aaaaaa

from CNN

Aid groups warn on U.S. pullout

Friday, January 21, 2005 Posted: 1134 GMT (1934 HKT)

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) -- Aid groups have warned it might be too soon for the U.S. military to scale back its emergency operations for Asia's tsunami victims.

here is what I've found out in IT centre on the top floor of Pantip plaza: they do seel 2-3 kinds of cards PCMCI size, which can be used for the slot on laptop, or can be inserted into adapter, which they also sell, wich in turn can be plugged in desktop PC. all together it would be about 10K Baht; with on eof these cards is attached a package for Hutch. BUT - they explained to me that I have to fill those forms and go with them to Hutch. somehwere not far - on Pethcaburi Rd too. and then hutch is gonna to arrange an account for this kind of GSM connection.

yeah - I think as I remember that is what someone here named it - Sierra aircard....

so far I wasn't able to get aby feedbacks from anyone who IS using such wireless option from Hutch. therefore I am still deciding on it... because those guys in IT Pantip althought friednly and polite - they can't possibly provide such an information, they are simply selling their product. and I guess the only people who can tell about this - are those in Hutch, but their opinion won't be objective I guess.

<br />

<br />Do you honestly think that 'anybody' is going to read all these monster posts and links???<br /><br />Ravisher.<br />

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<br />

<br /><br /><br />Be careful Ravisher, I posted the same as you last week and he followed me around the board for a few days, raving on like a kid. He is a cantankerous troll like fellow who likes to see his name first, hence his nick title. I think he should be banned, bashed or banished. bbb<br /><br />Maybe we should have a poll

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NO COMMENT - I'm not gonna fall for such an obvious bait anymore. it is useless to waste time for such as you - I have told you this quite some time ago both in private and in public.

let people who are interested decide who is troll - I'm definetely not, and therefore not gonna try to prove that I'm not a camel

for reference:

in this Forum

Definition Of A "troll" ?

.....

1. A post (on a newsgroup, or other forum) that is solely intended to incite controversy or conflict or cause annoyance or offense. (Many posts may inadvertently cause strife as collateral damage, but they are not trolls.)

  2. A person who posts these

or elsewhere :

Troll definition

......  A troll is deliberately crafted to provoke others with the intention of wasting their time and energy. A troll is a time thief. To troll is to steal from people. That is what makes trolling heinous.

Trolls can be identified by their disengagement from a conversation or argument. They do not believe what they say, but merely say it for effect.

Trolls are motivated by a desire for attention by people and can't or won't acquire it in a productive manner.

Someone may be insufferable, infuriating, fanatical, and an ignorant idiot to boot without being a troll.

Also note that a troll isn't necessarily insulting, snide, or even impolite. Only the crudest, most obvious, forms of trolling can be identified so easily.

If you find yourself patiently explaining, at length and in great detail, some obscure point to someone who isn't even being polite to you, then you are probably being trolled.

P.S. as saying goes: "dogs bark and caravan keeps going"

He is nothing but an opportunist who takes advantage of the Thai egos.  The majority of the Thais are simpletons who fall for the 1 share for you and 1,000,000 share for me scheme.

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not fair, and perhaps even a bit offensive remark about Thais ! I think it is not fair to speak about them like that. personally I don't agree with this - they ain't simpletons !

and then - all polititians play on national egos of their countrymen. who doesn't?

but at least some don't bring such games on bigger scale, like outside their own countries and don't interfer in the other nations affairs as other do under some funny pretexts of "liberation" or "war on terror" ....

again - everything is relative - who does what and how much, and who does more or less then others...

hahahaha!

freedom of speech and press?

I guess you guys from "developed" and "modern" countries are so brainwashed by your "free" press that you sincerely believe everything what they feed you with and first of all that it is "free" !

this is an age of INFORMATION technology - IT. why does Information stays in the first place in this term and why it needs technology - ever wondered?

information is one of the biggest commodities nowdays. and press or anykind of media - is a huge, if not the biggest business nowdays, be it "modern" and "developed" or "3rd" wolrd. all the main news agencies and even newspapers long ago siezed to be simply transpernat and objective MEDIAS (that is why they are still generalised as - media), and are nowdays just a business companies. they do trade - information; they have their rules and ways of this business, yes. BUT - they sell what lets do good business, which includes following particular governments or whatever "directives"....

the only source of more or less objective and "free" information and speech are nowdays perhaps those blogs on-line, although may be not as accurate unless first -hand or eye-witnessed, and not always objective (but then no any news reports are - every article has an author). that is why I think this blogs phenomena has started - it wasn't so all the time since internet started to be more or less used by lot of public.

so, what I'm trying to say - everything is very relative in this modern world. and very complex and inter-dependent. on Thai iTV chanell they show interwies with a killer who answers in smallest details reporter's Qs about his "profession". yeah - freedom of speech and press! but what benefit it does to public? I think it does rather negative result: some youths might learn from such "revelations". and also many other things - like asking public opinions about this and that. yeah, the idea is great - to make people have an illusion that their opinion matters and can influence some results in social etc. issues. but actually there are many other side-effects of such shows of "freedom of speech" ....

anyway....

yeah, lets have free speech.

please don't curse me for expressing my thinking about "freedom of speech" ! after all I merely exercised my little right of free speech!

With the aid that has been provided from farangs around the world, finacial and otherwise, would it not be a show of appreciation to reciprocate.

How about the laws being changed on home/land ownership for example.

The king under these circumstances has been known to pardon prisoners in Thailand for any gratuitous help to its country. So why not the goverment?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think in this disaster that Thailand has done itself proud, and taken exceptional care of all nationalities affected. I say they have every reason to be feel good about the compassion and courage they've shown, and have no idea why they should need to pardon some scumbag drug dealer on top of it all.

The aid was to help people who were suffering, not to get something in return. I suggest you look up charity and compassion in a dictionary.

cv

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree

I think the very subject of this thread is a bit misleading - it implies that so far Thailand haven't shown goodwill to Farangs, which is obviously not true.

and then - does the showing of good will mean letting foreigners to own land or whatever? I think - not necesserily.

funny, more then often it seems like some people want to come to this country, own the land and other things, and tell people in this country what and how to do, and in general - only to have this country itself - but not its people. or to make these people to adopt to their ways and style and values etc. hmmmm....

South Asia - AFP

Wed Jan 19, 5:09 AM ET

Kumaratunga flags off 3.5 billion dollar tsunami recovery drive

====================================================

India unveils $628m tsunami aid

====================================================

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4282204

Tsunami

World Bank Considers $1.5 Billion in Tsunami Relief

by Kathleen Schalch

Morning Edition, January 13, 2005 · The president of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn, returns to the United States after a nine-day tour of tsunami-devastated areas in Asia. Wolfensohn says the World Bank is still assessing the damage, but could pledge up to $1.5 billion in reconstruction funds. NPR's Kathleen Schalch reports.

==============================

World - Reuters

.... Governments, aid groups, individuals, corporations and international agencies have pledged more than $7 billion in aid to Asia's tsunami victims.

But donors have to date promised just $739 million of the $977 million the U.N. system says is needed in emergency aid to meet the basic needs of victims over the next six months, according to Kevin Kennedy, a senior official of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

from article by Jerry Norton and Dean Yates :

Global Tsunami Death Toll Tops 226,000

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=index2&cid=1010

Top Stories - World Audio/Video - NPR

World Bank Considers $1.5 Billion in Tsunami Relief

at NPR - Thu Jan 13, 1:12 PM ET

The president of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn, returns to the United States after a nine-day tour of tsunami-devastated areas in Asia. Wolfensohn says the World Bank is still assessing the damage, but could pledge up to $1.5 billion in reconstruction funds. NPR's Kathleen Schalch reports.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...d=564&ncid=2100

Top Stories - Reuters

Global Tsunami Death Toll Tops 226,000

Wed Jan 19,11:42 AM ET

By Jerry Norton and Dean Yates

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (Reuters) - The global death toll from the Asian tsunami shot above 226,000 Wednesday after Indonesia's Health Ministry confirmed the deaths of tens of thousands of people previously listed as missing.

The ministry raised the country's death toll to 166,320. It had previously given a figure of 95,450 while Indonesia's Ministry of Social Affairs had put the death toll at around 115,000 before it stopped counting.

Dodi Indrasanto, a director at the health ministry's department of health affairs, said the new death total reflected the latest reports from the provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra, which were directly in the path of the killer tsunami spawned by a magnitude 9 earthquake the day after Christmas.

The new figure lifted the total global death toll from the tsunami disaster to 226,566, although the number continues to rise as more deaths are reported around the region.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, speaking before the health ministry released its latest figures, told a donors conference in Jakarta that the true extent of the catastrophe defied description.

"Perhaps we will never know the exact scale of the human casualties," he said.

Indrasanto said the health ministry report, which had just 6,245 people still listed as missing, had been sent to Yudhoyono late Wednesday.

The ministry's figures said 617,159 people were still homeless in northern Sumatra more than three weeks after the killer wave struck.

INDONESIA OFFERS TALKS

The staggering death count came as Indonesia said it was hopeful of holding talks with rebels in Aceh, where the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has waged a bloody, three-decade long battle for independence from Jakarta's rule.

Security fears prompted by the GAM conflict have been a worrying backdrop to the massive international relief effort in Aceh, where huge stretches of coastline were laid waste by the earthquake and tsunami that followed.

"Behind the cloud there must be a silver lining. Behind the scenes, a process is happening toward reconciliation," Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said.

Wirajuda said he hoped the talks would take place by the end of the month, but he could give neither a date nor a place. A spokesman for GAM's exiled leadership in Sweden said there had been no progress on talks.

"We haven't had any concrete response from the Indonesian side," said Bakhtiar Abdullah.

A U.N. official in Meulaboh, the province's second city, said emergency aid drops would have to be sharply increased in order to avoid hunger in outlying areas.

GAM's leaders have repeatedly welcomed relief efforts spearheaded by the United Nations (news - web sites) and the rebels have said they would not attack aid workers or convoys.

A DEFINING MOMENT

Political concerns have also plagued relief efforts in Sri Lanka, where the Tamil-rebel controlled northeast is waiting to see if it will get a piece of the government's $3.5 billion tsunami reconstruction program.

"The tsunami didn't wash away political divisions. In fact it may have made them worse," said Jehan Perera, director of the National Peace Council in Sri Lanka.

"What we have here is a moment that will define the peace process and politics for years."

Most of those swept up in the tsunami disaster -- which ripped coastal areas of Indian Ocean nations as far away as Africa and left more than 1.5 million people homeless around the region -- had far more pressing concerns.

Across Aceh's ravaged west coast, survivors were few and many villages were virtual ghost towns. In others, a mosque was the only building left standing.

In the province's second city Meulaboh, almost sliced in half by the killer wave, mountains of rubble smoldered and electricity was intermittent. But some shops and markets were busy, and food appeared to be available.

Daniel Augstburger, head of United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the coastal city of Meulaboh, said not enough help was reaching people outside of major urban areas.

"The French are starting to move food, of course the Americans....are moving food out, but this has to increase ten-fold, I would say," Augstburger told Reuters, adding that tsunami victims also needed items such as clothes and cooking utensils.

In Sri Lanka, residents of a tsunami-ravaged town packed up and left -- ready to re-establish their community 1.5 km (about one mile) inland as a precaution against any other surprises from the sea.

"This will give our people a better future, a safer future," said fisherman M.J. Raseek, a resident of Hambantota who planned to follow his town away from the coast.

The International Monetary Fund (news - web sites) said it hoped to approve Sri Lanka's emergency request for up to $160 million in assistance, while Indonesian officials told donors that the tsunami would likely cost the country around $4.5 billion.

Governments, aid groups, individuals, corporations and international agencies have pledged more than $7 billion in aid to Asia's tsunami victims.

But donors have to date promised just $739 million of the $977 million the U.N. system says is needed in emergency aid to meet the basic needs of victims over the next six months, according to Kevin Kennedy, a senior official of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

====================================

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4189883.stm

Asia's tsunami death toll soars

The number of people known to have died in last month's Asian tsunami has reached 220,000.

The toll increased dramatically after Indonesian officials announced that more than 166,000 had been confirmed dead in their country alone.

The latest figure is more than 50,000 higher than the previous total issued by Indonesia's health ministry.

Most of the deaths came from the provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra, which were directly hit by the tsunami.

UN and Indonesian officials have said the total number of deaths may never be known.

In other developments:

At an international disaster conference in Kobe, Japan, the United Nations humanitarian chief says the UN should take the lead in creating a tsunami early-warning system in the Indian Ocean

India unveils a $628m reconstruction package for mainland areas hit by the tsunami

Sri Lanka's president launches a reconstruction drive worth $3.5bn

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) says that at least one million people have lost their livelihoods in Sri Lanka and Indonesia alone and calls for action to create jobs.

Bodies recovered

The director of the Indonesian ministry's health affairs department, Doti Indrasanto, said the number of fatalities soared after health officials declared that thousands of people previously listed as missing were dead.

The ministry said it had slashed the number of missing from 77,000 to 6,245.

"We have cross-checked this information and it is correct," Mr Idrasanto said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the final death toll might never be known.

"Perhaps we will never know the exact scale of the human casualties," he said.

The BBC's Rachel Harvey in Aceh says that in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, more than 14% of the population is confirmed dead.

She says there are still local districts that have not reported any figures at all, making it seem inevitable that the final death toll will be higher still.

Officials retrieving decomposed bodies in Aceh said about 3,500 corpses were being removed each day - nearly four weeks after the disaster.

About 800,000 people were made homeless in Aceh and North Sumatra as a result of the disaster.

Floods slow relief

Relief officials said floods caused by heavy rains were delaying lorries sending supplies to Aceh's provincial capital, Banda Aceh.

"Flooding is a bigger problem than security," a spokesman for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Chris Lom, told the AFP news agency.

He was referring to fears of renewed clashes between Aceh separatists and Indonesian armed forces.

On Wednesday, Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said he hoped to hold formal peace talks with the Free Aceh Movement (Gam) rebels later this month - the first since May 2003.

The Gam has been waging a rebellion against the Jakarta authorities for nearly three decades.

But in the wake of the tsunami, both sides agreed to an informal ceasefire to help ease the distribution of aid.

====================================

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/01/1...nami/index.html

Tsunami deaths soar past 212,000

Wednesday, January 19, 2005 Posted: 3:36 PM EST (2036 GMT)

JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- The Indonesian Health Ministry said Wednesday that the December 26 earthquake and tsunamis killed 166,320 people in Indonesia, jumping the regional death toll for the disaster to 212,611.

The Health Ministry said 6,245 people were missing.

Dodi Indrasanto, a director at the Health Ministry's department of health affairs, told Reuters that the new death total reflected the latest reports from the provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra, which were directly in the path of the killer tsunamis spawned by a magnitude 9 earthquake the day after Christmas.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, speaking before the Health Ministry released its latest figures, told a donors conference in Jakarta that the true extent of the catastrophe defied description.

"Perhaps we will never know the exact scale of the human casualties," he said.

Meanwhile in Japan, the U.N. head of emergency relief warned that natural disaster in any of the world's largest cities could set off a catastrophe that could be 100 times worse than the Indian Ocean tsunamis.

Speaking on the first day of a disaster prevention conference in the Japanese city of Kobe, Jan Egeland, the U.N. Director of Disaster Relief, said many of the world's megacities, including Tokyo, are extremely vulnerable to natural disasters.

"Perhaps the most frightening prospect would be to have a truly megadisaster in a megacity," he told delegates from 150 nations Tuesday in Kobe, where an earthquake killed nearly 6,500 people a decade ago.

"Then we could have not only a tsunami-style casualty rate as we have seen late last year, but we could see one hundred times that in a worst case."

Megacities are densely concentrated cities, with a population of 10 million or more, and Egeland said time is running short for some of the largest cities in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The five most populated cities in the world are the greater Tokyo area with 35.3 million people, Mexico City with 19 million, New York-Newark with 18.5 million and Bombay and Sao Paulo both with a population of 18.3 million, U.N. figures show.

The five-day conference to mark the 10th anniversary of the Kobe quake is also aiming to draw lessons from last month's quake and tsunamis.

Key to the meeting is laying the foundation for an Indian Ocean tsunami early warning system, similar to one set up in the Pacific.

The U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has proposed a system in the Indian Ocean -- including offshore detection buoys and a communications center -- that would cost $30 million and go into operation by mid-2006.

Experts say well-placed breakwaters, quake-proof seawalls, detailed hazard maps showing danger areas and well-defined evacuation routes and shelters are also needed, according to The Associated Press.

In Tamil Nadu, the Indian state hit hardest by the tsunamis, more than 8,000 people died. Most of the victims lived along the state's lengthy coastline, and state officials are looking at ways to prevent natural disasters from exacting such a heavy toll in the future.

While deep-sea tsunami sensors and solid sea walls were among the proposals discussed, forest officials have suggested a simpler and cheaper alternative.

India's state government is now planning to plant 3 billion casuarina, coconut and cashew saplings along the entire coast after discovering that villages that survived were protected by forest cover.

The United Nations is also calling for the world's children to be educated in disaster reduction and prevention in the next 10 years.

Three weeks on

As experts talk about how to protect cities and nations against natural disasters, relief workers and militaries are trying to help the survivors and help rebuild communities three weeks after the tsunami struck.

A U.N. travel ban on aid workers in parts of the Indonesian province of Aceh has been lifted.

The United Nations had imposed a 24-hour ban on staff travel to specific regions because of security fears following reports of fighting between government forces and rebels in Aceh.

Indonesia's defense minister said the military is sending 5,000 more soldiers to the region to help with reconstruction efforts.

Sri Lanka is launching an extremely ambitious plan to rebuild parts of the country wiped out in the tsunami disaster.

By some estimates, almost two-thirds of Sri Lanka's coastal region was destroyed, including hundreds of thousands of homes.

The so-called "Rebuilding Nation" program is expected to cost $3.5 billion. It includes plans for constructing new townships, replanning transportation networks, and improving telecommunications infrastructure.

=======================================

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...d=516&ncid=2337

World - AP Asia

Indonesia Raises Tsunami Death Toll by 70k

By MIKE CORDER, Associated Press Writer

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Indonesia's Health Ministry declared Wednesday that more than 70,000 people previously listed as missing are dead, significantly raising its estimate for the death toll from last month's tsunami.......

========================================

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...ke_050119182339

Asia - AFP

Indian Ocean tsunami death toll approaches quarter million

Wed Jan 19, 1:23 PM ET

................ With the latest tolls, the tsunamis triggered by a 9.0-magnitude quake off the coast of Sumatra island have left nearly 220,000 dead in 11 Indian Ocean countries..............

=======================================

....An additional difficulty is that because of the fragmentation, we need to rely on "summarizers", who bring the findings into perspective. that can lead to canonization too.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

many similarities to religions ! fragmentations - similar to sectarianism in different religions (shiites and sunis in islam, GOd only knows how many branches of Christians, at leat 2 main kinds mahayana and theravada Buddhism and truly pantheonic viriety of sect in Hinduism ....)

and "Summirizers" - interpretors and commentators of main religious teachings as Bible, Qoran etc. especially modern media plays huge role in adopting the info to the end-consumer. and they've started to play a role of an authority, not only transperent device which deliveres info / knowledge. it amazes me often to see how reporters on TV speak with such an authority and confidence, and even judge and argue with real specialist in particular area. so funny!

it reminds me "Satanic verses" by Salman Rushdie when that sribe guy who was

writing down all the revelations of Mohhammad when he decided to change the message and write his own concoctions...

you've hit the point , man ! nice term : "summerizers"

there is a saying: "some simplification is worse than stealing"

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...ssroadsfortheun

A crossroads for the U.N.

Mon Jan 10, 5:11 PM ET

By Thomas Omestad

Kofi Annan (news - web sites) was once known as the "Teflon secretary general" of the United Nations (news - web sites), because nothing bad seemed to stick to him. But that was then. These days, pretty much everything seems to be sticking to the 66-year-old Ghanaian diplomat.

For Annan, 2004 devolved into what he called an " annus horribilis ." No fewer than eight investigations were initiated into corruption allegations within the U.N.'s former "oil-for-food" program in Iraq (news - web sites). Among those stung by the allegations was Annan's son Kojo, who was paid by a Swiss firm that held a U.N. food contract. Some in Congress called on Annan to resign. At the same time, tensions with President Bush (news - web sites) grew over the U.N.'s reluctance to play a larger role in Iraq and over U.S. assertions that Annan was meddling in American politics. U.N. diplomats felt Bush allowed Annan to twist in the wind before reaffirming administration support in December. U.N. peacekeepers in Congo, meanwhile, were accused of raping young women. And back at headquarters, U.N. staffers were enraged over Annan's purportedly dismissive handling of misconduct allegations against his senior aides.

Year's end, of course, brought unthinkable horrors--and a fresh set of challenges. On December 26, a tsunami laid waste to parts of south Asia, killing some 150,000 people. The capricious assaults of nature, it seems, have conspired to put Annan and the U.N. on the spot at the very moment they are most beleaguered. Amid all the distractions, the U.N. will now have to coordinate disaster relief in the largest, most complex operation in its nearly 60-year history. And the world will be watching. "We're on the hot seat, not only on disaster relief but across the board," says a senior U.N. official. "This is a time of trial."

That Annan should be under such pressure from the U.S. government is more than a bit ironic. He was, after all, America's preference when he took over the secretary general's job in January 1997. Annan studied economics at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., and earned a master's degree in management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (news - web sites). He was even vacationing in Wyoming when the tsunami hit.

Friction. But his views on Iraq have not sat well with Washington. Some administration officials contend that he has dragged his heels on bolstering U.N. participation because of his opposition to the U.S.-led war. Annan only recently raised the number of U.N. specialists in Iraq to a maximum of 64, about 20 of whom are advising the Iraqi commission running the January 30 national election. Annan is under intense pressure from U.N. employees who have wanted to stay clear of Iraq since the August 2003 suicide bombing of the U.N. compound in Baghdad. Insurgent violence has prevented a more visible U.N. presence, he has said.

Equally galling, say some U.S. officials, were Annan's comments during the presidential campaign; he called the invasion of Iraq "illegal." Bush administration officials also suspected the U.N. was behind pre-Election Day disclosures of missing high explosives in Iraq. "It was pretty clear that Annan . . . and others had a clear favorite in our election," says one administration official.

The distance grew wider as conservatives zeroed in on evidence of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s cheating in the U.N. food program. The program allowed Iraq to sell embargoed oil to buy food and medicine; a Security Council panel was supposed to ensure that the cash was not used to rearm Iraq. But Saddam is believed to have used kickbacks and bribes, allegedly involving one U.N. official, to rake in perhaps billions of dollars. A U.N.-sponsored inquiry led by former Federal Reserve (news - web sites) Chairman Paul Volcker is due to issue its first report later this month. While the Volcker report is not expected to link Annan personally to any wrongdoing, Sen. Norm Coleman (news, bio, voting record), a Minnesota Republican, has already demanded Annan's resignation. "The most extensive fraud in the history of the United Nations occurred on his watch," says Coleman. Annan vows to stay, and his defenders say he has been unfairly targeted. "There has been a coordinated effort by the anti-U.N. right to distort information and turn it into a personal attack on the secretary general," says William Luers, a former American ambassador and head of the United Nations Association of the United States of America.

Tough love. Regardless of who's correct, there's little doubt that Annan is at a crossroads. Last month Annan sat down for a frank chat with a group of American friends at former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Richard Holbrooke's apartment in New York, as first reported in the New York Times. They told him to patch up relations with the Bush team. "The briefings he got from us were very hard," recalls one participant, Les Gelb, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations. "He looked glum."

But in the wake of the tsunami, Annan has a chance to show that the United Nations can do valuable work. Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites), a friend of Annan's, said the U.N. had "clicked" in the days after the waves smashed ashore. Certainly Annan's early appeals for money have been heeded: As Asian leaders gathered at a tsunami summit in Jakarta last week, official pledges hit $4 billion, and Annan asked for nearly $1 billion more. "An unprecedented global catastrophe," he said, "requires an unprecedented global response." Annan in effect won a vote of confidence, too, as Powell announced that a U.S.-founded "core group" to rev up disaster relief that had included Australia, India, and Japan would be folded into the U.N. effort. Some observers had questioned whether the group's formation signaled doubts about the U.N.'s abilities--a view denied by Powell but volunteered by another Bush administration official. "They're very slow," he complained. "They have to be pushed."

Even friends have told Annan he was inattentive to the gathering storm over oil for food and responsible for missteps with the Bush administration. With only two years left in his term, he has apparently taken the advice to heart. "He's going to attempt to shake things up," says an aide. That started last week with the naming of a new chief of staff, Mark Malloch Brown, a Briton known for smooth relations with Washington. More high-level changes are planned, and Annan hopes to lead a U.N. reform effort through 2005 with an eye, associates say, on his historical legacy--a legacy they hope will bury the memories of 2004.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/latest/

Cabinet approves Bt60 bn relief package for tsunami victims

Published on Jan 11 , 2005

The cabinet today approved the Bt60 billion relief package for local tsunami victims, damaged businesses and to repay airlines for transporting foreign survivors home free.

The televised cabinet meeting today agreed to the Bt5.57 billion baht fund for payments to everyone who lost relatives, or property to the December 26 tsunami which hit the Andaman coast of southern Thailand.

Amost Bt240 million will go to hotels which provided free rooms and free flights home to surviving foreign tourists. About Bt740 million will aid local survivors and relatives of the dead, while about Bt100 million will serve a scholarships for 446 children who lost their parents to the tidal waves disaster.

The remainder of the money will be use as soft loans to help damaged business revert to normal operations.

The tsunami wave disaster of December 26, 2004 killed at least 5,300 people and left 3,370 missing.

============================

50,000 'likely to lose their jobs'

Published on Jan 11 , 2005

Almost 50,000 people employed in Phuket, Krabi and Phang Nga are expected to lose their jobs in the wake of the tsunami, according to local businesspeople.

While many have seen their workplaces destroyed, employees at businesses still standing are being laid off after European and Scandinavian tour agencies made mass cancellations at resorts in Krabi through to the end of January, said Krabi Chamber of Commerce vice president Pronchai Tantrasakul. Adding to the potential hurt, other tours have yet to confirm their bookings for February, capping off a disastrous and heartbreaking high-tourist season, he said.

The tsunami damaged about 2,000 of Krabi’s 8,000 hotel rooms, and with tourists staying away, most of the remaining rooms sit empty.

If tourism fails to recover next month, Pronchai said the entire Krabi hotel and resort industry will lay off their 20,000-strong staff.

Some Krabi hotels and resorts have tried to keep their employees on the payroll by halving work hours and pay. Other operators continue to pay their employees a full salary.

But with occupancy at 10 per cent, compared to 80 per cent prior to the tsunami on December 26, many have given their staff 10 days vacation.

It is the same story in Phuket, where hotel occupancy has fallen to less than 10 per cent from 90 per cent before the calamity, according to Phuket Tourist Association director Jirachai Amornpairoj. If the tourists fail to show up in a month, the same fate awaits Phuket’s tourism industry workers.

“We expect to lay off up to 20,000 staff at all of the hotels and related businesses in Phuket,” he said.

The 50 Khao Lak hotels and resorts destroyed or damaged by the tsunami have suspended operations and told their 7,000 employees to return after they have rebuilt, said Pichai Nilthonkham, a representative of the Phang Nga hotel industry.

To assist the displaced workers, the Employment Department has found positions at businesses in the 14 other southern provinces, said Pairat Lumyong of the Employment Department. He added that the department had found 20,000 jobs for unemployed workers.

Somluck Srimalee

The Nation

PHUKET

=============================

Tensions rise at relief temple

Published on Jan 11 , 2005

Tension among government officials, Buddhist monks and tsunami victims heightened yesterday amid allegations of misappropriation of donated goods and disputes over the fate of the Morgan sea gypsies.

Government officials accused Wat Samakridhama of trying to monopolise the distribution of food, water and essential items for tsunami victims after wives and relatives of senior government officials tried to take over the management themselves but met with resistance.

A number of tsunami victims who went to the temple told reporters they were disappointed at the low amount of supplies, which monks said had been depleting quickly. Temple abbot Prakru Suwatdhamarat said he suspected the quick drying up of donated goods was due to those who asked for supplies taking more than they needed.

Further disputes in the temple resulted after Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti ordered the return of Morgan sea gypsies to Surin Island.

The monks objected, saying that the island-dwellers - who are technically stateless - should be given time to consider whether they want to remain on land and apply for citizenship, in which case they would be permitted to get an education.

An aid worker who worked with the Morgans in the Andaman Sea said the government was primarily concerned with teaching the gypsies the Thai language, not with whether they are socially mobile or granting them citizenship.

Misai Talayleuk, a Morgan woman who spoke to The Nation on Surin Island upon her return on Saturday, said she had suggested that the men return first to rebuild houses. However, they did not want the family to be separated and so everyone opted to return on the same day.

Others in the group said they were happy to return, saying life on the mainland was just too awkward for them. Though they are not permitted to engage in commercial fishing around Surin Island, the Morgans said they were content just to be able to be able to catch fish for their own consumption.

The Nation

Kuraburi, Phang Nga

=======================================

Dead to be moved to one site

Published on January 11, 2005

Authorities are planning to move the bodies of still unidentified tsunami victims to a single location on the outskirts of Phuket.

The move would make identifying the dead more efficient, said Dr Supachai Kunarattanapreuk, depu-ty permanent secretary of the Public Health Ministry, who heads a tsunami victim autopsy and identification centre.

After the bodies are relocated, he explained, experts from local and US disease-control units would help cleanse temples that have been serving as morgues and autopsy centres since December 26. “We will disinfect the areas to ensure healthy environments for local people,” Supachai said.

He said efforts to identify bodies of tsunami victims were continuing and that all bodies would be catalogued using dental analyses, taking inventory of personal effects found on the body, and DNA testing.

“We will send tissue samples from the bodies to laboratories in China for tests,” he said. China has been invited to conduct DNA testing on some 2,500 bodies.

Thai and Chinese experts skilled in disaster victim identification met yesterday to discuss identification procedures, Supachai said. Their conclusions should be announced today. He advised relatives of those who went missing in the tsunami to undergo DNA testing at pro-

vincial hospitals, Ramathibodi Hospital, Siriraj Hospital or the Central Institute of Forensic Science Thai-land.

“Relevant authorities will work together to check the DNA results against those of the dead,” he said, adding that foreigners should send their DNA test samples to their embassies in Thailand. The results would be forwarded to the Foreign Affairs Ministry and Public Health Ministry.

In Phang Nga, Dr Porntip Rojanasunun, deputy director of the Central Institute of Forensic Science Thailand, said the corpses of Asian-looking people at Bang Maruan cemetery were being exhumed to gather more DNA samples from them. “Initial examinations collected muscular tissue and hair. But we are now going to collect teeth samples as well. We will also implant microchips in the bodies so that we can later retrieve the information efficiently,” she said.

The corpses there were among the first to arrive at Yan Yao Temple, which was immediately turned into an autopsy centre following the disaster. “At the time, we didn’t have enough dentists to collect dental records. Now we do,” she explained.

Chinese laboratories had expertise in tooth-sample checks will help with analyses. People who have recognised missing friends or relatives from photos of bodies can contact her Porntip’s unit at Yan Yao Temple for verification.

==================================

Optimism in the North

Published on January 11, 2005

The northern chapter of the Thai Hotels Association met last week to discuss the impact on Chiang Mai’s tourism market from the December 26 tsunami that hit major tourist areas in the southern provinces.

Chapter president Vorapong Moochaotai said that the disaster could have both negative and positive effects.

“Chiang Mai is on its way up and tourism campaigns for this year have already been launched worldwide, so we believe that there won’t be much negative impact on the North,” he said.

The meeting concluded that since the northern and southern regions have completely different attractions, the only negative impact was likely to be from cancellations by groups wanting to tour the whole country.

On the positive side, the disaster could stimulate tourism in the North, especially with regard to hotel investment.

Large hotel chains, which usually start with investments in the South, may consider investing in the North sooner to make up for large losses from the tsunami, he said.

==================================

Koh Lanta’s revival plan

Published on January 11, 2005

In cooperation with the Tourism Authority of Thailand, hotel and resort owners on Koh Lanta are launching an aggressive campaign to make the island an alternative destination to other spots in Krabi, Phuket and Phang Nga.

A number of international road shows are being planned this year and about 170 hotel operators renting about 3,300 rooms are trying to draw tourists by offering 45 to 50 per cent off their high-season rates until October of this year.

“To survive, right now, all are applying low-season room rates,” said Paninart Tiyathorn, the managing director of Pimalai Resort and Spa.

Located in Krabi province, Koh Lanta is Thailand’s seventh-largest island. Like others, it has witnessed a massive tourist boom over the past few years. Surrounded by small islands that are perfect for skin- and scuba-diving, the island has been a dream destination for divers, mainly European, who are fascinated by coral reefs.

In 2004, the island welcomed 200,000 tourists, generating Bt1.6 billion. This rosy picture was gone once the deadly tsunami destroyed a few hotels, leaving two tourists dead. About 90 per cent of tourists cancelled bookings.

According to Suntorn Chaokijka, chairman of a hotel operators’ group, some hotels have had to cut costs by temporarily suspending their business. That has resulted in the layoff of 1,000 workers from a total of 4,000.

In its bid to rebuild and move forward, Koh Lanta has three international road shows planned. The first is the Asean Tourism Forum on Langkawi, Malaysia, from January 24 to 26.

In March, it will join road shows in Germany and Russia.

“At the road shows, we are offering tour agents discounts of up to 45 per cent. Thai tourists and expatriates here are entitled to a 50-per-cent discount,” said Paninart.

Suchat Sritama

The Nation

Krabi

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4160753.stm

Monday, 10 January, 2005, 11:25 GMT

Thai village struggles to rebuild

By Kate McGeown

BBC News, Khlong Prasong, Thailand

At first glance, the small island community of Khlong Prasong might count itself lucky.

Like much of Thailand's west coast it was hit by the devastating Asian tsunami, yet no one in the 400-strong community died.

But the tsunami changed the lives of far more people than those now mourning loved ones. Away from the famous resorts and tourist beaches, hundreds of small communities like Khlong Prasong now face a long, difficult challenge to rebuild.

Before the disaster, the people of Khlong Prasong had two sources of income - fishing and tourism.

Now they are struggling to make money from either.

"We're afraid we're going to get forgotten, and all the aid is going to go to Phi Phi island and other areas where the destruction is greater," said Donjit Hafah.

Mr Hafah, like most people in his predominantly Islamic village, is dependent on boats for a living - boats which are now mostly strewn around the island needing to be repaired.

"Boats are our life. If we don't have a boat, we don't have a livelihood," said village elder Maad Oonbutr.

Even if they find the money to mend their boats, the villagers stand little chance of earning enough to live on.

It is meant to be high season for the tourist town of Krabi on the mainland, just 25 minutes away by boat from Khlong Prasong.

But Krabi's hotels and restaurants are empty, as almost all those holidaying in the area have decided to leave in the aftermath of the tsunami.

So there is little call for the boat drivers from Khlong Prasong, who used to come to the mainland every day to take tourists on trips around the islands.

Fishing is little better. Most of the community's nets have been washed away by the tsunami. And few people want to eat fish now anyway. Those involved in hauling corpses from the beaches, washed up entwined with fish and other ocean life, simply have not got the stomach to eat seafood.

Continuing fears

Two weeks on from the tsunami, the people of Khlong Prasong are still suffering from the trauma of their experience.

"I still can't sleep. I keep thinking another tsunami is going to come. The waves and the tides are still not normal and I'm very scared," said Samari Koonlong.

"Last night I was just sitting watching the waves," Maad Oonbutr said. "I thought about the children who ran towards the sea when the tsunami came, and how near they were to drowning."

Some people on the island are even thinking about leaving for the mainland.

Mr Hafah's house has been badly damaged - his bed ended up in a bush on the other side of his shrimp pond.

"I want to stay on the island and sell shrimp," he said. "But if I don't get enough money to repair my house, I won't have much option."

Everyone in Khlong Prasong and other affected island areas have so far received food parcels and 2,000 baht ($50) in aid, which - while very welcome - is not enough to pay for many of the repairs.

"I haven't cried yet," said Mr Hafah. "I keep smiling to try to stop the tears. But my wife has cried until her eyes swelled up."

For others in the village, there is simply no option but to stay. "This is the only life I know," said Boonchuai Madohsot.

Retribution?

As head of his village, Maad Oonbutr is scared for the future of his community.

"I never imagined something like this would happen. The tsunami has made me aware that the village is not a safe place to live in. It's changed the whole way I look at the world," he said.

According to Sophia Buranakul, project manager for a local non-profit foundation, this is a worrying sign.

"If even a community leader is questioning the whole existence of his village, I don't know whether the people will have the strength to rebuild," she said.

"There is huge insecurity here. These people trusted the sea, but when it does something like this to you, you feel a lot less comfortable about it," she said.

Added to that, many villagers think that somehow the tsunami was their own fault, because of years of over-fishing and pollution.

"Too much has been taken from the sea, and now the sea has taken something from us," said Ampan Netbussarakham, the principal of the island's Khlong Yai school.

There are some signs, however, that the community is getting back on its feet.

A bridge has already been rebuilt, and many villagers can be seen hammering at their boats and the walls of their houses, to repair damage done by the tsunami.

On the mainland, too, boatyards are crowded with people - many of whom have lost friends and family - all repairing their vessels in the hope they can carry on as before.

In the words of Mrs Buranakul, "People have lost those they love. They don't want to lose their livelihoods as well."

===================================================

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/worl...maps/html/2.stm

Thailand

Worst affected districts are Phang Na, Ranong, Trang, Phuket and Krabi where more than 5,000 people are believed to have died. These provinces form the heart of Thailand's tourist industry. Some 27 hotel complexes in Phuket alone have been destroyed, the Thailand government reports.

At least 2,400 fishing boats have been destroyed and 54,000 farm animals killed, according to official Thai estimates. Some 6,000 houses, 50 schools and 19 government buildings are also reported to be damaged or destroyed.

================================

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4162529.stm

Monday, 10 January, 2005, 18:32 GMT

Thailand tsunami victims exhumed

Authorities admit mistakes may have been made identifying victims

The bodies of hundreds of tsunami victims are being exhumed in Thailand because of mistakes made in identifying victims immediately after the disaster.

Authorities say some victims quickly visually identified as Thai and buried may have been foreign nationals.

Thailand on Sunday increased by 10-fold the number of corpses listed as having an unknown national origin.

Meanwhile, Indonesia says it has set a two-week deadline for clearing up the main towns affected in Aceh province.

The province, on the northern tip of Sumatra island, was one of the regions worst-hit by the tsunami disaster.

But aid operations were briefly disrupted on Monday when a US Navy helicopter crashed near the provincial capital.

More than 150,000 people died from the 26 December tsunami, mostly in Aceh province. Many more are missing.

Microchips implanted

More then 5,300 bodies have so far been recovered in Thailand, but the Thais now admit there were so many found in the first few days that the situation became confused.

In Phang Nga, ravaged by the tsunami waves, rescue teams quickly ran out of enough refrigerated containers to store bodies in.

The decision was made to divide the bodies according to whether they were visually identified as Thai or foreign. Many apparently Thai victims were then quickly buried in sandy trenches at Bang Muang temple.

But some relatives of foreign tourists now suspect their loved ones may have been buried at Bang Muang. And though hair samples were taken, DNA procedures have changed and samples of ribs are now required, Thai forensics expert Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand said.

Now bodies will be unearthed from Bang Muang and rehoused in refrigeration containers until they can be definitively identified and released to relatives.

Microchips will also be implanted in bodies to allow accurate identification of remains.

The AFP news agency quoted Thai authorities as announcing on Sunday that the nationalities of more than 2,100 victims were still unknown - a 10-fold increase on previous reported figures. More than 3,000 people are still missing.

In other developments:

The UN's children's agency Unicef says it is rushing vaccines to Aceh's west coast after confirming a case of measles there

Schools open in Sri Lanka for the first time since the disaster

US Secretary of State Colin Powell says he will call for long-term US aid to the Indian Ocean region.

Two-week deadline

Meanwhile in Indonesia, the welfare minister Alwi Shihab says he has set a two-week deadline for clean-up operations in the two main cities in Aceh province, Banda Aceh and Meulaboh.

In an interview with the BBC, he promised 24 relocation centres would be up and running around Aceh within three weeks to look after the thousands of homeless.

Mr Shihab admitted shortcomings in the government's initial response, saying it had been completely overwhelmed and had "panicked".

In Meulaboh, near the coast, the destruction is terrible, but further into town, some shops are open and fresh produce is for sale, the BBC's Jonny Dymond reports.

Diggers are operating all around town, clearing rubble and wood from outside the concrete structures still standing.

The authorities in Aceh opened schools on Monday in an effort to restore some normality to shocked schoolchildren who have lost many of their friends.

The government said 420 schools had been destroyed and 1,000 teachers killed in Aceh province.

On Monday, rescue efforts suffered a setback when a US helicopter crashed into a rice paddy about 500m from Banda Aceh airport. At least two of the 10 people on board were injured when the SH-60 Seahawk came down.

The navy described the crash as a "hard landing", ruling out fears it had been shot down.

thanks for nice positive post !

somehow no comments here - do people like only to criticise and mock, not to appretiate the efforts made by local government ?

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...d=541&ncid=2337

Two Tsunami Survivors Have Measles

Tue, Jan 11, 2005

12 minutes ago

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - UNICEF (news - web sites) on Monday confirmed two cases of measles in survivors of Indonesia's tsunami, raising fears that the highly contagious and potentially deadly viral infection could take hold on devastated Sumatra island.

The U.N. children's agency is in the midst of a campaign to vaccinate 600,000 people against the disease, which can be deadly to children if not treated, said UNICEF Indonesia spokesman John Budd. The mass vaccination drive in the Sumatra region began last week and is expected to take three weeks to complete.

Clauvia Hudspeth, a UNICEF official in Banda Aceh, said there were two cases of the infection in the province, which was the hardest-hit area in the tsunami zone. She gave no more details.

Measles kills more children than any other vaccine-preventable disease, according to UNICEF.

The virus weakens the immune system and renders children highly susceptible to fatal complications from diarrhea, pneumonia, and encephalitis. Children who survive measles can be left with permanent disabilities, including brain damage, blindness and deafness.

Budd, in Jakarta, reported the first case involving a child on Sumatra earlier Monday.

"In this situation, it is deadly to children," Budd said. "But we have to keep this in perspective — it is a single case."

There have so far been no major outbreaks of disease since the Dec. 26 disaster that killed more than 150,000 across southern Asia and Africa — including more than 100,000 in Indonesia.

___

On the Net:

UNICEF measles fact sheet: http://www.unicef.org/immunization/facts_measles.html

Thaksin is a good PM - I like him !

at least Thailand doesn't restrict such works !

=========================================

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4163517.stm

Tuesday, 11 January, 2005, 10:47 GMT

Indonesia restricts Aceh aid work

Indonesia's army is to restrict relief workers from reaching remoter parts of the tsunami-hit province of Aceh.

The army said aid workers must now register to travel outside the towns of Banda Aceh and Meulaboh, because it could not guarantee safety elsewhere.

Correspondents say the army wants to re-establish control over Aceh, where it has been battling separatist rebels.

Aceh, near the epicentre of the quake, was worst hit in the natural disaster that has killed about 150,000 people.

The United Nations is hosting a meeting of donor countries in Geneva to discuss how best to spend the billions of dollars pledged around the world to help victims of the tsunami.

One of the major concerns is to ensure that, in contrast with previous catastrophes, all the money promised is actually paid this time and reaches the people who need it.

Protecting aid

The head of the army, Endriartono Sutarto, admitted the restrictions could slow down relief efforts.

General Sutarto told the BBC the move was necessary because he had to protect foreign aid workers.

He accused the separatist Free Aceh Movement (Gam) of stealing aid, although aid agencies, who have been travelling freely outside the main towns, have not reported any problems.

Sofyan Dawood, a Gam spokesman in Aceh, told the BBC that the authorities were trying to paint the rebels as the black sheep, and stressed that Gam were Acehnese - unlike some of the military in Aceh - and were keen to support the aid effort.

Correspondents say the Indonesian government and the military may be pursuing different policies on how to handle Aceh following the tsunami.

Earlier, Indonesia's foreign minister told the BBC that Jakarta had struck a "gentleman's agreement" with rebels not to disrupt aid efforts.

Speaking on a visit to London, Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said he sensed an "optimism that both sides are interested for reconciliation".

He said Jakarta had made contact with Gam, in a bid to avoid clashes between Indonesian government troops and rebels during the aid effort.

Before 26 December Aceh had been under emergency rule and was closed both to aid agencies and the international media.

In 2003, Indonesia's military launched an offensive against the rebels, who are estimated to have lost more than 2,000 men over the past two years.

Aid agencies will fear this new directive could increase bureaucracy on the ground where local commanders have immediate control, says the BBC's Christian Fraser in Aceh.

Some minor skirmishes have been reported and both sides have accused the other of using the tsunami as a pretext for a renewed offensive, but the claims have not been independently verified.

Correspondents do stress the pre-tsunami level of hostility has not resumed.

In Sri Lanka, where Tamil Tiger separatists have also fought a long-running battle for independence, hopes that the tsunami might calm tensions have proved unfounded.

Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunga said on Monday that she had advised UN Secretary General Kofi Annan against visiting rebel-held areas in northern Sri Lanka during a weekend visit to the country.

The Tigers have accused the central government in Colombo of withholding aid from Tamil areas of the country and using the disaster as a pretext for sending government troops into Tamil-governed area.

A 20-year war civil war in Sri Lanka killed 64,000 before a ceasefire was brokered in 2002. The agreement was faltering in the weeks before the tsunami struck Sri Lanka.

ACEH: KEY FACTS

Province on the north-western tip of Sumatra

Higher percentage of Muslims than other parts of Indonesia

Gam rebels have fought decades-long separatist campaign

Year-long military crackdown beginning in May 2003 weakened Gam, but failed to capture senior members

this is where the whole fun begins ! one thing is - to make a pledge, another thing is - to encash it ! many other good point in the article below ...

-----------------------------------------

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...=1530&ncid=2337

Donor nations pressed to turn Asia tsunami pledges into reality

Tue, Jan 11, 2005

13 minutes ago Asia - AFP

GENEVA (AFP) - Unprecedented pledges worth billions of dollars for the Asian tsunami relief effort must be turned into reality to ensure aid gets to those who need it, a top UN official warned ahead of a key donors' conference here.

Jan Egeland, the UN emergency relief coordinator, said the global response so far to the disaster showed humanity at its best.

But the massive relief effort underway to help the stricken nations needed generous promises to be followed rapidly by hard cash.

In times of disaster, he said, "it's important that we get the pledges, the money early, and we spend it early, because hunger and disease doesn't wait.

"In this kind of catastrophe, there's a disproportion between generous pledges and the actual money delivered.

"We need the world to be held accountable and donors to be held accountable for what they promised and what they delivered."

Ministers and delegates from more than 80 countries and organisations have convened in Geneva under UN aegis for a conference aimed at firming up pledges and ensuring better coordination of how, when and where aid is delivered.

At the same time, Egeland called for some of the energy unleashed by the disaster to be harnessed for other crises around the world, notably in Africa.

So far, more than eight billion dollars has been pledged worldwide for the tsunami relief effort, a huge display of government and public support in line with the epic scale of a tragedy that has cost some 157,000 lives.

"We're seeing humanity at its very best in the beginning of 2005," Egeland told reporters here.

As well as donor governments, the conference is gathering aid agencies and nations struck by the December 26 disaster, triggered when a powerful undersea earthquake sent giant waves slamming into coastlines across the Indian Ocean.

Last week, at a flagship donors' conference in Jakarta, UN chief Kofi Annan (news - web sites) appealed for 977 million dollars in aid just for the next six months.

The UN has so far won commitments of nearly three billion dollars. Egeland said that "for the first time in history, we will have a flash appeal covered as it is launched."

But aid officials fear that as the disaster falls off the front pages, the amount actually delivered will reduce or be extracted from other causes.

"We want to see it materialise," said a spokeswoman for the British charity Oxfam.

"We want guarantees that it's new money, that it's not money that is being diverted from another disaster or existing aid budget" such as for Sudan.

"We will be looking very closely to the UK, the US, the European Commission (news - web sites) to explain where their money is going to come from."

Among key figures at the conference here are Andrew Natsios, head of the US overseas development agency USAID, and European Union (news - web sites) development commissioner Louis Michel.

Britain, France and Germany have also sent ministers.

Natsios said the meeting would focus on three stages of response: immediate relief, then reconstruction -- including new schools, homes and businesses as well as psychological counselling -- followed by longer-term development aid.

"Demand is what should drive this, not contribution levels," he added.

Earlier, a UN spokeswoman said the world body had accepted an offer from US auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers to monitor how the aid is delivered.

"We are in the process of drawing up a proposed accord which will be signed shortly," said Elisabeth Byrs of the UN humanitarian coordinating agency OCHA.

She said the agreement was part of UN efforts to ensure transparency in aid pledges. "Every dollar given will be audited so the public can be informed."

The offer -- Byrs said it was free -- came after scathing criticism of the way the UN ran its controversial Iraqi oil-for-food programme under the regime of former leader Saddam Hussein (news - web sites).

Before the tsunami relief meeting, donor countries also met over an appeal launched in November for 14 other crises ranging from the Democratic Republic of Congo (news - web sites) to Chechnya (news - web sites) and the Palestinian territories.

"Human life has the same value everywhere," Egeland said, while noting that it was harder to summon aid to help alleviate crises in Africa than it was for the tsunami relief effort or a previous UN appeal on Iraq (news - web sites).

very nice and smart!

my wife translated for me from TV news that many hotels aslo has encreased room rates - and practically all such hotels are owned by foreigners and that Thai people are upset by this, if not outraged. that it is against Thai culture to do such a thing - trying to profit by taking advantage of such disaster situation, while Thai people are concerned about tourists return to those areas to make it possible to recover local economy in affacted areas....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4164107.stm

Tuesday, 11 January, 2005, 11:42 GMT

Protecting Aceh's children

By Christian Fraser

BBC News, Banda Aceh

It was the children who bore the brunt of the disaster in south-east Asia.

Thousands were killed or injured, thousands more were separated from their parents.

In Indonesia, the work is now beginning to try to identify those who have been orphaned - it is a difficult task made more complicated by the loss of family records and the burial of the dead without any identification.

In recent days, rumours of child-trafficking have forced the government to freeze any movement of children outside the affected areas.

But already there is informal adoption taking place by family and neighbours which further complicates an already difficult situation.

Vital database

This is Iwa's story and, for a seven-year-old boy, it is a difficult story to tell.

He told me he was doing his homework when the earthquake struck.

He left the house with his father and together they ran but when they looked back, he says, his grandma was still in the bedroom, being shaken about.

Iwa now lives in a camp in the grounds of a television station. It is home to several thousand survivors of the tsunami but Iwa is one of the luckier ones.

He still has his parents. There are many others who do not and who may well be orphans.

And the job for the United Nation's children's agency (Unicef) now is to try and reunite families.

"We have the database that actually comprises information about the kids with our registration number and names, ages, schools, name of fathers, name of mothers," says Unicef's project officer in Banda Aceh, Danny Poruba.

Mr Poruba says Unicef staff check information when someone comes to the tent claiming to be searching for his or hers children.

"But we are mostly [here] to protect the kids from anyone who can come in and take the kids away.

"Even though he has all of the information, all of the documents we require, we still need to go through the government to have approval from the government."

Empty ward

We left Iwa's camp to visit the children of Fakina Hospital but when we arrived, one of the Indonesian doctors told us they had already gone.

"This is the children's ward, but now it is empty because most of the people have left," a male doctor said.

"We agree that if they are still here, another person will come... but... they don't know where to go, because there is no place, his house, there is no house, there is no family."

There may be very good reasons why the children's ward is empty.

Some are known to have been evacuated, some already collected by surviving relatives or neighbours.

The trouble is, no-one really knows because there is no registration of child patients.

'Foster parents'

On the way out, I met Sepal Bari. His wife is still missing, but his two-month-old daughter, sitting on his knee, miraculously survived.

"Some people tried to adopt my daughter several times, but I rejected," says Mr Bari through an interpreter.

In response to my question whether he was suspicious who these people were, Mr Bari says: "You can see beside you there are two people here who want to adopt his daughter right now.

"I already knew about the child-trafficking so that is why I don't want to give up my daughter to somebody else."

In fact, he had been approached seven times in this hospital.

Limited control

It is a story that raises serious concerns for child protection officers and Unicef's Brigitta Len Hendriksson says there are other cases:

"One is a couple that has brought a child out of Aceh to Medan. When they arrived there the child was sick so they went to a hospital for medical attention.

"There, NGOs intervened as part of their registration follow up with victims and they grew suspicious when the couple were inconsistent in their stories, basically.

"The other case is a 41-year-old man who came into a hospital in Medan and smuggled a boy who is one of the victims from Aceh, or tried to smuggle him out of the hospital.

"He was handed over to police for questioning and his story is that he is the neighbour of the boy. I don't know the outcome of that."

I asked her if she was worried that the children's ward at the Fakina Hospital was empty.

"We were concerned about the fact that children are being evacuated out for medical purposes without proper registration so it is not clear where these children are ending up and who they are," Ms Hendriksson answers.

There is only 40% registration of children in Indonesia and - with family records here being washed away - it will not be an easy task to keep track of children.

And in a region that has a long, depressing history of child-trafficking, it is a matter of urgency that the most vulnerable are identified and protected as quickly as possible.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4164915.stm

Tuesday, 11 January, 2005, 14:49 GMT

Temple sold to raise tsunami cash

A small Canadian Buddhist congregation has sold one of its temples to raise money for Asian tsunami victims.

The abbot of the temple in Mission, east of Vancouver, handed a cheque for 500,000 Canadian dollars (US $405,000, £219,000) to the Canadian Red Cross.

A Tibetan group will now take over the temple after purchasing it from its Vietnamese congregation.

The temple had been on the market in the hope to raise funds for building a bigger temple in Mission.

Abbot Thick Nguyen Thao told the congregation on New Year's Day that he wanted to donate the proceeds from the sale to tsunami relief.

"When the abbot made his announcement, a lot of people dropped their jaws, but after a day went by everybody began supporting him wholeheartedly," temple board member Vi Liet Nguyen told the Vancouver Sun.

The abbot said this was a gesture of gratitude to the people of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines for receiving Vietnamese refugees, when they fled persecution by the communist regime in the 1970s.

Red Cross spokeswoman Carmen Mackenzie called this donation "phenomenal".

The group retains its main temple in the suburbs of Vancouver.

Local media report that Christian, Muslim, Jewish and aboriginal communities in the Vancouver area have also made large donations to tsunami relief funds.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4163655.stm

Tuesday, 11 January, 2005, 13:09 GMT

Nations urged to contribute more

The UN official coordinating aid for survivors of the tsunami has called for a new level of international compassion in response to it and other crises.

Jan Egeland was speaking in Geneva at the start of an international donors meeting which will focus on the disaster in the Indian Ocean.

The UN is to tell delegates that billions of dollars of aid must be sent swiftly to help survivors.

Mr Egeland said the response so far had showed "humanity at its very best".

But the UN's emergency relief co-ordinator also called for a new standard of compassion in which all humanitarian crises receive the funding they need.

The Geneva meeting comes five days after UN Secretary General Kofi Annan chaired a donor conference in Jakarta, Indonesia, where he issued a call for almost $1bn in urgent aid.

'Crunch time'

Mr Egeland, who is chairing the meeting, listed at least a dozen regions where UN agencies are struggling to meet the basic needs of millions of people.

He pointed out that the Democratic Republic of Congo, where 1,000 people die daily of preventable diseases or because of the conflict there, suffered the equivalent of a tsunami every five months.

Each year, Mr Egeland said, the UN launches an appeal for aid work but actual funds always fall well short of pledges.

Phil Bloomer, head of UK-based charity Oxfam, said this was "crunch time" to make sure the pledges were realised.

"This is not the time for empty rhetoric," he said, quoted by AFP news agency. "The eyes of the world are on this meeting and we want guarantees that the aid will not be diverted from other disasters and other suffering people."

Accountants

Tuesday's conference will discuss a practical timetable for delivering aid to the region.

Delegates representing governments and aid agencies are attending, including US aid chief Andrew Natsios, EU development commissioner Louis Michel and senior ministers from Britain, France and Germany.

Up to $6bn in relief has been pledged to help five million people affected.The BBC's Bridget Kendall says the Geneva meeting will examine the fine print of the global relief effort, including:

Is money being diverted from other countries also desperately in need of help?

How much is going to international organisations and aid agencies, not tied to bilateral deals?

How much can be delivered right now in cash instead of in loans, or staggered over several years?

The scale of the global response has prompted the UN to hire one of the world's leading accounting firms to help track donations.

PriceWaterhouseCoopers will also be asked to investigate any allegations of fraud, waste or abuse.

]UN officials believe the aid process is transparent but many remain mindful of criticism over alleged mismanagement of the oil-for-food programme in Iraq.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4154277.stm

At-a-glance: Economic impact

While no one disputes the vast human cost of the 26 December tsunami, the economic impact is far less clear. Some economies seem to have escaped unscathed; in others, the high cost of reconstruction could bring compensatory flows of aid and investment.

..............

Thailand

[for other countries - see the source URL]

Despite Thailand's high-profile tourist industry, analysts have not been persuaded to alter their forecasts for the country's growth. Output is expected to rise 5.5-6.5% in 2005, the same as last year. Even the gloomiest forecasts do not peg the cost higher than half a percentage point of GDP growth.

Thailand is better off than some nearby tourist destinations: although the industry accounts for between 5% and 12% of GDP (depending on whether the direct or indirect impact is calculated), the affected area around Phuket produces just 1.9% of national income.

Unlike Sri Lanka and Indonesia, the Thai Government has shown little interest in debt relief, preferring to maintain its credit rating. Instead, the government has proposed special tax breaks in international markets for Thai products - something that a few foreign governments have reportedly informally approved.

KEY FACTS

2004 growth: 6.2%

2005 forecast: 5.5-6.5%

Tourism earnings: 5.4% of GDP

External debts: $51.7bn

well, unfortunately in many places in the world wisdom is considered as something as old fashioned - not only here in Thailand.

same with other things.

but at least - there are no hungry kids begging on the streets of Bangkok and big cities as elsewhere in Asia ....

yeah - mostly they are in internet cafes playing LAN games, although alot of talks going on to forbid these on-line games - adn I heard on TV that government is realy gonna do it so. as if forbiding will automatically solve all problems ....

it is same old habit : substituting more serious and complex issues by smaller ones...

at least here they teach kids to do "wai" to those who are elders - in the west if someone would make wai it would be considered very strange and may be even sign of slavery or may be even non-democratic ....