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Sweden set to be Western nation worst-hit by tsunami disaster
AFP/Yahoo! News ^ | December 29, 2004

Posted on 12/29/2004 1:00:53 PM PST by Charles Henrickson

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'The catastrophe is probably the worst of our time and will impact
everyday Swedish life for a long time to come,' Prime Minister
Goeran Persson told a news conference.(AFP/Sven Nackstrand)

(I'll post more Sweden-related photos below. CH)

1 posted on 12/29/2004 1:00:53 PM PST by Charles Henrickson
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To: 1234; AndyPH; anguish; AzSteven; Bartholomew Roberts; Charles Henrickson; Damascusbound; duke_h3; ..

Ping to the Swedish Ping List.


2 posted on 12/29/2004 1:02:26 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Swedish Ping List)
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To: Charles Henrickson

Swedish Foreign Minister Laila Freivals (R) comforts an unidentifed Swedish national who survived the tidal wave incident in Phuket, southern Thailand during her visit to the Bangkok Phuket Hospital.(AFP/Roslan Rahman)

3 posted on 12/29/2004 1:04:12 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Swedish Ping List)
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To: Charles Henrickson

ping to Minnesota

oofda.


4 posted on 12/29/2004 1:04:29 PM PST by Rakkasan1 (Justice of the Piece: Hope IS on the way...)
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To: Rakkasan1

Claes Lindblom, evacuated from Phuket, Thailand, is welcomed by relatives, Dec. 29, 2004, upon his arrival at Landvetter airport, Goteborg, Sweden, after the devastating tsunamis and earthquakes that hit the Asian region. The death toll from the earthquake off Indonesia and tidal waves passed 80,000 today with with more than 1,000 Swedes still unaccounted for. (AP Photo / Bjorn Larsson Rosvall)

5 posted on 12/29/2004 1:05:23 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Swedish Ping List)
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To: Charles Henrickson
"What we need now is national unity," Persson said.

Huh? What does that have to do with anything? Sounds more appropriate for fending off barbarian hoards.

6 posted on 12/29/2004 1:08:43 PM PST by SolutionsOnly (but some people really NEED to be offended...)
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To: Charles Henrickson

The US has ships en route, but I heard that Sweden is truning down US/Australian offers of help.


7 posted on 12/29/2004 1:10:35 PM PST by SolutionsOnly (but some people really NEED to be offended...)
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To: Fitzcarraldo; cwiz24; dfwgator

Two-year-old Swedish boy Hannes Bergstroem, right, is reunited with his father Marko Karkkainen, in a Phuket hospital, Thailand, Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2004 in this image made from television. Hannes was found alone in the wasteland of a tsunami-hit resort island in Khao Lak, southern Thailand. (AP Photo/APTN)

8 posted on 12/29/2004 1:10:53 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Swedish Ping List)
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To: dob

Ping.


9 posted on 12/29/2004 1:12:02 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Swedish Ping List)
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To: Charles Henrickson

Swedish tourists wait for their flight at Phuket Airport, Thailand December 29, 2004.

10 posted on 12/29/2004 1:13:55 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Swedish Ping List)
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Swedish tourists, Rebecka (R) and Fredrika Kloth, wait for their flight at Phuket Airport, Thailand December 29, 2004.

11 posted on 12/29/2004 1:15:20 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Swedish Ping List)
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To: Charles Henrickson
Never been to Phuket, but I'm wondering what stones will be turned over by this tragedy. What I mean by that is the European sex tour traffic that has gone on for years with tours to, among other places, Thailand. I'm guessing that someone was figuratively, if not literally, caught with their pants down by this unlikely seismic occurrence.

The best example of a natural or man-made disaster overturning some interesting matters that I can think of was the crash of a Columbian airliner on Long Island back in the late 1980's. Due to the incompetence of the crew - the plane left Columbia with less fuel than had been assumed to be on board and while on final approach over Long Island the engines stalled for lack of fuel and the plane crashed in a residential area (landing on John McEnroe's father's property, if I recall correctly). There were a large number of survivors (since there was no fuel for a fire), and many were taken to area hospitals, where routine intake included an x-ray. Many of the injured passengers were found to be drug carrying "mules" - with intestines packed with condoms containing cocaine. The luggage that was burst open and strewn across the property  also contained a lot of illegal drugs fresh from Columbia.

I always thought of that as a great example of how an accident or natural disaster (plane crash, tsunami, whatever) can be a great cross-sectional view into something going on right under our noses (e.g., drug trade) which we manage to miss every day.

I realize I'm going to catch hell for suggesting this - but I'm really curious what will be discovered, in a similar fashion, as a by product of this disaster.

 

12 posted on 12/29/2004 1:16:54 PM PST by Wally_Kalbacken
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To: Wally_Kalbacken

Radovan Daric and Tony Eklund arrive at Arlanda airport in Stockholm, Sweden, with blankets over their shoulders. Daric and Eklund were in Kao Lak, Thailand, with their families, when the tsunami hit the Indian Ocean shores. Swedish Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds said that 1,500 Swedish visitors in Thailand were still unaccounted for, and the government feared that many of them were dead.(AFP/Pressensbild/Nils Petter)

13 posted on 12/29/2004 1:22:20 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Swedish Ping List)
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Injured Swedish tourist Gerdh Vall, whose husband and daughter were missing after the tidal wave hit Thailand, sits in shock while waiting for medical treatment at Phuket international hospital.

14 posted on 12/29/2004 1:24:06 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Swedish Ping List)
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Swede Carl Michael Bergman of Stockholm holds his son Hannes, 1 year old, while talking about his missing wife, Cecilia Bergman, Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2004 in Phuket, Thailand. Cecilia Bergman was missing after a massive tidal wave struck the beachside resort the couple was staying in north of Phuket, Thailand.

15 posted on 12/29/2004 1:26:58 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Swedish Ping List)
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Janette Strum from Sweden, weeps as her 16-year-old injured son, Matias, lies near her while they wait to be airlifted out of the Thai resort island of Phuket December 28, 2004. Strum's 13-year-old son, Jonathan, is still missing. . . .

16 posted on 12/29/2004 1:29:37 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Swedish Ping List)
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To: Wally_Kalbacken

Since you've never been there, why not spend your time and effort praying for the survivors and the families of those lost.


17 posted on 12/29/2004 1:31:03 PM PST by OldFriend (PRAY FOR MAJ. TAMMY DUCKWORTH)
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To: Charles Henrickson

Karl Nilsson of Lulo, Sweden, poses with a sign saying his parent and brothers are missing Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2004, in Phuket, Thailand. The young boys parents were swept out to sea Sunday, Dec. 26, 2004. . . .

18 posted on 12/29/2004 1:31:35 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Swedish Ping List)
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To: Wally_Kalbacken

As you can see from the photos the vast majority of the 20 - 40 000 Swedish tourists visiting Thailand are couples and families - often with small or smallish children, plus backpackers. It is true Thailand used to be known for sex tourism in Europe as well, but it has largely shed that reputation during the last ten years or so - it is now essentially the place Nordics go in order to escape winter. (Hence the large numbers of tourists) I suspect the rep is lagging behind a bit in the States, as you have the Caribbean to play around in.


19 posted on 12/29/2004 1:32:57 PM PST by dob
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To: Wally_Kalbacken
I always thought of that as a great example of how an accident or natural disaster (plane crash, tsunami, whatever) can be a great cross-sectional view into something going on right under our noses (e.g., drug trade) which we manage to miss every day.

Of course $10000 in cash representing a payoff to the Watergate burglars was found when a plane carrying E. Howard Hunt's wife crashed. But I think that usually people are more concerned with the tragic effects of a big disaster than on the few disquieting facts it may reveal. I spoke to someone from Thailand yesterday who knows someone who died in the tsunami. They were desperate for more news from their country. I'm betting the sex tourism impact will be a minor footnote to this entire story.

20 posted on 12/29/2004 1:40:58 PM PST by wideminded
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