2B newsfeed: Tsunami in Thailand – December 28, 2004

10:34pm, December 28 - Just like last night, the Public Relations Department (PRD) is about 24 hours behind in the info it reports. Right now, it is breathless reporting 700 have died and adds, almost as an apology, "this latest figure is higher than the earlier figure released by the Public Relations Department." The actual toll at this hour is 1538. 10:28pm, December 28 - Another photo gallery from Krungthep Turakij Right: Channel 3 showing tourists making free phone calls home from the Thammasat University campus where many tourists are staying since they have returned to Bangkok.

10:02pm, December 28 - Translations from Thai-language newspapers: Matichon

* Maew [nickname of the Prime Minister Thaksin] stays to command relief workers. He cancels election campaign stops. The executive of TRT party makes an urgent order not to make speeches throughout the country for three days to honor the victims.

* At government house, the atmosphere is quiet and lonely. The Prime Minister and the vice PMs have canceled all their work, including making campaign speeches, to assist in relief efforts. Only Mr. Wisanu Kerngam and Mr. Purachai Piemsomboon, both deputy PMs are let to represent the government.

* The Trat provincial governor, Mr.Boonchuoi Kerdsukon, warns people to be careful although Koh Chang is not in the line of the tsunami danger. Thai and foreign tourists who want to come to Koh Chang panic and cancel their trips so the deputy chief of sub-Amphur put out a sign which reads “Koh Chang is safe “ to boost tourist confidence and keep up the image of tourism.

Left: Tawatchai Kemgumnerd's amazing aerial photo of the interior of Phi Phi Island on the front of the Bangkok Post.

9:47pm, December 28 - Latest official death toll in Thailand (from 9:00pm):

9:41pm, December 28 - News from Myanmar: Burma's Tidal Wave Death Toll 90 and Rising - The Irrawaddy
The huge tidal waves caused by Sunday's massive earthquake off Sumatra killed at least 90 people in Burma, according to reports compiled Tuesday. The death toll is expected to increase, say aid agencies...

9:24pm, December 28 - A pulled story from TNA/MCOT? At around noon today this link led to this peculiar story: PM expects all bodies to be recovered today Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra disclosed he expected relief officials would manage to recover all bodies of victims of the Sunday’s massive tidal wave attack today, except those remaining unaccounted for... By the evening the original story had disappeared and the link led to this: PM admits relief effort has struggled to cope Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has conceded that the post-tsunami rescue and relief effort has been severely hampered by a lack of appropriate equipment... It looks like a hasty change as the formatting is disrupted (left).

8:56pm, December 28 - Scenes of horror at French-run hotel in Thailand - AFP

8:30pm, December 28 - Prime Minister Thaksin gives a 15 address to the nation about the situation (on all channels).

8:15pm, December 28 - More notable stories
Some 800 bodies found in Khao Lak area-French radio - Reuters
Reports: Hong Kong couple survives tsunami by clinging to mattress for six hours - AP

5:26pm, December 28 - Relief supplies and blood donation needed!
...We are also aware that the Red Cross is urgently seeking blood supplies, PARTICULARLY PEOPLE WITH NEGATIVE BLOOD GROUPS. The red cross is situated at 1871 Henry Dunant Road, just off Rama IV. Telephone numbers are: 02 256 4034, 02 256 4032, or 02 256 4033 - open from 8am.

2:24pm, December 28 - Useful contact numbers and websites for relief assistance - The Nation - Also this Panitp.com thread in Thai

12:10pm, December 28 - News from MCOT/TNA
Three-day mourning period for tidal wave victims and no countdown
Government spokesperson Jakrapob Penkhae declared three-day mourning period for disaster victims from December 28-30, 2004 after tidal waves killed an estimated 2,000 people in southern coastal regions, and asked the people to wear all black. Moreover, there would be religious ceremony throughout the country on December 30 at 7pm.
Besides lowering the flag at half-staff, the governmental offices canceled all the New Year celebrations and activities while Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra would not attend any New Year countdown or celebrations.
Rumour on arsenal explosion in Phang-nga groundless
Rumours were flying this morning about an arsenal explosion near Khao Lak National Park in Phang-nga province this morning.
Rear Adm. Sirichai Kanitthakul, the Commander-in-Chief of the 3rd Fleet Royal Thai Fleet, confirmed to journalists that there was no explosion at the military depot.
Some people reportedly heard explosion sound in Phang-nga this morning, sparking rumours and panic that the arsenal near the Khao Lak National Park might had exploded, or possibily a gas explosion.

11:25am, December 28 - After disaster, Asia mulls early warning system - AP
...Officials in Thailand issued the only warnings of the impending disaster, but broadcasts beamed to tourist resorts in the country's south underestimated the threat and a Web site caution was not posted until three hours after the first waves hit.
Residents in Sri Lanka, where thousands were swept away or drowned, expressed disbelief that a warning system was in place elsewhere in the world but not in the Indian Ocean....
But the warnings came as the first waves hit. By the time a Web site warning went up three hours later, at least 700 people were dead in Thailand, including a jet-skiing grandson of King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

9:02am, December 28 - Victim database - updated in real time (Thai-language) Username: user, Password: password - This Narenthorn Center site has been up and down throughout the crisis. 9:01am, December 28 - Revised death toll Revised death toll: 918 dead, 7396 injured Interesting how news that is not in English can be invisible. The 866 death toll was posted at 6pm yesterday (December 27) on the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation website and this figure was broadcast around the world. At 9pm the same night, the figures were revised to 918. However, since the figures are on a Thai-language site, the international media did not pick it up and all the Thai newspapers were going to press at that time, so the world has to wait a further 12 hours (until the next morning) for the press to discover this new death count. Once AFP starts reporting this morning (as far as we know, there are no overnight wire reports from Bangkok), they are likely to be the first to publish it. Often the Thai-language press even follows AFP on breaking news. Update: The Bangkok Post did mange to get the final death count into their December 28 edition.

The Nation's front page on December 27, 2004

7:01am, December 28 - Updated quake info page and animated gif showing the tsunami moving through the Indian Ocean. 6:14am, December 28 - Hunt Is on for Dramatic Tsunami Pictures, AP ..."There will still be, I think, the definitive shot, the wall of water," Sandy MacIntyre, director of news for Associated Press Television News in London, said Monday. ...APTN is competing fiercely with another news agency, Reuters, to acquire video. APTN producers were sent to six airports in Europe and Asia on Monday to ask tourists if they had captured the scene on their home video cameras, MacIntyre said... 1:31am, December 28 - Phuket tsunami Astonishing photos from an eyewitness. Photos 2-10 are a sequence showing the water rushing in. Notice at the end a man being swept along by the waves. Left: Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet has an interesting photo from Phi Phi Island and a headline that reads "2000 persons still missing."(December 28, 2004).