,000 and counting according to the NYT, 21,000 according to the Trib. God... this is so horrendous. Worst thing I've ever seen I think; I actually stopped and prayed for a bit last night which is not something I normally do - even when my life takes bad turns.

Americans should think of it this way:
Six 9/11s in one day (and maybe more). [snip]

[scratt]

Originally Posted by Moogs 19,000 and counting according to the NYT, 21,000 according to the Trib. God... this is so horrendous. Worst thing I've ever seen I think; I actually stopped and prayed for a bit last night which is not something I normally do - even when my life takes bad turns. Americans should think of it this way: Six 9/11s in one day (and maybe more). [snip]

The ironic thing is the majority of the foreigners are fine because they are in the expensive hotels and are actually the number one priority.
It is the people who have lost their businesses and homes that are already poor and work in the service industry that are worst hit by this.. And now we are looking at no busness for them and a hefty clean up.

I am stunned and so appreciative to Australia for all they are doing and yes I agree it is so wierd when they do Nationality head counts on the news...

19,000 Dead... *3 English, *2 American, *1 German (*I made those figures up).
Firstly it almost pushes the 19,000 figure to one side as if they are unimportant and secondly wtf? It's 19,000 People. People. It doesn't matter if they are English, French, American --- whatever.

I have never understood that part of the News.
Nor can I understand how the news people can ask such stupid and painful questions and just go over and over the same freak show points again and again... Move on.. Do something usefull, or shut the fuck up.

It's 19,000 People. Kids, and wives and husbands and homes...

[curiousuburb]

BBC is now listing more than 23,000 dead and more than a Million homeless across SE Asia.

The quake magnitude has been revised to 9.0 (strongest in 40 years... 5th strongest reported since modern measurements started in 1900).

Footage of the waves from tourists is starting to come in... scary.

[Moogs]

Scratt,

All very good points. While tourists are human beings too and worthy of sympathy should they have physically suffered or lost loved ones because of this, it is the local people I am the most concerned for. It is their lives which will be turned upside down the worst, and which will be most difficult to repair.

Foreign tourists at least have the funds and resources available to get their loved ones home, buried... they have life insurance, wills... all the things needed to allow yourself to simply grieve, without worrying about the roof over one's head, etc.

So many of these poor working people living in tiny houses and such; their whole world is gone and there's no way to get it back. I've spent some time in Thailand for example, and I saw the stark contrast between the poverty of the locals and the western visitors in their "sanctuaries". I had very mixed feelings about it all and didn't at all feel so proud to be who I was, knowing where I was staying and all the rest.

There's a whole other world out there many Americans don't even know exists, and that world just got devastated. The economic impacts of this will be far-reaching as well, affecting almost certainly millions of jobs (and therefore families dependant upon those jobs).

I encourage everyone here who can to head the International Red Cross Red Crescent site, and make a donation directly to the Tsunami disaster relief efforts. Even if you can only spare $10 or something; tomorrow that can make a large difference to someone who doesn't have a dry shirt on their back or a clean meal to eat right now.

Navigate your way to the donation page , select the Asia Tsunami item from the menu and then submit your information to get to the secure payment page. It is getting slammed so even on cable you'll have to wait a minute or two for each page to pop up, so be patient....

[Moogs]

The EU (25 countries now), promised $4M according to the AP video I saw. I sinceley hope that means four per country or I'm going to lose all respect for the EU. And the US had better jump in and make a big contribution too. This is not only the absolute, unquestionable right thing to do, but for the more political minded it is also a chance to show the world "we give a damn ™" .

Common Western Leaders; get your pocketbooks out for something that counts the most....

[scratt]

Well said.. And donations can only do good. Please everyone. Spare what you can.
Please do help these many many people out.
I am trying to see if there is anything we can do on the ground here as well.. It is hard as they are obviously dealing with horiffic scenes now and the authorities are (rightly) trying to maintain order and keep people away who have no need to be there..

It is just stunning the figures that are coming in.. It seems to go up every five minutes..

The scariest thing is that there are areas in Indonesia populated by 100's of thousands and even a million or so that are still not in touch with central government.
These people are all living in the kind of buildings you are seeing on tv now (wood and hope style structures) and they are only a very short distance from the center of the Earthquake and resulting water movement.

[ast3r3x]

If anyone has quality quicktime videos, please link me.

[psmith2.0]

Originally Posted by Moogs And the US had better jump in and make a big contribution too. This is not only the absolute, unquestionable right thing to do, but for the more political minded it is also a chance to show the world "we give a damn ™" .

Yes, since we are usually so chintzy and ungenerous in these situations.

C'mon, moogs...that's a stretch.

When it's all said and done, the U.S. will contribute more than their share of money, food, clothes and whatever else. When have we not? And I'm sure, as we speak, lots of regular folks in this country (who don't even HAVE to, mind you) are suiting up, getting their gear prepped and saying goodbye to their families to go assist in digging out, search and rescue, medical care, recovery, etc.

That's what we do.

Ease up a bit on the "ding my country every chance I get" thing. Isn't always necessary.

BACK on topic ( ), this is one of the worst disasters I've ever seen. The death tolls just go up by the half hour! Everytime I check the TV or cnn.com, it's climbed higher.



Those poor people...don't even know what him them, in many cases. I had no idea how much water came rushing in, until I saw some of the photos and footage!



Truly terrifying.

[scratt]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 Yes, since we are usually so chintzy and ungenerous in these situations.

Lots of abandoned projects and broken promises in the past. Tend to leave a sour taste.. That is the government and not the people. I think that may be where moogs is coming from.

But hey people let's not get into this now...

I am absolutely sure we all as human beings want to help out in this situation. This kind of incident should transcend race, religion and politics.

I am not religious, but those of you that are feel free to spare a prayer for the people who's world has literally disappeared and where they must be physically, mentally and emotionally tonight out here.

[Moogs]

Paul,

I hear you... I don't mean to imply the US has never been there for other countries in a time of disaster, but some of our more recent efforts in Africa and elsewhere have been lousy IMO. And with all the negative stuff going on, I was just trying to point out that this would be the perfect time to redeam ourselves a bit for more recent transgressions.

But yah, you're right. There are a lot of people suiting up right now and I genuinelly salute all of them. I'm half tempted to go myself but my passport and shots are not up to date, and I just cannot afford to miss a few weeks of work right now. Almost angry at myself for not putting myself in a position where I could afford to go.

Donations is about all I can do for now.

[Powerdoc]

Just discovered this terrible news today.
It's difficult to imagine such a disaster : 10 meters wawes falling on your head.

As people pointed it out here : live of german, french, american or whatever are not more important than native. Perhaps it will help people of others countries to understand that everyone should be implied and worry about it.

[Bubbles]

It's truely aweful, my thoughts and prayers are with them.

[Moogs]

The US has made an immediate pledge of $15M ($4M of which I think went to the IRC) with more to come once the survey team (on the way, along with several cargo planes filled with water boiling supplies and the like) send back their data. Good for the U.S... hopefully the EU will follow suit with something more substantial as well.

[Moogs]

25,000 and climbing, roughly a third of which are children. The words escape me at this point, knowing that many more are likely to die of sickness and disease if immediate and widespread measures aren't put into place in these areas to avoid them.

[Purgatos]

I'd really like it if the death toll would STOP climbing...

[scratt]

Us too...

The money from the EU is from the EU as a group... Individual countries are also making independant donations also.. All in all it will be quite a sizable sum from the EU. Good news at this dark time.

[naren]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 When it's all said and done, the U.S. will contribute more than their share of money, food, clothes and whatever else. When have we not? And I'm sure, as we speak, lots of regular folks in this country (who don't even HAVE to, mind you) are suiting up, getting their gear prepped and saying goodbye to their families to go assist in digging out, search and rescue, medical care, recovery, etc. That's what we do.

FYI: While it's quite true that the USA contributes more in raw cash to international aid efforts than any other nation(Japan comes in 2nd here), as a percentage of our total economy America contributes much less than other industrialized countries. US international aid as a percentage of our GNP in 2003 stands at 0.14%. The highest contributers are the northern european nations, with Norway contributing at 0.92% of GNP. While I wish all industrialized nations would do more to alleviate world suffering, it's safe to say that, no, America is not contributing more than their share.

That being said it is also true that private American institutions contribute far more, 2x to 3x more, to international aid then the US government, but even were private and public aid donations combined, the US would still be left with a paltry % of GNP when compared to the top aid donor nations.

[staph]

Originally Posted by naren FYI: While it's quite true that the USA contributes more in raw cash to international aid efforts than any other nation(Japan comes in 2nd here), as a percentage of our total economy America contributes much less than other industrialized countries… [snip]

For those who care, some neat-o charts of this can be found here.