3,559 Swedes Missing In Southern Thailand

[george]

3,500 Swedes missing in southern Thailand: Sweden

STOCKHOLM: Some 3,500 Swedes are missing in southern Thailand following the earthquake-driven tsunamis that swamped Indian Ocean shorelines, the Swedish foreign ministry said on Friday. 3,500 Swedes missing in southern Thailand: Sweden.

So far, 44 Swedes have been confirmed dead but Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson warned on Thursday that the number of Swedish fatalities would "end up in the hundreds (and) in the worst-case scenario exceed 1,000."

Swedish ambassador to Thailand Jonas Hafstroem said on Friday that while the foreign ministry estimated the number of missing at 3,500, that figure remained uncertain because some holiday-makers may have travelled home to Sweden without contacting officials.

Thailand is a popular tourist destination for Swedes, thousands of whom were spending their holidays in Khao Lak, a resort town that was obliterated by tsunamis that ravaged Thailand's southwest coast.

A Norwegian embassy official said Thursday that three to four thousand dead had been recovered in Khao Lak alone.

Sweden has declared Saturday a day of mourning, when flags will fly at half mast and church services will be held across the country for the more than 125,000 victims of the tragedy.

-- AFP 2004-12-31

[eddieold]

At least some of the uncertainty can be removed from this article. Presumably, in order to quote a figure of missing, the Swedish authorities have a record of names and passport numbers. If via their embasy in Bangkok they submitted this list (preferably in computer readable format) to the Thai immigration department with a request for it to be tabulated showing those that are recorded as having left the Kingdom and the others.

The latter could be further divided between those still within their entry/departure dates

and overstays. Overstays of more than a few days but less than 10 - 14 days are the ones causing most anxiety.

eddie

[george]

The latest figures is 3,559 Swedish persons missing as per 22:00 Bangkok time.

Source: aftonbladet.se

[george]

Free air tickets home for Swedsih citizens. Departures from Phuket and Bangkok.

Information in Swedish language at:

http://www.aftonbladet.se

http://www.expreseen.se

The Swedish Government's web site:

http://www.foreign.ministry.se

– Read the press release: Swedish Aid to Asia

– Statement by Prime Minister Göran Persson on 29 December following the natural disaster in Asia

– Read the press release: Additional air transport from Thailand

– Read the press release: Ministry for Foreign Affairs launches SMS service for victims and relatives

– Statement by Prime Minister Göran Persson following the natural disaster in Asia

[george]

Somber Swedes await Thailand toll

BANGKOK: -- Thailand's tsunami death toll could reach 8,000, with more than half of those foreign tourists holidaying in the nation's southern resorts when the disaster struck.

There are more than 3,000 visitors from Sweden among the missing in Thailand, and the Scandinavian nation is braced for what could be the worst natural disaster toll in its history.

Swedes greeted the New Year with a national day of mourning Saturday, flying flags at half-staff and lighting candles for the missing.

Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said Saturday many of those who were still listed as missing were likely to be dead.

"Many corpses will be floating in the sea," Thaksin said, according to wire reports.

"Of the 6,500 missing, it is likely that they could mostly be dead as many days have passed."

Thailand's official death count is 4,812.

As the search for bodies continues, Thaksin said his government would investigate why tsunami warnings largely failed to reach officials and tourist resorts.

"We will have to investigate the whole incident, when it happened, why we were not warned," Thakisin said in his weekly radio address.

Officials at the country's meteorological department did issue some warnings before the waves slammed into tourist resorts and fishing villages, but they only got through to a handful of officials, the Associated Press reports.

It is thought around 20,000 Swedes had travelled to Thailand this holiday season, to escape the harsh winter of northern Europe.

While only 59 Swedes have so far been confirmed dead, authorities are fearing this tragedy may well become the worst natural disaster in the nation's history.

With a population of only 9 million, Sweden's expected loss of life proportionately matches that of Indonesia, and is exceeded only by Sri Lanka.

Along with Sweden, other Nordic countries have been hard hit by the tsunamis' impact in Thailand.

In neighboring Denmark, Queen Margrethe started her annual televised New Year's speech by addressing the tsunami disaster that has killed seven Danes and left 466 missing.

"We are just happy tourists seeking a warmer sun and a sea that is more blue than our coasts," the monarch said in her speech aired live on major television and radio channels.

"Let us not only just think of our losses but also of the many thousand people who now must see their whole existence broken into pieces."

Finland is also mourning its dead with 14 believed killed and 194 still missing.

The devastation has hit one Finnish family particularly hard with 14 members of one family swept away while on vacation at the Thai resort of Khao Lak.

Leon Eklof is in Thailand looking for his missing family members, including three of his grandchildren, his daughter and his son-in-law, according to a report in The Australian newspaper.

--CNN 2005-01-02

[penelope]

interestingly, tiger woods' new wife is the daughter of the swedish minister of immigration, and of course tiger is half thai and very wealthy...i wonder if he and/or his charitable foundation are doing anything ?