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Galong
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Phuket to build more warning towers
There will also be observation towers manned with lifeguards to help rescue tourists on beaches in case of accidents, he said.
--TNA 2005-09-07
Right, and they should make them comfy so the person manning the tower can sleep.
I was at kata Beach a couple weeks ago and the person in the lifeguard tower wasn't watching anything other than foreign women. I'm guessing that once he had his fill he'd take a nap. I've seen lifeguards sleeping on more than one occasion. I've also seen the station un-manned when the waves were unsafe.
I wonder what sort of training the lifeguards receive? I also didn't notice and rescue boards (big surfboards) at the station. I wonder how a 140 pound Thai chap will rescue a fat foreign tourist.
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Three tsunami-hit provinces to be developed as world-class
Last I read Phuket was to be a "high tech hub"
World class? I don't think so. Maybe he meant low-class. Thailand should just stick with their expertise: dirty beaches, prostitution, touts, cheap CD's, noodls shops, foot massage.
You've hit the nail on the head. There is no reason to think that things will change. Phuket and Krabi are both the same. The islands of Trang are next. In a while, mass tourism and tacky tourist shops will work their way down to the border of Malaysia.
As creative and original as Thais are with food and comedy (great Thai commercials and stand-up comics), why can't they come up with new and original ways to build a tourist destination. Well, I'll tell you why... it's easier to copy an existing destination. Cheap tours, cheap trinkets, etc. don't require learning proper English and any uneducated citizen can make money.
Who else is getting tired of all the "hub" talk? Come on gov, follow through on something please. You've come up with a lot of seemingly good idea... then they seem to vanish into thin air.
Of course, keep the cheap CD business
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Perhaps someone should notify the Kennedys to let them know that they can run moonshine over here now. yuk, yuk, yuk.
Sorry, non-yanks... the Kennedys made an enormous amount of money running whiskey during the US prohibition. You know, kinda like G W selling coke because he couldn't possibly have enough playing-around money from W Sr.
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Wow, the beer lobbyists have done an amazing job!
Welcome to the Police State, formerly known as Thailand.
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New barometer of Thai economy
BANGKOK: -- It’s unlikely to replace the country’s stock exchange index, but Thailand has come up with a new economic barometer-the Mama Noodle Index.
When the economy gets bad, the sales of Mama, the country’s top-selling brand of instant noodles, shoot up, according to economists and businesspeople quoted by The Nation newspaper on Monday.
“One of the more bizarre economic indicators to emerge in recent years, the Noodle Index works like this-tighten your belt, spend less on food. As a cheap eat, instant noodle sales therefore rise exponentially,” the newspaper said.
As Thailand’s economy recovered in recent years from the1997 economic crisis, Mama sales were steady. But with economic weakness beginning to show up last year, sales went up by 5 per cent and then jumped 15 per cent over the first seven months of 2005 from the same period last year.
--Agencies 2005-09-05
Hi George,
I must admit that in my past, when money was tight, I too bought big packs of Mama noodles. But besides being cheap, they're also good. You can add other stuff to make it better, like cabbage, onions, egg, meat, etc.
After living here for a long time, I'm still extremely impressed with the low income Thais. How on earth they get by on such meager salaries is beyond me. I hope the economy doesn't force poorer folks into Mama Mode again.
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hi , ive never been to thailand before. would be looking to buying a home or condo around phuket for 60 to 80 thousand pounds, my brother would be coming with me so my 22k would be for spending as i wouldnt have no mortgage. i would be really grateful for peoples opinions on where to live also.
Hi Toffo9,
Phuket is getting very busy (over-developed?). Prices for houses have sky rocketed and it's my opinion that buying a house in Phuket is risky. I think that the lack of control over growth will result in the Pattaya-zation of Phuket. Meaning, prices will drop and everyone will have to be very competitive to compete. Forgive me Pattaya residents. This is the feeling I got when visiting Pattaya. I did enjoy myself of course... plenty of very nice locals and expats. I just couldn't help imagining that the endless hotels and guesthouses are full very much of the year. Some buddies told me that there aren't enough tourists coming and therefore accommodations are very cheap.
Stay away from the touristy areas if you want to get a good deal on a house. Staying within striking distance is easy. In other words, you could live just off of Phuket and get a much nicer house for the same money or less.
Additionally, there will be a serious water problem in the very near future. You can't drive more than a couple minutes anywhere in the southern half of Phuket and not see shop houses, housing estates and construction. It doesn't seem like the local government has a plan with we run out of water this coming dry season.
I'm tired of Phuket to be perfectly frank. I've been here for over 12 years. The traffic alone is driving me crazy. I'm looking at moving to Phang Nga Province near Phang Nga Town. It's lovely, quiet and surrounded by mountains. It's an hour's drive to Phuket, so when I'm ready to party hardy, it's easy.
I hope this helped.
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Since I put my email address in my profile data on this TV site, my spam has increased three-fold.
obviously they are managing to access the database to obtain "live" email addresses
So take care, use another email address that can fill with spam and not bother you
I hate them!!!
I run seven websites and in the not-so-distant past I was getting anywhere between ten to fifteen THOUSAND spam emails per day! No bull...
I had to use a java script to hide my email address on my sites. Some spam still gets through, but that's going to happen anyway.
If someone has your email address saved on their computer and they get hacked, your email will be found.
You know, this is truly bothersome on many levels. Think about how effective computer-stopping bugs would be for terrorists if they wanted to screw up the global financial institutions.
Viruses, trojans, etc. have played havoc with big business in the past. It seems that (if my memory serves me correctly) many of these viruses, trojans, worms, etc were written by young folks (the Love Virus by a couple of young Filpinos)
Just imagine what would happen if a bunch of really sharp computer hackers/virus writers put their minds together and came up with a really nasty bug. I'm not sure if this appeals to terrorists as it's not bloody...
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So what else have Vietnam been bullshiting about. And how bad do you think the problem is in china or going to get before someone reacts there. I guess all the Thai goverment will be worried about will be the blow to tourist numbers so how much have they hidden??.
With the constant threat of terrorism, bird flu, SARS, war, etc. I think we might get a tourist mindset that says 'just get on with it'! Obviously, every country is a potential terrorist target. The bird flu and SARS are NOT limited to SE Asia and China.
In my opinion, this will not impact tourism all that much [fingers crossed of course]
The underlying message in all of this is that governments lie... surpise!!
The possible good side is that it'll decrease numbers and adversely affect environmentally-irresponsible mass tourism companies. Educated and higher-end tourists don't stop traveling because of bad press. I run a small-group nature tour company and we're having a banner low season, despite the trouble in the Deep South, bird flu, SARS, war and all that jazz.
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I heard that Sri Lanka donated $25,000 to aid the US. This is from a very poor country and it's an incredible gesture on their part. With all the bad news out there, it's heartwarming to hear things of this nature.
I was wondering if anyone has heard anything about Thailand either donating money, offering man-power or sending condolences.
Thanks...
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Given the heinously incompetent reaction to this predictable natural disaster we saw coming on radar for days, how would this administration's vaunted "Homeland Security Department" have reacted to a terrorist attack (say a dirty bomb and blowing the levee) with no foresight or time to react at all?
DD
You hit an extremely important nerve. What if?? What if G W had to deal with a dirty bomb? Gee, he has such a great track record that I'm sure he'd call daddy and figure out a way to make himself look competent
It seems like the items I listed in my original posting are becoming realities. The reality still is that they had warning and the MANAGEMENT failed to draw up a plan or initiate an existing plan in a timely and professional manner.
The likes of jrincon17 who said, "you know we are better off here without people like you . You actually made me sick. Focker" Hmm, he/she should read more news. I am finding news from many sources that are all questioning the response to the disaster by the government (local, state and federal). One interesting article I read this morning is from Japan. Check out http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=8&id=348159 This article really puts the race issue to the front of the tragedy.
There seems to be many differnt news sources all now realizing that the handling of the rescue was not timely and was not fair.
And jrincon17 also said, "Is there a way to ban him for being so stupid ?" Man, who is this person? Why can't he/she understand that there are these things call opinions and opposing views. Ban me from expressing my view?? Who are you, the Prime Minister?
I now wonder how much face has the US gov lost in the eyes of the international community over this mismanaged tragedy?
Again, I am NOT disrespecting the rescuers and individuals who are doing their absolute best to help those in need. My heart goes out to all of them. They are the heros in this horrific disaster.
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Had a few friends over and we tried to do an unpartial beer tasting of the cheapie beers (at or below B 20/can in Tesco/lotus) we could find:
Archa, Red Horse, Thai Beer, Chang, Leo
1. Chang and Red Horse. (so we need to do another test between the 2!
)2. Leo
3. Beer Thai (dislike of after taste from some. Seems a bit flat)
4. Archa (almost all had a dislike of the after taste ("can-like") and seems bit flat)
On a side note you can currently in Spot supermarkets get buy 3 get 4 Blue Ice lowering the price per can to B 19. Not a bad deal.
Cheers!
I wonder if the results would have been the same if all the beers where on tap??
I think Thai Beer (other than the fact that it seems like some cans have waaaay more alcohol than others) tastes a bit like Budweizer (High-class redneck American beer). Bud on tap at the brewery is pretty darn good. But, it seems to loose some quality when transferred.
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United States of Shame (from the Op. Ed. section of the NY Times)
By MAUREEN DOWD
Published: September 3, 2005
Stuff happens.
And when you combine limited government with incompetent government, lethal stuff happens.
America is once more plunged into a snake pit of anarchy, death, looting, raping, marauding thugs, suffering innocents, a shattered infrastructure, a gutted police force, insufficient troop levels and criminally negligent government planning. But this time it's happening in America.
W. drove his budget-cutting Chevy to the levee, and it wasn't dry. Bye, bye, American lives. "I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees," he told Diane Sawyer.
Shirt-sleeves rolled up, W. finally landed in ###### yesterday and chuckled about his wild boozing days in "the great city" of N'Awlins. He was clearly moved. "You know, I'm going to fly out of here in a minute," he said on the runway at the New Orleans International Airport, "but I want you to know that I'm not going to forget what I've seen." Out of the cameras' range, and avoided by W., was a convoy of thousands of sick and dying people, some sprawled on the floor or dumped on baggage carousels at a makeshift M*A*S*H unit inside the terminal.
Why does this self-styled "can do" president always lapse into such lame "who could have known?" excuses.
Who on earth could have known that Osama bin Laden wanted to attack us by flying planes into buildings? Any official who bothered to read the trellis of pre-9/11 intelligence briefs.
Who on earth could have known that an American invasion of Iraq would spawn a brutal insurgency, terrorist recruiting boom and possible civil war? Any official who bothered to read the C.I.A.'s prewar reports.
Who on earth could have known that New Orleans's sinking levees were at risk from a strong hurricane? Anybody who bothered to read the endless warnings over the years about the Big Easy's uneasy fishbowl.
In June 2004, Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, fretted to The Times-Picayune in New Orleans: "It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can't be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us."
Not only was the money depleted by the Bush folly in Iraq; 30 percent of the National Guard and about half its equipment are in Iraq.
Ron Fournier of The Associated Press reported that the Army Corps of Engineers asked for $105 million for hurricane and flood programs in New Orleans last year. The White House carved it to about $40 million. But President Bush and Congress agreed to a $286.4 billion pork-filled highway bill with 6,000 pet projects, including a $231 million bridge for a small, uninhabited Alaskan island.
Just last year, Federal Emergency Management Agency officials practiced how they would respond to a fake hurricane that caused floods and stranded New Orleans residents. Imagine the feeble FEMA's response to Katrina if they had not prepared.
Michael Brown, the blithering idiot in charge of FEMA - a job he trained for by running something called the International Arabian Horse Association - admitted he didn't know until Thursday that there were 15,000 desperate, dehydrated, hungry, angry, dying victims of Katrina in the New Orleans Convention Center.
Was he sacked instantly? No, our tone-deaf president hailed him in Mobile, Ala., yesterday: "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."
It would be one thing if President Bush and his inner circle - Dick Cheney was vacationing in Wyoming; Condi Rice was shoe shopping at Ferragamo's on Fifth Avenue and attended "Spamalot" before bloggers chased her back to Washington; and Andy Card was off in Maine - lacked empathy but could get the job done. But it is a chilling lack of empathy combined with a stunning lack of efficiency that could make this administration implode.
When the president and vice president rashly shook off our allies and our respect for international law to pursue a war built on lies, when they sanctioned torture, they shook the faith of the world in American ideals.
When they were deaf for so long to the horrific misery and cries for help of the victims in New Orleans - most of them poor and black, like those stuck at the back of the evacuation line yesterday while 700 guests and employees of the Hyatt Hotel were bused out first - they shook the faith of all Americans in American ideals. And made us ashamed.
Who are we if we can't take care of our own?
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.. What has Thailand to compete with this?
[/quote
Ah, well lets see,
1. You couldn't fine a face in Singapore with a straight set of teeth to save their lives, despite having money.
Oh my God, that was sooooo funny. I'm still laughing... good one!
Let's see a good reason to visit Singapore. It's clean and, hmmm, it's clean.
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In my eyes, Thailand is 1st World on responding to disasters and the US could use a swift kick in their 3rd World quality back side.
Correct me if I am wrong but RE Thailand and tsunami, I seem to remember:
- stories about the very news of the tsunami having hit their country given HOURS AFTER the fact
- stories about how Thai officials had been warned of the impending danger but did and said nothing to the public not to harm the tourism and the economy
- stories about Thai politicians blaming the loots on foreign workers (mainly Burmese) and saying Thais are not capable of something like that
- stories about real and fake Thai police taking part in the loots and stealing from foreign workers before arresting them for the loots
- stories about Thai police arresting foreign illegal workers outside of the hit places and charging them for the loots
- stories about covert mass burials
- stories about under-reporting the total casualties
- stories about under-reporting foreign illegal workers and Thai casualties
- stories about children disappearing from policed gathering points and foreign children being handed to unidentified locals
- stories about foreigners from 3rd world countries being discriminated in the rescue efforts
- stories about Thai govt not wanting to accept foreign financial aids
- stories about Thai bureaucracy keeping foreign aids in ports
- stories about Thai govt denying the true extension and the final results of the damage
Moreover, once it was all over:
- stories about Thais refusing to help the economic recovery of the hit areas, and their fellow Thais, visiting there or buying products from there for fear of ghosts and of the seafood having been in contact with corpses
- stories about business owners in the hit areas laying staff off and complaining about the lack of business all the while keeping prices at pre-tsunami levels
True first class response and handling of the situation indeed...
BAF, you bring up many interesting and most likely true points. My point, which I should have expanded upon, was that the initial response to the immediate needs of the victims-- that being food, water and shelter-- were addressed in a very timely manner. I live in Phuket and I saw this first-hand.
A lot of very nasty things have happened after the tsunami. Your list seems very comprehensive and I have heard about every one that you brought up. It's truly a sad statement of the human condition when folks who are more well-off take advantage of folks in need. In light of this, both the governments US and Thailand are woefully lacking in their abilities to handle such situations. It's sick.
Thanks for your input.
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You completely ignore the fact this was a Hurricane not as Tsunami and thus the destruction to infrastructure extends hundreds of miles inland. Very, very different situation.
So, you think that the pathetic response that the US government is giving is somehow acceptable?
If I'm misunderstanding you... sorry. But it seems that a storm surge is a storm surge. It's merely a matter of degree.
OK, just looking at New Orleans then... this was the city that the news media and the weather agencies said would get hit and they did. I'm not talking about all the damage that went down inland. Look at how mismanaged the rescue process is going in this one city - I'm appauled.
If we didn't have our military fighting for oil, we'd have a few more hands to help.
That's what the National Guard is for dope! What rock have you been under?
Wow, the National Guard is for "dope". I thought that was illegal. I'm guessing that you meant that, "that's what the National Guard is for, dope!" It's called a comma.
So, watching CNN and FOX, I don't see much of the National Guard.
A comma? A fcking comma? That is how you respond to my post?
All right English teacher I won't make you defend your statement. It's clear you don't what the National Guard is. So, since English is what you do know, I hear by charge you with acting as the Official ThaiVisa Spell Checker. From here on out all TV members can PM you with their grammer questions. This is how you can help in these troubled times, when Goverenments drop balls on the people and English Teachers wag their fingers at them.
A comma.
Sorry, It was supposed to sound a bit tongue-in-cheek.
The point of language is to get the point across, which you successfully accomplished.Nice language Thaibebop. Educated participants don't seem to resort to vulgarity to get their point across. The moderator should have edited your vulgarity.
I do see that more National Guard troops are being sent.
I also see that some military troops are going to N.O. due to the rioting and looting. I think that this is something that the gov should have seen coming. Unfortunately, this seems to be a trait amoung thugs when a true tragedy happens... and that's not only true in the US of A, but other countries as well, such as Iraq.
It certainly happened in Thailand both during the tsunami and afterwards... and perhaps it's still going on. This is something that the Thai government should have seen coming.
Oh, and it's 'grammar', not 'grammer'... (tongue-in-cheek again, so don't lay an egg)
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i think using something that has been around for a long time would work better
A GUN
Having just chugged my first big bottle of Beer Chang, that one hit the spot... A gun... sweeeeet.
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Some of you know that I get quite wound up at times.
What is The Richest Nation on the planet doing for its people?
Well ya see the good ol’ U.S. of A is not a socialist nation. So generally speaking when bad things happen we don’t always feel it is the responsibility of mommy government to fix things. We tend to believe in personal responsibility – pull up the old boot straps and fix thing ourselves.
Americans tend to be proud of our personnel accomplishments and not our governments accomplishment (thank god – because as of late the USGov has not given us a lot to be proud of). I have faith in the American people not in the American government. The American people will do what is necessary to overcome this situation, I have no doubt.
So “what is The Richest Nation on the planet doing for its people?” – Staying the fukc out of our way so we can become the richest nation on the plant for one thing. And by being the richest nation on the planet we are now able to have tens of millions of dollars in aid already flowing into the area from US businesses and personal contributions. Not because the American people feel the government aid is/will be lacking, but because we feel it is not the government’s responsibility to fix everything that goes wrong in the world around us. It is the American people responsibility to fix this mess – not our governments, and fix it we shall.
Thank you ToykoT, that's a nice description of what might actually be the case.
So many have taken what I said and twisited it around to make me look evil and unsymathetic. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I do care a lot and that's why I am upset at the GOVERNMENT'S response. Bush is incompetent and surely can't deal with something of this magnitude unfortunately. Fox a propaganda tool of the Bush administration in my opinion.
The people of the US of A will do a much better job of making things right again, because management has dropped the ball.
Furthermore, it's too bad that we don't have better news to watch (or read). They always paint as black a picture as possible because that's what sells. I seem to recall a news show that Ted Turner did called "The Good News". It was all about folks being nice to others and folks helping the needy. It flopped. It's a test that failed I reckon.
New Orleans looking like downtown Baghdad... now that sells!
Oooo, let's see how folks on this forum flame me for saying this!
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Legendary pianist Fats Domino missing in hurricane
NEW YORK (AFP) - Legendary New Orleans singer-pianist Fats Domino, famous for 1950s hits "Ain't That a Shame" and "Blueberry Hill", was missing in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, his agent told AFP.
"We have not found him and we are trying to find him," said Al Embry, his manager of many years.
I see that they did find Fats Domino. He looked in pretty bad shape as a couple of guys were helping him walk. I hope he's OK... at least he's alive.
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The devastation area is mainly populated by black americans
FOX News finally got some video footage of white folks looting. I knew they were out there.
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New Orleans in Anarchy With Fights, Rapes
By ALLEN G. BREED, Associated Press Writer
New Orleans descended into anarchy Thursday, as corpses lay abandoned in street medians, fights and fires broke out and storm survivors battled for seats on the buses that would carry them away from the chaos. The tired and hungry seethed, saying they had been forsaken. "This is a desperate SOS," mayor Ray Nagin said.
"We are out here like pure animals," the Rev. Issac Clark said outside the New Orleans Convention Center, where he and other evacuees had been waiting for buses for days amid the filth and the dead.
"I'm not sure I'm going to get out of here alive," said tourist Larry Mitzel of Saskatoon, Canada, who handed a reporter his business card in case he goes missing. "I'm scared of riots. I'm scared of the locals. We might get caught in the crossfire."
Four days after Hurricane Katrina roared in with a devastating blow that inflicted potentially thousands of deaths, the frustration, fear and anger mounted, despite the promise of 1,400 National Guardsmen a day to stop the looting, plans for a $10 billion recovery bill in Congress and a government relief effort President Bush called the biggest in U.S. history.
New Orleans' top emergency management official called that effort a "national disgrace" and questioned when reinforcements would actually reach the increasingly lawless city.
About 15,000 to 20,000 people who had taken shelter at New Orleans convention center grew increasingly hostile after waiting for buses for days amid the filth and the dead. Police Chief Eddie Compass said he sent in 88 officers to quell the situation at the building, but they were quickly driven back by an angry mob.
"We have individuals who are getting raped, we have individuals who are getting beaten," Compass said. "Tourists are walking in that direction and they are getting preyed upon."
A military helicopter tried to land at the convention center several times to drop off food and water. But the rushing crowd forced the choppers to back off. Troopers then tossed the supplies to the crowd from 10 feet off the ground and flew away.
In hopes of defusing the situation at the convention center, Mayor Ray Nagin gave the refugees permission to march across a bridge to the city's unflooded west bank for whatever relief they could find. But the bedlam made that difficult.
"This is a desperate SOS," Nagin said in a statement. "Right now we are out of resources at the convention center and don't anticipate enough buses."
At least seven bodies were scattered outside the convention center, a makeshift staging area for those rescued from rooftops, attics and highways. The sidewalks were packed with people without food, water or medical care, and with no sign of law enforcement.
An old man in a chaise lounge lay dead in a grassy median as hungry babies wailed around him. Around the corner, an elderly woman lay dead in her wheelchair, covered up by a blanket, and another body lay beside her wrapped in a sheet.
"I don't treat my dog like that," 47-year-old Daniel Edwards said as he pointed at the woman in the wheelchair.
"You can do everything for other countries, but you can't do nothing for your own people," he added. "You can go overseas with the military, but you can't get them down here."
The street outside the center, above the floodwaters, smelled of urine and feces, and was choked with dirty diapers, old bottles and garbage.
"They've been teasing us with buses for four days," Edwards said. "They're telling us they're going to come get us one day, and then they don't show up."
Every so often, an armored state police vehicle cruised in front of the convention center with four or five officers in riot gear with automatic weapons. But there was no sign of help from the National Guard.
At one point the crowd began to chant "We want help! We want help!" Later, a woman, screaming, went on the front steps of the convention center and led the crowd in reciting the 23rd Psalm, "The Lord is my shepherd ..."
"We are out here like pure animals," the Issac Clark said.
"We've got people dying out here — two babies have died, a woman died, a man died," said Helen Cheek. "We haven't had no food, we haven't had no water, we haven't had nothing. They just brought us here and dropped us."
Tourist Debbie Durso of Washington, Mich., said she asked a police officer for assistance and his response was, "'Go to ###### — it's every man for himself.'"
"This is just insanity," she said. "We have no food, no water ... all these trucks and buses go by and they do nothing but wave."
At the hot and stinking Superdome, where 30,000 were being evacuated by bus to the Houston Astrodome, fistfights and fires erupted amid a seething sea of tense, suffering people who waited in a lines that stretched a half-mile to board yellow school buses.
After a traffic jam kept buses from arriving for nearly four hours, a near-riot broke out in the scramble to get on the buses that finally did show up, with a group of refugees breaking through a line of heavily armed National Guardsmen.
One military policeman was shot in the leg as he and a man scuffled for the MP's rifle, police Capt. Ernie Demmo said. The man was arrested.
Some of those among the mostly poor crowd had been in the dome for four days without air conditioning, working toilets or a place to bathe. An ambulance service airlifting the sick and injured out of the Superdome suspended flights as too dangerous after it was reported that a bullet was fired at a military helicopter.
"If they're just taking us anywhere, just anywhere, I say praise God," said refugee John Phillip. "Nothing could be worse than what we've been through."
By Thursday evening, 11 hours after the military began evacuating the Superdome, the arena held 10,000 more people than it did at dawn. National Guard Capt. John Pollard said evacuees from around the city poured into the Superdome and swelled the crowd to about 30,000 because they believed the arena was the best place to get a ride out of town.
As he watched a line snaking for blocks through ankle-deep waters, New Orleans' emergency operations chief Terry Ebbert blamed the inadequate response on the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
"This is not a FEMA operation. I haven't seen a single FEMA guy," he said. He added: "We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims, but we can't bail out the city of New Orleans."
FEMA officials said some operations had to be suspended in areas where gunfire has broken out.
A day after Nagin took 1,500 police officers off search-and-rescue duty to try to restore order in the streets, there were continued reports of looting, shootings, gunfire and carjackings — and not all the crimes were driven by greed.
When some hospitals try to airlift patients, Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Cheri Ben-Iesan said, "there are people just taking potshots at police and at helicopters, telling them, `You better come get my family.'"
Outside a looted Rite-Aid drugstore, some people were anxious to show they needed what they were taking. A gray-haired man who would not give his name pulled up his T-shirt to show a surgery scar and explained that he needs pads for incontinence.
"I'm a Christian. I feel bad going in there," he said.
Earl Baker carried toothpaste, toothbrushes and deodorant. "Look, I'm only getting necessities," he said. "All of this is personal hygiene. I ain't getting nothing to get drunk or high with."
While floodwaters in the city appeared to stabilize, efforts continued to plug three breaches that had opened up in the levee system that protects this below-sea-level city.
Helicopters dropped sandbags into the breach and pilings were being pounded into the mouth of the canal Thursday to close its connection to Lake Pontchartrain, state Transportation Secretary Johnny Bradberry said. He said contractors had completed building a rock road to let heavy equipment roll to the area by midnight.
The next step called for using about 250 concrete road barriers to seal the gap.
In Washington, the White House said Bush will tour the devastated Gulf Coast region on Friday and has asked his father, former President George H.W. Bush, and former President Clinton to lead a private fund-raising campaign for victims.
The president urged a crackdown on the lawlessness.
"I think there ought to be zero tolerance of people breaking the law during an emergency such as this — whether it be looting, or price gouging at the gasoline pump, or taking advantage of charitable giving or insurance fraud," Bush said. "And I've made that clear to our attorney general. The citizens ought to be working together."
Donald Dudley, a 55-year-old New Orleans seafood merchant, complained that when he and other hungry refugees broke into the kitchen of the convention center and tried to prepare food, the National Guard chased them away.
"They pulled guns and told us we had to leave that kitchen or they would blow our ###### brains out," he said. "We don't want their help. Give us some vehicles and we'll get ourselves out of here!"
Thanks Mr. Farang. There are many examples in your posting of what my original posting was trying address. The facts of the matter are that places like New Orleans resemble Bagdad right now.
"This is just insanity," she said. "We have no food, no water ... all these trucks and buses go by and they do nothing but wave." [unquote]Funny, other posters have said that the immediate needs have been taken care of. They even called me names... ouch, like I really care what they think.
When some hospitals try to airlift patients, Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Cheri Ben-Iesan said, "there are people just taking potshots at police and at helicopters, telling them, `You better come get my family.'" [unquote]I rest my case... the response and rescue isn't up to snuff. In a country that has so much at their disposal, this simply is not acceptable.
I am NOT disrespecting the rescuers. They are doing the best that they can. They simply are in a situation that is beyond their capacity. The government has dropped the ball, not the rescuers... understand everyone???
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The OP completely ignores the looting and murders that took place in Thailand in the immediate aftermath of the Tsunami.
The first boat to leave Phi Phi was not carrying injured people but looters escaping with their booty.
By 'OP' do you mean original poster? If so, you've missed the point of the posting. The point was that the response to the disaster was and still is NOT as good as it should be from a country that has so much money and rescue equipment at hand.
Looters and murders should be either shot or taken to jail. I don't see how what I said makes you think that I'm ignoring the looting and crap that went on in Thailand after the tsunami. Geez, there seems to be a lot of folks on this forum that like to read more into what I said than what I said.
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You completely ignore the fact this was a Hurricane not as Tsunami and thus the destruction to infrastructure extends hundreds of miles inland. Very, very different situation.
So, you think that the pathetic response that the US government is giving is somehow acceptable?
If I'm misunderstanding you... sorry. But it seems that a storm surge is a storm surge. It's merely a matter of degree.
OK, just looking at New Orleans then... this was the city that the news media and the weather agencies said would get hit and they did. I'm not talking about all the damage that went down inland. Look at how mismanaged the rescue process is going in this one city - I'm appauled.
If we didn't have our military fighting for oil, we'd have a few more hands to help.
That's what the National Guard is for dope! What rock have you been under?
Wow, the National Guard is for "dope". I thought that was illegal. I'm guessing that you meant that, "that's what the National Guard is for, dope!" It's called a comma.
So, watching CNN and FOX, I don't see much of the National Guard.
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Galong, you need to take your head out of your arse old mate. Comparing the clean-up operation in Thailand from the devastation of a tsunami smashing inland no more than a hundred metres or so to that of the response in the US from a mega-hurricane reaching hundreds of miles inland is rather dumb. The army and emergency services could simply drive to the little island of Phuket from any direction and administer aid; bit different in the States where the devastation is total...city-wide and state-wide. If you want to be pedantic, why the <deleted> didn't the relevant office in Muang Thai worn of the imminent tsunami they were told would probably come? Face loss for possible non-show obviously, but how many wasted lives did that cost?
Stop wagging your finger and engage the brain first. People were warned, people stayed, the land is lower than sea level, people chose to live there.
Regards the looters: what was that about that piss ant wandering into the jewellers in Phuket between waves??
Th Thai government took care of the immediate needs of the tsunami victims - clean water, food, shelter. After that, some elements of the Thai government reverted back their normal anti-Robin Hood mode of stealing from the poor and giving to the rich. This is NOT unique to Thailand however, it happens everywhere... even in the US.
As I live in Phuket, I saw first-hand how things were handled. That is why I was impressed. I also did a lot of volunteer work in the villages north of Khao Lak. I saw first-hand, that a government that seldom does anything that impresses me, did a very worthy job of tending to the immediate needs of the victims.
Looters in any country who are stealing non-essential items should be dealt with by the harshest means available to the legal system. The jewelry looters in Patong should have been either shot or put away for a long time in my opinion.
I agree with you that there was the possibility of a warning in Thailand, but the powers that be didn't want to potentially hurt tourism... totally unacceptable and something that will take years to repair... I mean the faith that tourists will have in our warning system.
FYI, I wasn't comparing the waves to the storm... or perhaps I didn't express myself clearly. What I was saying was that the response from the 1st World country wasn't as effective and coordinated as the response to a separate catastrophe (tsunami).
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In watching CNN and FOX, I'm stunned by how disorganized the hurricane clean-up is going, how under-manned/womanned the government is, and at the sheer heartlessness of looters.
Even with a few days of notice (something that Thailand didn't have the luxury of), I'm shocked by the following:
1. Hundreds of people died (faulty evacuation plan? Irresponsible citizens?)
2. They are still looking for more dead
3. The evacuation plan seemed flawed from before the hurricane hit
4. The levee in New Orleans broke - the fact that they built a city with the majority of the city below sea level - and this from the country that put a man on the moon!
5. There is talk of disease issues for some time to come. Thailand got very bad press from so-called experts like the CDC and WHO stating that the worst was yet to come. That diseases will likely kill more people than those who died in the water. On the contrary, within hours, Thai villages had mountains of water and food. I know, I delivered a lot too.
6. Rescue workers are leaving dead and decomposing bodies safely removed from the debris. They had plenty of time to get enough rescue workers down there!
7. Some looters are now armed and have shot a cop in the head in New Orleans
8. All of the looters shown on FOX news are non-white (I'm sure they can find some white people to video tape too)
9. People who want to get out now can't get gas because the electricity is out at the gas stations. Hello, generators, hello.
I was amazed by how well organized the Thai government was immediately after our disaster.
Yes, there are plenty of examples of things that didn't go well and that still might not be settled even now, but the response time, the amount of rescue workers, military, medical personnel and folks from all walks of life (both Thai and foreign) was heartlifting.
In my eyes, Thailand is 1st World on responding to disasters and the US could use a swift kick in their 3rd World quality back side.
I'm an American expat, by the way.
Where do you think all the money for thailand and the people who helped out came from ignorant TRoll . you know we are better off here without people like you . You actually made me sick. Focker
"All the money"??? Well, let's see, there was a lot from many, many countries. The US sent money, but not as much as they could.
Shouldn't you be in school right now? You couldn't possibly be an adult judging by your calling me a Troll, letting my opinions make you sick and saying that "we are better off here without people like you". I'm always impressed by keyboard machismo. I wonder, how many people do you talk to like this in a face-to-face situation? it's nice to see how you feel about views that oppose yours...
I have a right as a US citizen to complain. It's called Freedom of Speech. When I see flaws and incompetence the US government, I complain. The fact of the matter is that the response and rescue isn't going well. The fact is that they knew they has a massive hurricane off the coast well in advance. The fact is that the rescue effort and looting problem should have been planned out ahead of time. Yes, I know, the police can't get to the areas being looted because they can't drive there. They could however, drop their donuts and get there by boat or something. The looters are getting there, why can't the police? Where's the National Guard?
I know that the area is threatened by hurricanes every year. I am well-aware of the fact that the "cry wolf" situation is partly to blame. HOWEVER, New Orleans is in an area that-- sooner or later-- was going to get hit hard. The government should have been ready for the "just in case" in this case.
I don't mean to disrespect the volunteers and rescue workers. If you think that's what I was talking about, sorry, perhaps I didn't express myself very well. I am complaining that the US government dropped the ball.
I watch FOX news to see how stupid a big chunk of the US population actually is. The God, Guns and Glory theme in FOX is a cause for concern. Red necks are dangerous. I want to know my enemy, so I watch FOX from time to time. I don't get the BBC.
Petrol Stations May Close Earlier
in Thailand News
Posted
Correct!
This is also yet another slap in the face of poorer Thais. Besides gas station employees losing their jobs, poor Thais can't even go over to see their mates at night... unless they plan ahead (unlikely).
If they can make it to their mate's house, they can't drink because of the new tax on spirits.
Toxin doesn't have to worry though as he's in his second term. He can do whatever he wishes. It's not like to poorer Thais are going to demand he step down.
Why not turn Thailand into a police state. Toxin has already implemented some laws that have been off the books since the 60's, when the Kingdom suffered under a militaristic rule.
It looks like history is repeating itself.
The future:
No drinking
No driving
No prositution
No foreigner who aren't rich
No trouble-making Muslims
No fun
No tourists
Tongue is cheek here folks... no need to flame me yet again.
No sh#t