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2B newsfeed:
Indonesian quake and tsunamis in Thailand
Read
daily Thai News and Views on the 2Bangkok.com main page
Times are Bangkok time - GMT+7. A thread about
the situation is on the forum.
Newest news is at the top of the page. The oldest news is at the
bottom.
2B newsfeed: About
the 2B newsfeed - January 3
- January 2 - January
1 - December 31
- December 30 - December
29 - December 28 - December
27 - December 26
Post-January 3, 2005
Thailand
accused of touting for tourists - The Times,
December 27, 2005
...What the Deputy Prime Minister did not see were notices in
Thai around the memorial area protesting that Mr Thaksin had reneged
on pledges to have Phi Phi rebuilt within a year. "We never
got the money or help you promised," the notices said...
Phi
Phi businesses fear `hidden agenda' - Islanders threaten to ignore
rebuilding ban - Bangkok Post, December
20, 2005
Tourism operators and local residents on tsunami-ravaged Phi Phi
island allege government agencies have a ``hidden agenda'' in restoring
the island's tourism business. They question the government's decision
to suspend the town zoning plan and rehabilitation scheme, jointly
drafted by locals and the Interior Ministry's Civil Works Department,
and allow the Designated Area for Sustainable Tourism Administration
(Dasta), to take over the task...
The agency is in charge of several controversial projects, including
Koh Chang tourism development and the Chiang Mai Night Safari...
He said villagers had heard the government planned to construct five-star
resorts on the 279-rai of land between Tonsai and Lodalam beaches,
and this had triggered widespread fear the land would be expropriated...
(Photo: Anders)
More astonishing photos of the tsunami
- April 19, 2005
Roger Brooke runs "a small site for a small island"--KohJumOnline.com.
He writes: A couple days ago a man from Sweden named Anders
sent me a batch of pictures he took of the tsunami when he was
on holiday at Koh Jum. In fact, he was at the top of Mt Pu (the
highest point on Koh Jum) and the pix
he took of the waves slamming into Koh Jum are remarkable to say
the least.]
Tsunami
volunteer finds Thailand short of cash - NC
Times, May 5, 2005
...The question the Thai people asked me most often was, "Where
are the monies that so many countries promised us to help rebuild
our area?" As we all know, lots of those monies will never
get to the people who lost everything. History has proved that to
be true, again and again...
Wealthy
grab disputed land in Thailand - AP, May 2,
2005
..."If the tsunami didn't take you away, I will," the
36-year-old Yuphin recalled hearing from a stranger she thinks was
sent by a land development company as he warned her and other villagers
to move off the site in Ban Nam Khem, which is still a landscape
of rubble, wrecked houses and beached boats.
...The villagers and activists say the developer, Far East Trading
and Construction Co., is taking advantage of the tsunami's destruction
to oust them and build hotels for sun-worshipping Westerners and
Asians.
In a dispute common in Thailand, businessmen counter that villagers
illegally encroached on their land.
At Ban Nam Khem, in the worst-hit area of the coast north of Phuket
island, company lawyer Niwat Kaewluan said Far East Trading plans
to build a resort on land he contends is illegally occupied by villagers.
The company bought the land from a mining firm, Hok Chong Seng Co.,
a few years after it stopped work in the area, Niwat said. It's
unclear when the purchase was made, but Far East Trading began forcing
some villagers off the land in 2002...
Intimidation has been incessant. Recently, five men fired gunshots
into the air to scare away Thais and foreign volunteers who came
to help residents rebuild their houses, the villagers said...
Thai
environmentalism squares off against development
- AFP, April 12, 2005
...Since the tsunami, the government has mulled a "buffer
zone" along Thai coastlines barring any new construction
within a certain distance, in some places up to 50 metres (55
yards), from the high-tide line, conservationists said.
...Wichit Na-Ranong, president of the Tourism Council of Thailand,
said the tourism industry would fight tooth and nail against
such a zone, arguing it would hamstring much-needed development
along the coast.
... "I will not allow this to happen, no matter how far
back you set the limit," Wichit told reporters in Phuket,
where he owns a luxury resort...
In
Thailand, a 'land grab' - The Christian
Science Monitor, April 8, 2005
...In February, the purported owner came and told the villagers
to clear out or face the consequences. Instead, after he left,
defiant villagers chased away his team of surveyors and went
back to rebuilding.
"I know they say this land belongs to someone, but we've
lived here a long time already," says Somchai, gesturing
at his dirt yard. "Look at those coconut trees. We planted
those. This is my land."...
In Baan Naam Khem, a fishing port that was almost wiped out
by the tsunami, the battle lines are drawn more sharply. Fifty
households on the western beachfront left destitute by the giant
waves are locked in a bitter standoff with a developer linked
to a prominent Thai politician.
The dispute has turned nasty. The developer reportedly sent
armed men to stop former residents from returning to sift through
the ashes of their homes and threatened those who resisted.
Even before the tsunami, the developer had sought to evict the
families, insisting that it had the law on its side.
Residents say it was a trick sprung by a village headman who
was in cahoots with the developer. Three years ago, the headman
collected the names and addresses of everyone in the community
and said he was petitioning the government for land titles.
Instead, he gave the list to the developer who then launched
legal action against the residents.
...Other communities have managed to see off the developers.
Baan Waa, a fishing village of 72 households, was told that
their land was needed for a new hospital for Khao Lak that the
German government had agreed to build. The villagers dug in
their heels and appealed to a visiting group of senators, including
Senator Chirmsak, for help. A call to the German Embassy revealed
that the scheme was a fiction...
Phi
Phi businesses forge ahead with post-tsunami repairs
- TNA, April 7, 2005
... According to Mr. Boonma Saelim, the owner of a local
tour company, most of the restoration and clearance work is
being carried out by foreigners, while the government has done
relatively little.
Many local businesses, he says, have simply decided to go ahead
with restoration work without waiting for the issuance of official
planning regulations...
Sea gypsies
lose their instinct - Waves turn their lives upside down
- Bangkok Post, April 3, 2005
...Hong Klathalay, the 37-year-old tribe leader at Ban Thung
Wa, has claimed that help from the district and provincial authorities
for the tribe had been cut off because they had refused to be
relocated. Now they only rely on donations to survive.
He said the 281 Moken survivors at this village had no means
of earning a living as they were too scared to go fishing.
They had also lost all their valuables including their houses
and fishing boats...
The tribe leader alleged that the district had expropriated
10 rai of the tribe's 26 rai land after the Moken survivors
refused to adopt the relocation plan.
"District and provincial authorities are upset, so they
give no assistance to us,'' he said...
Earlier: A tale of two newspapers: Sea
gypsy protest
|
Andaman:
Sad story of the century - March
29, 2005
Asiper passes along the following info: The network of
Andaman writers kindly asks you to support tsunami victims
by buying the book "Andaman: Sad story of the century."
It is a memorandum of the grief and sorrowful story of the
tsunami victims in six southern provinces and the wounds that
have not healed yet.
All revenue will go directly to the restore
fund for Andaman through an education fund for orphans. No
deductions for expenses made. The book is only 100 baht. Please
contact : 02-270-0928-9 or Khun Por/Mild Publishing in the
main foyer W 19 (at the Queen Sirikit Convention Center
until April 6).
|
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Phuket
bans tsunami spirit ceremonies - TNA,
March 30, 2005
Since massive tsunami waves slammed into Thailand's Andaman coastline
on 26 December, residents of the southern resort island of Phuket
have been conducting ceremonies to pray for the souls of the departed.
But today Phuket Governor Udomsak Assawarangkura indicated that
the ceremonies would be banned, saying that they were having a negative
impact on the island's tourism image, and that they were a reminder
of outmoded ideas related to the belief in ghosts...
Workers tell their tsunami
stories - March 19, 2005
Special report by Asiper: This is from a conference on March 10
about the impact of the tsunami on workers.
| Right: Plenary of the conference. Victims
tell their stories: a widow who lost her husband who was a grocery
store owner on Phiphi island, a food seller at Rachayai Beach
in Phuket, a construction worker at Korkhao island, Pangnga,
a local fishermen from Trang. Also two NGOs: Empower (works
with service-women workers) and Thai Action for Democracy in
Burma (works with migrant workers). |
(Photo: Thai Labour Museum Foundation) |
Below: The widow from Phiphi, Krabi, Mrs.
Amporn Thanapitak, who has three children and lost her husband from
Tsunami.
She said on December 26, 2004 she was in her shop when her husband
called her to see the wave coming. She saw the level of water as high
as the roof and immediately the wave threw into a drainage sewer and
wood scraps pinned her there for two hours. She tried to kill herself
by holding her breath, but she did not die and she thought of her
daughter. Somebody lifted her body from the drainage sewer. She found
that she was only wearing pants. Everything was very quiet until she
heard one guy shout and told her to hurry to go to the mountain. There
were lots of people but nobody helped her because they wanted to run
away from the tidal wave.
(Photo: Thai Labour Museum Foundation) |
Two foreign guys grabbed her to helped her up
the mountain and gave her medicine, food and a blanket. She
could not move. She had to use the bathroom lying down. She
wanted to die, but she kept remembering her children. She asked
people to find her husband and finally found her daughter who
was also looking for her father. Finally someone carried her
down the mountain. She was in bad condition with a pale face.
A foreigner saw her and told people to help her first and four
foreigners took her to the hospital. At present she receives
2500 baht for each of her children per month to study and this
support will continue until they are in university. |
She still has no other income. She can survive nowadays
because of donated money while she was treated at the hospital and
from some money (usually 100-200 baht) given by kind persons.
| Right and below: Drawings by a girl name
Nong Praw or Thanapa Thanapitak. In the conference she draw
a picture she named "The big wave" (below) and "The
big wave Tsunami" (right) to convey her experiences. |
 |
Thailand
secretly kills search for missing tsunami victims to boost tourism
- Cyber Diver News Network, March 20, 2005
Thai authorities are calling off their operation to identify
the bodies of tsunami victims because they claim it is hampering
attempts to lure tourists...
Tsunami
restores Maya Bay’s beauty - The Nation,
March 2, 2005
...“To me, to see the beauty of Maya restored by nature
is a hopeful message for my life to move on.”
In 1999, Nattawuth forcefully helped a group of local and Bangkok
environmentalists to oppose the filming of the 20th Century Fox
project “The Beach”, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, on the
shores of Maya Bay. The group lost its battle and Fox later that
year bulldozed the beach, removed native plants and replaced them
with some 100 coconut trees.
...“But now 80-90 per cent of Maya’s beauty has been returned
to its previous condition,” says a jovial park ranger at Haad
Nopparat Tara National Park, whose Phi Phi and Maya Bay are the
jewels in the crown of an iconic tropical paradise.
“Look at the sand dunes on the beach, they came back after
the tsunami,” he said...
Bangkok
shifted by Asian quake - BBC, February
23, 2005
The Thai capital Bangkok has reportedly moved nine centimetres
(3.5 inches) to the south-west since the huge Indian Ocean earthquake
in December...
More tsunami news
- February 15, 2005
Tsunami maps
GWR writes: A couple of standouts (1,
2)
from the tsunami map collection on the web's best
site for maps.
Scams and urban legends
Don Entz points out: The scam artists are taking full
advantage of the tsunami to bilk people out of their money,
so beware. Also: Tsunami
mermaid urban legend
Another tsunami urban legend
- February 8, 2005
Don Entz point out: Elephant
legend
Crack - January 27,
2005
We cannot tell you which building this is from, but here is
an example (right) of the extensive cracking that occurred in
a 30+ story building in Bangkok that was caused by the December
26, 2004 earthquake off the coast of Indonesia (that also caused
the tsunamis).
|
(Photo: 2Bangkok.com) |
A tale of two newspapers: Sea
gypsy protest - January 25, 2005
The Post seems to be
unaware of the controversy that erupted in the Thai-language
press last week and prints the governor's statement without
further comment. Also note: The Nation uses the spelling
'Morgan' while the Post uses the less common 'Moken.'
From Matichon, January 21, 2005: 200 Morgan people
[sea gypsies] protest to ask for the return of their
land because Kuek Kak Tambon Administrative organization [Phangnga]
drove them off their land after the tsunami disaster and
wants to build the private hospital and OTOP center there.
|
Moken
sea people get better deal - Bangkok
Post, January 24, 2005
Living conditions of the 184 sea-dwelling Moken people on
Surin island will be improved, the province says. Phangnga governor
Anuwat Maytheewibulwut said he visited the islanders last week
to gauge the effects of the tsunami and prepare for provincial
efforts to improve medical services, ensure Moken children are
educated and to train adults as national park staff and to produce
handicrafts for tourists... |
More tsunami video - January
21, 2005
At 11pm on Janaury 20, the Channel 7 show Reung
Jing Pan Jor (True Story from TV) premiered one of the most
amazing videos we have ever seen. A man named Tuwit on Koh Lah
Cha shot a five minute video from a hillside of the tsunami
hitting the entire beach. The video is notable for showing the
complete ebb and flow of the event over time as opposed to a
close-up shot of a wave. The sheer height of the water as it
surges onto the half kilometer beach and the rapid movement
as it sucks items out to sea is awe inspiring.
They also showed another video taken at Ban Namkem in Phangnga
of many kids playing in an enclosed bay when suddenly a huge
volume of water surges into the cove. All the kids run in terror.
Afterwards they take videos of each other as they sit on the
shore dazed and scraped up. |
 |
Finally they showed footage of scuba divers recovering
purses and other items from deep underwater and also footage of large
sections of coral tipped upside down.
What
chance Thai tourism's post-tsunami grand plan? -
Reuters, January 20, 2005
Talk of "new beginnings" is all the rage in Thai tourism
circles at the moment, but for all the good intentions, efforts to
smarten up resort areas and rid them of sleaze and grime look likely
to fail.
In a country where regulation is frequently invoked but seldom realised,
the mish-mash of tacky souvenir shops, neon-lit go-go bars and beach-front
shop-houses will rise inexorably from the tsunami rubble, analysts
fear...
Five years ago, Khao Lak's unspoilt white sand beaches stretched as
far as the eye could see along southern Thailand's Andaman Sea coast.
In that short time, much of the pristine wilderness, which was meant
to enjoy national park protection, disappeared in a free-for-all scramble
of hotel complexes, beach bars and market stalls vying for every last
tourist dollar, pound or baht...
"It's important to realise that when you stay in a Marriott,
Sofitel, Hyatt or Hilton here, you are not in a property owned by
Marriott, Sofitel, Hyatt or Hilton," Colson said. "These
are hotel management companies, not hotel-owning companies."
"The people who really decide whether a new hotel is going to
comply with rules and regulations are those who own the land and buildings.
They are very wealthy and, in many cases, see it as a duty to buy
their way round regulations," he said...
More tsunami urban legends
- January 19, 2005
Don Entz points out:
False:
Photographs show unusual deep-sea creatures washed up by the December
2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
False:
Photograph shows a satellite view of the Indian Ocean tsunami.
Undetermined:
Children orphaned by the Indian Ocean tsunami are being offered
for sale via SMS messages.
More on the bogus tsunami photos - January
20, 2005
Mogens Engelund has examples
on his site of the World Tourist Organization using the bogus
tsunami photos on their website.
He also has an article about this (in Danish), False
tsunami photos travelled around the world, and into TV as well
which includes some examples of the photos being used in newspapers.
Criticism of Thai media accusations - The
Irrawaddy, January 12, 2005
The coordinator of a Thai NGO on Wednesday spoke out against sensationalist
Thai media reports that Burmese gangs were looting areas of southern
Thailand affected by the tsunami...
On January 8 the mass circulation Thai newspaper Khao Sot carried
a story headlined Maung Thieves (maung is a Thai pejorative term for
Burmese) which claimed that at least a thousand Burmese looters on
pickups were stripping Khao Lak bare. Strangely, the paper claimed
that the “Burmese” looters had tricked local people into
thinking they were southern Thais by learning to speak fluent Southern
Thai dialect (apparently in anticipation of the tsunami).
The Khao Sot report was repeated on at least two television stations
and remarked on by at least one high profile TV pundit. NGOs fear
that the media reports may lead to more discrimination against Burmese
tsunami survivors in Thailand...
Newspapers
rush to print fake tsunami photos - January
13, 2005
...PTI put the photos on the net and they were promptly run by
several television channels and newspapers, including the Times of
India, the Calgary Herald in Canada and Tz, a German paper, who ran
the image under the caption, “Tsunami in Sri Lanka.” Channel
Nine’s Sky News, Australia also grabbed the images...
Tsunami
scam letter - January 12, 2005
Tsunami news - January 11, 2005
Wisarut provides another roundup from the Thai-language press and
forums: HTMS Naresuan has picked up five floating corpses 90 knots
south of Similan Islands with the assistance from French helicopters.
Helicopters from HTMS Chakkri Naruebet have flown to recon around
Ban Nam Khem fishermen village and Laem Pakarang.
Navy officers are constructing 73 temporary shelters at Kau Khau Khao
(Takua Pa district of Phangnga) to be done on January 21 as well as
the 175 new permanent houses, 60 new permanent house at Lanta Island
(Lanta district of Krabi) and 20 new houses in Sireh village for those
Mokan (Chao Leh) tribe at Ratchada Port of Phuket.
Some people said the land of Satun is very unstable and ready to eroded
at any seconds since underground is the sea. There is a dead giant
turtle at Phangnga Naval base (60 kg, 84 cm long and 75 cm wide) (from
Manager
Daily: Jan 9, 2005).
When Phee Pui (Pornthip Nakhirankanok) donated 20 million baht for
tsunami victims, almost Thai netters had praise. However, when Khun
Paradorn donated only about 10,000 baht, the public anger erupted
(from mThai).
When some jealous doctors made very bad comments to warn Dr. Khunying
Pornthip and this really frustrated her, Thai netters came to calm
Khunying Pornthip down so she can continue her forensic works while
flaming and cursing those jealous doctors (from mThai: 1
and 2). Public
sympathy toward Dr Khunying Pornthip after the attacks from
the jealous doctors is here.
Many Thai netters have reported about corrupt officers who keep the
donated items for themselves while giving rotten food and ragged clothes
to tsunami victims.
Burmese dissenters have reported that there are about 400-600 dead
from the tsunami in Burma, but the junta has told a big lie to the
world that there are very few deaths. Even Thai corespondents from
Siam Turakij told the readers that there are at least 200 crematorium
piers along the Burmese coast and the junta does not care about the
dead because they are minorities (also see NCGUB).
* Manager
Online: Satellite Photos of Patong Beach - comparing before and after
tsunami.
The Nation always makes a sharp critique of Premier Thaksin-look at
this
satirical cartoon.
More non-tsunami related links:
* Public paranoia
about the Malaysian government
* Thaksin's
paranoid toward Democrat who got number 4
* Reference
to the 100 years anniversary of China Railway
Comment: Does the
Andaman tourist industry deserve a quick revival?
- January 8, 2005
Reports
that 800 Thais could commit suicide dismissed
- TNA, January 8, 2005
A senior government psychiatrist has dismissed foreign news reports
that suggest that 800 Thais affected by last month's massive tsunami
waves were at risk of killing themselves because of stress and depression,
called "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder".
"The report is too pessimistic and comes from a western point
of view which cannot be applied to the Thai society," said the
Department of Mental Health Spokesman, Dr. Taveesilp Wisanuyothin.
The Thai society has mechanisms that help relieve stress, despair
and depression, including warm family relationships and religious
beliefs, he said...
Is anyone to blame
for lack of warning? - Bangkok Post,
January 7, 2005
...The most important factor that would inhibit any kind of warning
was the general perception that tsunamis would never affect Thailand;
they never had before and there had never been one in the Indian Ocean...
Despite what the Bangkok Post says we know of at least one
tsunami that killed 500 people in Nakhon Si Thammarat in 1965. Do
readers know of any other?
News about the Andaman coast
- January 5, 2005
Last week we asked about the fate of some of the minor islands in
the Andaman Sea. Wisarut has found some details from the local Thai-language
press:
Khun Nitipoom (a columnist of Foreign Affairs in Thairath) reported
that those who live on Panyee Islands [Phanyi] (most are Muslim)
were from the tsunami by Allah's mercy so the custodians of Masjid
in Panyee Island would pray to bless Allah to protect the island.
The Masjid custodians have invited Khun Nitipoom to participate with
them since he have written articles that show sympathy toward Muslims
[Nitipoom is not exactly popular in some circles for these articles.
Nitipoom also stood in the Bangkok
Governor elections last year].
James Bond's Rock (Khao Tapoo) in Ao Phang
Nga National Park is also sparred Phuket island shielded Ao Phang
Nga National Park.
Those who live on Phi
Phi told the press that those hotel investors violated many
rules of the islands such as bringing pork to the island (most local
people are Muslim) and building hotels and restaurants on Gubor (Muslim
cemeteries). Those who run hotels in Phi Phi forgot to pray to the
spirits of Phi Phi island so they are deserved to be punished.
After Premier Thaksin has come to see Khunying Pornthip on January
4, she was overwhelmed and nearly fainted due to being tired and getting
the chance to tell what happened in the forensic lab at Wat Yanyao.
Premier Thaksin has pledged with Khunying Pornthip that he will help
her and her coworkers to bring the dead back home as soon as possible.
Khunying Pornthip also invited Khun Sorayut to see what happen inside
the forensic lab at Wat Yanyao. She told Khun Sorayut that the oozing
liquid from the bodies have erased barcodes to identify them. So they
have to reidentify the corpses again. [This is slightly different
than the international press which reported that the antiseptic spray
erased the tags.] Probably she needs metal dog tags from the armed
forces to tag the corpses.
Khun Sorayut (a top TV host) also told of the misery of those fishermen
at Ban Nam Khem. All the families in Ban Nam Khem have lost at least
one member of their families due to the tsunami.
Kidnapper rings are kidnapping European children form the hospitals
for ransom. [This again is different than the international press
which reported they were looking for German man that might have walked
away with a child. Later he was found and the police declared him
innocent.]
Ten days after the tsunami, the
Bangkok Post creates an informational page -
January 6, 2004
It is obvious the Post does not consider their website a priority
(it is only updated once a day). However, it is incredible that it
took them ten days to create a single informational page for those
looking for information about the disaster: Special
announcement - Bangkok Post, January 5, 2005
With many people, especially foreigners, still desperately looking
for missing friends and relatives in the wake of the tsunami which
struck southern Thailand on Dec 26, the Bangkok Post feels obliged
to serve as a medium to facilitate search and relief efforts...
Secret
mass grave for tourists - Times Online,
January 5, 2005
...Local Red Cross officials told The Times that they were ordered
to prepare a site for 10,000 bodies, far more than the Thai Government
says were killed by the tsunami, raising doubts that a true count
of victims will ever be known...
iTV interviews Colin Powell
- January 4, 2005
iTV has been showing its exclusive interview with Colin Powell
and a subtitled version is just appearing at 10:00pm.
In answer the the question that "someone" said the
U.S. was slow to act, Powell responded that "my good friend
the Thai foreign minister" said the first call he received
from another country after the disaster was from Colin Powell
and at that time they both thought there were only 300 deaths.
How
did she survive? - Screenshots, January
04, 2005
Interesting roundup of how the Malaysian press explained the
story of a person left drifting at sea. |
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