Just One More (tsunami) Thing...

[khall64au]

Buried deep within all the tragic tsunami-anniversary stories that I have researched tonight on the web (prior to attending Khao Lak ceremonies this Xmas-period) I found this below article....

Is Thailand wrong in wanting to commemerate the tsunami anniversary and then move on to normal business for the sake of citizens who depend on tourism and goodwill for a living?

Not a good time to bring it up so won't suggest a poll.... just after a few opinions!

Thai tsunami anniversary draws flak

By Nopporn Wong-Anan

Fri Dec 16, 5:18 AM ET

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's bid to bring thousands of tsunami survivors and their families to a "song and dance" memorial service has drawn far fewer people than expected and triggered criticism that the event is in bad taste.

The week-long anniversary/New Year event which begins on December 26 has drawn flak from diplomats and the media, who say it puts too much emphasis on reviving tourism in Thailand's tourist mecca, Phuket island, and neighbouring provinces.

Bangkok Post columnist Boonsong Kositchotethana said the "song-and dance" events, which include a fireworks festival and a New Year's Eve countdown party, "simply reflects the insensitivity if not downright bad taste."

"The wise men in the Thaksin Shinawatra administration, who came up with this half-baked plan, should be reminded, once again, that the planned fanfare shows great disrespect to the 5,395 people who died and 2,906 others who went missing in the affected areas in Thailand," he wrote in a recent column.

The idea for the event was first broached by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in September during a cabinet meeting in the tsunami-hit Phang Nga province.

"We want to promote tourism in the three provinces," he told reporters. "On December 26, we will have memorial services and stone-laying ceremonies for a monument. Then from December 27, there will only be fun, entertainment and music."

But after protests from some foreign diplomats and the local media, the government said the $6.5 million ceremony would be held to thank the international community for helping Thailand cope with tsunami's aftermath.

"It is a gesture we put out to say we have been very grateful for that help," Suranand Vejjajiva, a minister charged with organising the anniversary, told foreign journalists this week.

FREE PLANE TICKETS

Immediate family members of those killed or survivors of the tsunami will receive a free round-trip ticket to Thailand, airport pick-up and two nights accommodation to attend one of seven morning services to be held on December 26, officials said.

The simultaneous ceremonies will include wreath-layings and a minute of silence on seven beaches, including Phi Phi, Phuket and Phang Nga, where most of Thailand's deaths occurred.

Thaksin will later attend an afternoon stone-laying ceremony for a tsunami memorial at Khao Lak, to be followed by evening interfaith memorial services at a nearby beach.

A variety of tourist events will kick off on December 27 and continue to January 3. They include the "Andamans Cup" yacht race, a seafood fair, a beach volleyball tournament, and an Oscars-like awards night for Thailand's film industry.

On New Years Eve, Thaksin will attend "Andaman New Year Countdown" to be televised live from Phuket's Patong Beach.

The memorial/festivities have baffled Bangkok-based diplomats who said it may only make survivors angry and upset.

"They are going to be aggrieved and they are going to fall apart," a Western consular officer told Reuters. "It is not going to work."

Only 1,200 visitors from 40 countries who were injured or lost family members in the tsunami have accepted the government's invitation, far below the 10,000 Thailand had expected.

Foreign Ministry official Vitavas Srivihok said invitations had been extended to scores of heads of states and other dignitaries, including former U.S Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton. But only 60 Bangkok-based diplomats from 40 embassies have agreed to attend.

"They said they would be tied up with Christmas celebrations at home," he said, referring to those who had declined the offer.

[sriracha john]

Prior Tsunami Anniversary Flak Thread

[Tippaporn]

Buried deep within all the tragic tsunami-anniversary stories that I have researched tonight on the web (prior to attending Khao Lak ceremonies this Xmas-period) I found this below article....

Is Thailand wrong in wanting to commemerate the tsunami anniversary and then move on to normal business for the sake of citizens who depend on tourism and goodwill for a living?

Not a good time to bring it up so won't suggest a poll.... just after a few opinions!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well, if it's opinions you're after then I'll share mine.

Preamble

Exercise: Take an object, any object, and place it in front of you. In detail, describe what you see. Move to the rear of the object and again describe what you see. The object does not view the same. Details change, along with the entire backdrop of the object. Now, ask yourself how many conceivable angles exist from which you can view said object.

Events can be viewed similarly to objects. What determines your particular perspective in this case is not your physical position but the tint of your spectacles (which equate to your personal beliefs with which you filter information) and also the paticular spectacles you happen to don, since you possess many and change them quite often.

If you follow along with the exercise and the analogy then it's not too surprising that you'll end up with a myriad of differing viewpoints, each claiming that what they see is the real thing.

Opinion

This topic will produce opinions for and against, with varying degrees of righteous emotion, too. Having said that my viewpoint to the question highlighted in red is: absolutely not and not at all an inappropriate desire. Is it disrespectful? That would depend on the glasses you're wearing. (And, I applaud you on phrasing that question very, very well.)

Agree with me or have at me! Life is for the living, and death to us all in one way or another, in one form or another. Death is never the end, so why the big deal over the inevitable??? If people understood what death is, the process, what it's purpose is, who chooses it (including the timing and fashion of it), and why we all, without exception, experience it then it would save many needless tears.

Granted many understand, many more do not. And for those who don't may you sincerely find solace. But please understand that for myself I no longer feel the sadness for an event that is at best very much misunderstood.

Edited December 25, 2005 by Tippaporn

[chownah]

I know...on the 26th they should have bands and dancing on the beaches everywhere that someone died and have a countdown to the moment that the first wave hit...the people will countdown like this, "Five, four, three, two, one!" and then they'll all fall down and roll around yelling, "Help save me save me!" for about two minutes and then stand up laughing and dancing......sounds like a really festive thing and loads of fun for the entire family....hopefully it will be followed by a big shopping spree where everyone will by OTOP products.

Edited December 25, 2005 by chownah

[OlRedEyes]

If I read this right, it sounds like another sick half-baked idea, with mostly money in mind

[Mighty Mouse]

A one off rememberance service following any natural disaster is acceptable. Family and friends of victims may find a sense of closure at such events.

A commemoration celebration that has dancing and fireworks following a wreath laying ceremony would be a demonstration of poor taste.

[naka]

They would get their collective asses kicked if they tried a "song and dance" type stunt at a rememberance day memorial in Britain or an ANZAC day parade in Aussie/NZ.

Naka.

[Stephen Cleary]

'Song & Dance?' thats certainly not as bad as the authorities in charge had originally planned.

According to previous reports in the Thai Press - "The government is contemplating the idea of hosting a huge concert on the Tseunami affected beach of Phang-nga and will invite some of the biggest names in the pop and rock world to play"

Another quack-wack govt idea which was relegated to the garbage can a day later.

Edited December 25, 2005 by stevesuphan

[Tippaporn]

I know...on the 26th they should have bands and dancing on the beaches everywhere that someone died and have a countdown to the moment that the first wave hit...the people will countdown like this, "Five, four, three, two, one!" and then they'll all fall down and roll around yelling, "Help save me save me!" for about two minutes and then stand up laughing and dancing......sounds like a really festive thing and loads of fun for the entire family....hopefully it will be followed by a big shopping spree where everyone will by OTOP products.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

chownah, we're all certainly entiltled to our opinions, and with emotion, too. I'm not at all surprised that opinions will range even to the degree of distorted, satirical derision such as expressed by you with such obvious and lavish vehemence. Do not take that as a flame as I don't intend it as such. I believe it is simply an accurate observation.

"We want to promote tourism in the three provinces," he told reporters. "On December 26, we will have memorial services and stone-laying ceremonies for a monument. Then from December 27, there will only be fun, entertainment and music."

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The intentions which the above quote expresses cannot possibly be interpreted as you described, at least not without doing a great deal of stretching and possessing a hearty belief in the pathetic nature of man.

Whether the intentions of the promoters are truly sincere, saintly, and progressive or strictly to deceptively create revenue for personal enrichment using a cataclysmic event as the vehicle, well, that is certainly left up to each individual's interpretation. One such interpretation is expressed extremely well in the OP in the form of a question; Is Thailand wrong in wanting to commemerate the tsunami anniversary and then move on to normal business for the sake of citizens who depend on tourism and goodwill for a living?

If that is indeed the intention of the promoters, and I will tend to give them the benefit of doubt, then I would judge it quite noble and wise. It appears to suggest to me that, yes, we sympathize with the tremendous horror and suffering experienced by so many, would like to commerate the deceased and their families, thank the world for it's generous aid but . . . for very practical purposes we all need to continue on with life and find closure.

If that was the true intention of the promoters and they backed off due to general public opinion that it showed disrespect then I'm saddened that they would allow their true feelings to be so easily swayed for the sake of conforming to a consensus of thought they don't agree with. In that case they could have made an effort to expound on their genuine motives with compassion in a way that may touch upon their detractors with understanding. For the promoters to simply and quickly detract from their original plan implies guilt that the accusations are well grounded, even though that may not be the case at all. Their quick turnaround may be due to their inability to express their real feelings in a way that effects understanding and instead enforces the image that they are sticking their foot in their mouth ever so deeply.

Do I appear to be the devil's advocate? I'll laugh at any one who believes so. I wish merely to point out that there exist other quite valid viewpoints. In choosing mine I prefer to choose from among those that are more life giving for they contain much deeper truths.

[Mighty Mouse]

A well written post Tippaporn...as all of your posts are.

The Tsunami occured at an unfortunate time of the year. (not that any other time would have been a good time.)

The anniversary therefore must fall again at an unfortunate time. Right in the middle of the joyous celebrations of Christmas and New Year.

It could be difficult for those not directly, or indirectly involved in the tragedy, to switch from happy emotions, to sad emotions and back to happy emotions all in the space of a few days. Realistically, I doubt that too many would make a genuine effort to do so. This could result in additional pain for those who are directly or indirectly involved and who have returned to the area to remember loved ones.

I would like to think that the Thai Government would at least make the effort to separate these occasions thus allowing due dignity for the deceased and solace for the mourners, with separate arrangements for New Year revellers.

We will know soon enough.

Edited December 25, 2005 by Mighty Mouse

[ThaiPauly]

RIGHT NOW is the time to rmember the victims.

RIP allthe people that lost their lives in this tragic disaster.

May your God be with you

TP

[Scott]

Of course it's a half-baked, insensitive idea. The gov't would serve business best if it just stayed out of business matters. It's a good idea to have a comemmorative service and that is it. The gov't doesn't need to plan or say anything else. Of course, some people (probably most), will stay on, enjoy the beaches, the tranquility and a New Year's Eve.

Some people will be ready for a big night of partying by New Year's Eve, other's won't. It's up to them, not the Thai gov't. If they want to be helpful, stop stupid things like the no alcohol in the afternoon crap etc.

[Mighty Mouse]

I just watched the evening news on television. (here in Australia) They had coverage of the memorial services held at various Tsunami locations.

Each of the services was conducted with dignity.

A job well done by the organisers.

[Tippaporn]

A well written post Tippaporn...as all of your posts are. 

The Tsunami occured at an unfortunate time of the year. (not that any other time would have been a good time.)

The anniversary therefore must fall again at an unfortunate time. Right in the middle of the joyous celebrations of Christmas and New Year.

It could be difficult for those not directly, or indirectly involved in the tragedy, to switch from happy emotions, to sad emotions and back to happy emotions all in the space of a few days. Realistically, I doubt that too many would make a genuine effort to do so. This could result in additional pain for those who are directly or indirectly involved and who have returned to the area to remember loved ones.

I would like to think that the Thai Government would at least make the effort to separate these occasions thus allowing due dignity for the deceased and solace for the mourners, with separate arrangements for New Year revellers.

We will know soon enough.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks, but I must say the same about you, Mighty Mouse. Not only do your posts have great style and you deliver your thoughts with excellent conciseness but also the content is refreshingly accurate. I look forward to them. I would enjoy meeting you someday over some brews and I would expect some excellent conversation.

Again, you are quite accurate in what you say. While the idea of putting the tsunami event in a perspective that allows for closure and to then promote a return to an atmosphere of pre-tsunami joy and festivity is an ideal, realistically it's an idea that is beyond expectation. Especially on a first anniversary when relatively little time has been given opportunity to help heal the wounds of some extremely painful and horrific personal experiences.

I do not believe that the promoters meant to be insensitive by tying the two separate events so closely together, rather they were only too anxious to distance the tsunami enough so that life could return to "normal." I also believe that a desire exists among all residents of the affected areas, both Thai and farang, to regain their former life of merriment and joviality. And, again, for very practical reasons - chiefly livelihood.

Does anyone recall the then post-tsunami foreign governmental calls to stay away out of fear? The response from TV members seemed almost unanimous in encouraging the precise opposite. How would that help the local Thai population to recover? While affected areas have indeed recovered greatly in certain respects they have yet to reclaim their erstwhile prosperity fully.

Regardless of how the initial plan for festivities on the heels of memorial ceromonies came across I do credit the promoters for their attempt to revitalize the region. I give them the benefit of my doubt that their intentions were well meant. They tried, and perhaps they tried the best they knew how at the time. For that no man can be faulted in my book.

I sincerely do hope that those who have suffered losses and otherwise find solace as quickly as possible so that they can reclaim their joy. As to death, I've already offered my views on the topic. I would add that upon my death, however or whenever it touches upon my shoulder, I would decry any who choose to grieve for me. Instead, celebrate the life I lived, remember with rapture the life we shared, rejoice with me my passing into a new life, and be certain that we will meet again and again and again. I, for one, would insist on a festive funeral. I will leave money for beer and other refreshment. But please leave your sombreness at home. We are eternal and we will travel together with our beloved ones once again on other roads.

'Nuff said by me!

[chownah]

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

...................  While the idea of putting the tsunami event in a perspective that allows for closure and to then promote a return to an atmosphere of pre-tsunami joy and festivity is an ideal, realistically it's an idea that is beyond expectation.  Especially on a first anniversary when relatively little time has been given opportunity to help heal the wounds of some extremely painful and horrific personal experiences.

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

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So are you saying that eventually the gov't can make this into a big money making festival experience with maybe just a moment of silence......but its too soon now?

[Tippaporn]

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

...................  While the idea of putting the tsunami event in a perspective that allows for closure and to then promote a return to an atmosphere of pre-tsunami joy and festivity is an ideal, realistically it's an idea that is beyond expectation.  Especially on a first anniversary when relatively little time has been given opportunity to help heal the wounds of some extremely painful and horrific personal experiences.

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

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So are you saying that eventually the gov't can make this into a big money making festival experience with maybe just a moment of silence......but its too soon now?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If the event was planned under that pretext - it's nothing more than a greedy, grasping, covetous governmental fund raiser - my attitude would be much the same as yours, chownah.

However, I don't claim to be intimate with the hearts and minds of the promoters. Therefore, I'm not jumping on any bandwagons. I will interpret their motives based on what is reported and in accordance with my beliefs. Everyone else does no less, though many would readily, often prematurely, like to convince the rest that what they "see," usually at a glance, is the one and only "real" view; whether that view is fabricated with a great deal of pretense and bias seems to be, in many cases, besides the point.

I will make up my own mind rather than to allow myself to be hitched up automatically to prevailing sentiment, especially when going with the flow is done for the mere sake of securing acceptance among a possibly overwhelming majority. I may and do receive a lot of flak at times for holding and expressing unpolpular leanings; but truth weighs much more importantly with me than does popularity.

I've got horrendous thick skin (not sure whether there's a name for the disease yet), and if you've read the "ThaiVisa Clique" thread you'll be well aware that it's a prerequisite to posting on this forum! They will zealously and proudly chew you up and spit you out!

I like to offer my views, especially on those topics where I feel there exists a great deal of distortion due mainly to pretentiousness. As I see it, the pretense regarding this event is the claim to know the true motives of the promoters (which I believe is a highly doubtable claim to make for most here; truthfully I do not know). The ensuing opinion is then strongly flavoured with some of the poorest and perverse outlooks of humankind that I care to endure, oftentimes distastefully wrapped in alternating layers of generalization and sterotyping.

And since I'm a staunch voice of the human spirit (hel_l, I've got one myself) I'll speak volumes, with volume, in affectionate defense of a state of being I rather cherish. Kinda like having the Christmas spirit all year long?

Feel free to make up your own mind, chownah, express it as impassioned as you like, and you'll do so whether or not anyone else agrees. I, for one, will spare you my judgement (like you really care, right?).

Edited December 26, 2005 by Tippaporn

[OlRedEyes]

Yeeesh So many holes.

[Tippaporn]

Yeeesh    So many holes.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Am I taking on too much water yet????

[OlRedEyes]

Yeeesh    So many holes.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Am I taking on too much water yet????

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Nah. You sailin in a sea of beer

[Mighty Mouse]

Nah. You sailin in a sea of beer 

I guess that means we should all just grin and beer it.

[sriracha john]

Interesting views expressed by Thais:

Thailand accused of touting for tourists

December 27, 2005

In three elaborate ceremonies at Phi Phi Island, Phuket and Khao Lak, where 129 of the 141 British victims died, senior Thai officials including Thaksin Shinawatra, the Prime Minister, were flown in by helicopter to give speeches.

However, the occasion was also marked by charges that the Government was more concerned with rebuilding its tourist trade than remembering the 5,400 people who perished on its beaches.

At Phi Phi Island, where 37 Britons died, relatives listened to speeches promoting the Thai tourist industry and a tsunami song, It’s time to heal, it’s time to smile, was played throughout the morning. James Judd, from the Wirral, who came from Phuket for the day, said: “This is all so surreal. It gives me the shivers.”

Technicians faded the song as Surakiat Sathirathai, the Deputy Prime Minister and Thailand’s nominee to replace Kofi Annan as Secretary-General of the United Nations, called for the souls of the victims to “rest in peace and tranquillity”.

What the Deputy Prime Minister did not see were notices in Thai around the memorial area protesting that Mr Thaksin had reneged on pledges to have Phi Phi rebuilt within a year. “We never got the money or help you promised,” the notices said.

Locals complained that huge sums were being spent on promoting events such as yesterday’s, with the Government bringing in a Thai entertainment company with a record label and many stars on its books to choreograph events.

Some Thais and expatriates boycotted official commemorations and held their own ceremony at the opposite end of the beach. One Thai left the official event saying she “did not feel comfortable”.

Bilitis Somritsuk, 28, an advertising executive from Bangkok, said: “This is not right. This is like a circus. It seems all about money. It’s not the way we normally do things.”

Natawut Khaenthong, a local tour operator, said: “The Government never asked local people for a single word of what we want and what kind of rites or ceremonies should be held.”

In Khao Lak, 50 miles north of Phuket, where most of the British victims died, similar misgivings were expressed. “The Government is organising a jolly celebration party, not a memorial service,” Nantaya Saphanthong, a representative of the all-but-obliterated Ban Nam Khem village, said.

Although Mr Thaksin did not refer to tourism in his speech at Khao Lak, he told Asian tourists afterwards: “Please tell your fellow Japanese and Chinese back home to stop fearing ghosts and return to this region again.”

[udon]

I just watched the evening news on television. (here in Australia) They had coverage of the memorial services held at various Tsunami locations.

Each of the services was conducted with dignity.

A job well done by the organisers.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Me too, but nothing about Khao Lak, no cameras up at KL, it was as if it didn't exist. 10, 9 & 7.

Abc as usual had an excellent 60 min special at 19.30.

[chownah]

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Feel free to make up your own mind, chownah, express it as impassioned as you like, and you'll do so whether or not anyone else agrees.  I, for one, will spare you my judgement (like you really care, right?). 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thank you so much for allowing me to make up my own mind on this issue.....and thank you for allowing me to express it with passion whether anyone else agrees. And please do not spare me your judgement. Your opinions means so much to me...why almost everyone here on TV could benefit from the judgements of an erudite person such as yourself.

Sincerely?

Chownah

[thailien8]

Quotes from two stories in Bkk. Post (12/27/05) can serve to highlight the contrast between the big government show, and the lack of substance of real help.

Phangnga _ Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday laid the foundation stone of the tsunami memorial in a national park in the Khao Lak area, amid concerns over the use of such a sensitive area without an environmental impact assessment (EIA) study having been conducted. Over a thousand VIP guests, including diplomats and tsunami victims' families, were invited by the government to attend the ceremony.

The stone is made from fossilised seashells taken from Krabi. It marks the beginning of the 1.5-billion-baht project to commemorate last year's Dec 26 disaster, which claimed 5,395 lives in Thailand and left over 2,940 unaccounted for.

The first anniversary of the Dec 26 tsunami allowed villagers in Ban Nam Khem to not only air their sorrow, but also complain about the slowness of state assistance. The Takua Pa district village was the hardest hit in the southern province of Phangnga where the death toll was 4,225.

Survivors and foreign visitors yesterday gathered in a local tsunami memorial park to perform religious rites for the dead.

Today, the family sells vegetables for a living because their fishing boat was lost in the waves. ``The assistance fund that the government promised has not reached us at all,'' Ms Buaphan said.

Thoom Klatalay, 32, whose family lost their fishing boat, said what mattered was not only boats, but also children's education.

``We have been taken advantage of because we can't read. We must believe whatever they say. The state said it would give us 60,000 baht for the lost fishing boat, but we got only 30,000 baht. I don't know which wave wiped away the rest of the money,'' she said in tears.

When you consider that the budget for the tsunami memorial is 1,500,000,000 baht, the budget for the travel and accomodation of guests and VIPs at the big show is about 300,000,000 baht, and with 5,000 police and soldiers for security and crowd control plus off-budget expenses , the government is forking out roughly 2 billion baht of taxpayers' money on what is essentially a show.

What if this money had instead been put into real reconstruction of what was lost? To take the example of Thaksin's "generous" gifts to a few taxi drivers in Bkk. of 10 "houses" at 150,000 baht each; my calculator tells me that the 2 billion spent on show could have paid for over 13,000 new houses for tsunami victims.

[Wes Turner]

A one off rememberance service following any natural disaster is acceptable. Family and friends of victims may find a sense of closure at such events. 

A commemoration celebration that has dancing and fireworks following a wreath laying ceremony would be a demonstration of poor taste.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree, there will no doubt be a rememberance for years to come, less so in the west but for a few years I believe it will eclipse boxing day as 'Tsunami Day'.

[Tippaporn]

Nah. You sailin in a sea of beer 

I guess that means we should all just grin and beer it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[The_Moog]

the government is forking out roughly 2 billion baht of taxpayers' money on what is essentially a show.

Yes, that may be what the entire budgeted event was costed- in accounting terms, and the amount debited to the treasury

....but that doesn't mean that thats what the event cost in terms of adding together the air tickets, set-up costs, sound systems etc. Use a realistic discount factor of 30% on that number for the direct cash ouflows.

[Stephen Cleary]

There is a huge cultural difference and comprehension of death between us caucasians brought up in a Christian world and Thais in their Buddhist.

While we have been brought up to mourn death and see it as a ghastly happening the Thais have been conditioned through their Buddhist belief that all is impermanent and that we all must move on.

Here is a great example - go to a funeral in the west and its a morbid affair.

Go to a funeral in Thailand and after a small ceremony, a fine party of food, karaoke, whiskey and playing cards. Funeral parties in Thailand almost seem like a celebration of some kind!! Lotsa fun!!

Thais just love pics of dead bodies! Pick up any copy of the Thai Raj newspaper or 191 magazine!

This Thai mentality reflects on this Tseunami memorial thing.

Edited December 27, 2005 by stevesuphan

[Tippaporn]

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Feel free to make up your own mind, chownah, express it as impassioned as you like, and you'll do so whether or not anyone else agrees.  I, for one, will spare you my judgement (like you really care, right?).  

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thank you so much for allowing me to make up my own mind on this issue.....and thank you for allowing me to express it with passion whether anyone else agrees. And please do not spare me your judgement. Your opinions means so much to me...why almost everyone here on TV could benefit from the judgements of an erudite person such as yourself.

Sincerely?

Chownah

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm not trying to rub anyone the wrong way, Chownah, and I didn't intend the above reference to you to be sarcastic or belittling at all. My apologies if it came off that way. What was meant by the above was that if we disagree, well, fine. And that I won't judge people who disagree with me through any form of derision, such as personal character attacks or a portrayal of an individual as being "wrong" in any way. It's not my cup of tea.

Erudite person? Hardly!

Edited December 28, 2005 by Tippaporn

[Tippaporn]

There is a huge cultural difference and comprehension of death between us caucasians brought up in a Christian world and Thais in their Buddhist.

While we have been brought up to mourn death and see it as a ghastly happening the Thais have been conditioned through their Buddhist belief that all is impermanent and that we all must move on.

Here is a great example - go to a funeral in the west and its a morbid affair.

Go to a funeral in Thailand and after a small ceremony, a fine party of food, karaoke, whiskey and playing cards. Funeral parties in Thailand almost seem like a celebration of some kind!! Lotsa fun!!

Thais just love pics of dead bodies! Pick up any copy of the Thai Raj newspaper or 191 magazine!

This Thai mentality reflects on this Tseunami memorial thing.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Excellent points, stevesuphan! I've been to a few Thai funerals myself and, yes, they differed from the west. I think the west would do well to understand death in a different, truer light. It's not the end all but a new beginning. With proper understanding the morbidity would be completely released and the idea of celebrating it instead would not seem like heretical concept. It does now, though!