Singapore Embassy Struggling To Cope With Influx

[george]

Embassies in Bangkok struggling to cope with influx of people

BANGKOK: -- Embassies in Bangkok are struggling to cope with the influx of people, as hundreds left Phuket to get into the capital before heading home.

Worried relatives jammed phone lines, especially since communication networks on the islands were down for the first few days.

The phones have been ringing off the hook at the Singapore Embassy in Bangkok since Sunday.

Makeshift white notice boards speak volumes of the individual tragedies, such as a "Missing in Phuket" note.

Exhausted staff continue to gather as much information as possible, so they have something to offer to next-of-kin who call.

And the stories pour in - both those with happy and sad endings - like the miraculous story of how the sons of missing Dr Lim Fang Kan were found - and reunited.

Sharon Seah, Second Secretary, Foreign Affairs Ministry, Bangkok, said, "One of the first cases that the embassy helped to facilitate were the two boys who were with their father in Khao Lak - one of the worst hit areas - in Sea View Resort.

"Somehow one of the boys was found and we had a tip off from the family that he was in a hospital in Krabi - (I) believe it was Kapong hospital. We were told 'can you please call the nurse' because she could not speak English, and (we) got somebody at the embassy to speak Thai...and she was looking after this boy. He was traumatised and upset - and she was very kind - she took him in, brought him to the hospital, cleaned him, cut his nails, fed him and he was clinging to her.

"We got in touch with the nurse and some hours later we found (the) brother (who) was in touch with a Swedish group, and he borrowed a phone and then called the mum. So the mum called the embassy and told the embassy the two boys are found but in two different locations...miraculously...and somehow (the) embassy managed to reunite the two boys. The boys are safe now, (they have) gone home to Singapore but unfortunately the father is still missing."

Because the tsunamis hit at the peak school holiday season, embassy staff soon anticipated many Singaporeans would be involved.

And they did their best even though they were swamped.

Yip Wei Kiat, Deputy Chief Mission, Foreign Affairs Ministry, Bangkok, said, "My colleagues in Phuket have been working practically non-stop...I remember the first night that my colleagues were down there. I was up the whole night talking to them on the phone...it was difficult.

"When I was communicating with my colleagues in Phuket in the initial period when they had to respond to whatever Singaporeans approached them, we could not just stop and say we are tired."

Staff from the embassy in Thailand and officers from Singapore were sent to Phuket to beef up the team there.

-- CNA 2005-01-02