Thai Tital wave in Phuket

[Zaad]

Really not much to say about it after viewing several pics and images on the damages throughout Asia.

 

I wish all of those affected lots of strength in the future.

[Fidel]

I spoke to friends in Ao Nang just after it happened yesterday. Two of them were almost swept away, had to hang on for dear life. All in all not too bad in Ao Nang unless you were in the sea or on the beach at the time.

 

Some buildings damaged, cars washed into the sea etc.

 

I was watching CH 11 this morning and there is a serious number of casualties arriving on the beach in Ao Nang from nearby islands.

 

Kao Lak is fucked.

[gobbledonk]

As sickening as it is the US media is now reporting how many American deaths there were. Like it's not important if Americans weren't killed.

 

The Australian media is also on tenterhooks in the hope of finding an Australian body somewhere in the debris. Can you imagine the outrage that something like this would have caused if it had hit the west coast of the US completely without warning ? My understanding is that 'First World' countries have systems in place to detect and warn people when a seismic event occurs : whether they would have had enough time to evacuate LA or SF is another issue.

 

As bad as the damage seems in Phuket, the pictures coming from Sri Lanka are much worse. CNN are reporting that thousands of land mines (from the conflict with the Tamil Tigers) have been uprooted by the waves, adding to the danger for rescue and aid workers. Monsoonal rains are also on the way, adding to the misery of survivors.

[BrownFox77]

Re: American and Australian TV news noting whether or not any of their own countrymen were among the dead - I'd say this is a normal reaction and doesn't really imply anything sinister. I watched FOX news in the US for example and the note about any American casualties was just an added footnote - a very, very small footnote to the overall story.

 

Here's a small snippet from a Yahoo news story:

 

Scientists said the death toll might have been reduced if India and Sri Lanka had been part of an international warning system designed to advise coastal communities that a potentially killer wave was approaching. Although Thailand is part of the system, the west coast of its southern peninsula does not have the system's wave sensors mounted on ocean buoys.

 

The above implies that Thailand does have a warning system (except for the west cost of the southern peninsula) however in all my trips to Pattaya don't recall seeing any warning sirens in Pattaya anywhere - not sure if any expats might know.

 

I was just getting out of my car in Hawaii during our last major Tsunami warning - unfortunately the siren used is identical to the air raid siren (Nuke's on the way) and I was gettin ready to kiss my ass goodbye. The result in Honolulu of the Tsunami warning by the way was absolute grid lock at the costal areas - for hours and hours, luckily when it hit it was just a fizzled out 4 footer.

[Guest]

Last year, IRAN had an Earthquake that killed more people. Nobody remembers that quake - no falangs killed.

 

Sad when news only reports news that involves falangs - sounds like the rest of the world is not important.

[sayjann]

i'm not sure how an early warning system would work.

this was an event which was very unusual(has it ever happened in living memory)? and would any of the Countries involved invisaged anything like this happening?.

do the Countries have the technology to work out what was happening and to react in time?.

 

would it be a siren system who would know what it meant?.

the permanent inhabitants might be clued up on what it all meant,but what others.

Phuket has many Thais(and i imagine other SEA people) arriving each Month to work in various industries and would they be schooled in what sirens meant?

and would tourists be given the info?.

and at that time of Day many people would not have heard anything,i know that i was normally comatose that early.

 

i think it would be pointless if alerts were put over the radio and TV as most Thais i knew had neither and would the Thais run around warning the tourists?.

 

Thailand has got off quite lightly compared to Sri Lanka and The Maldives,but any life lost in a tradegy is a sad one.

saw some harrowing footage on the BBC during the Night with People clinging onto things for dear life before being swept away into the distance.

but the image i remember is one of a Man wading through knee deep water carrying a dead child aged around 2.......very harrowing.

[pattaya127]

It has finally dawned on me that anyone living in Kata or Patong could have died (phiphi too), depending on where they were at the time. i have 2 friends there now, hope i hear answers from them soon, mail or answering my phone.

Families were separated as the waters engulfed them, people still searching for these loved ones. kids, smaller, must have even been more at risk.

 

A friend just told me an earthquake happened again today in Burma, 6,9. Any news of that?

[Guest]

My GF has friends in Phuket that say there are large amounts of Thai children that have missing parents or have lost there folks... This is such a nightmare for all involved.

 

Phi Phi Don is gone! The two hotels I was told are the Cabana hotel and the phi phi hotel (the larger one that you recieve lunch at if taking tours to phi phi when snorkling) Anyone know if this is right!

 

I still haven't heard about Railey beach...anyone?

 

I can not imagine drowning in your hotel room...blows my mind!

 

Skibum

[sayjann]

have to disagree MM.

 

the Iran Earthquake was extensively covered on the BBC at the time for many Days.

much footage of digging and pulling people(alive and dead)from the rubble.

Turkey seems to suffer from Earthquakes frequently and always in-depth coverage for days.

 

watching all the coverage during the Night there was much footage of Iran and other unfortunate people.

[Ranger]

MightyMouse said:

Last year, IRAN had an Earthquake that killed more people. Nobody remembers that quake - no falangs killed.

 

Sad when news only reports news that involves falangs - sounds like the rest of the world is not important.

 

Been watching CNN for 2 days now in the US, and they have been giving just as much if not more coverage to the devastation in Sri Lanka vs. the coverage of Thailand. It's been pretty much a 24 hour story, only occasionally interuppted with other news. Sure, they have mentioned that Phuket is full of Western tourists, but that's not the main focus of the coverage.

 

BTW, I was planning on being in either Phuket or Krabi right now, but screwed up and bought non-changable airline tickets and had to come home a month earlier than planned. Never thought I'd be glad to miss out on an extra month in Thailand.

 

Ranger