The tsunami and Thailand

I have relatives living in a few foreign countries around the world; one of those countries is Thailand. After a phone call from a sister living in Toronto, I called the Department of External Affairs to register my nephew, Mike, as missing in Thailand. Needless to say, there was much concern as he has an apartment in Thailand that overlooks the ocean and contact could not be made with him.

Late today, one of his sisters contacted the D.E.A. to report that Mike had been located in India; he had taken a flight out of Thailand immediately before the tsunami struck. That news was a great relief to his anxious relatives.

After his trip to India, he will return to his apartment in Thailand, where he will have a view of the destruction. He will then certainly have a good appreciation of the problems of the people and the reconstruction that must take place.

Today I reviewed the Thailand government’s web site, Search Victims in Thailand. The following information was available. The data is constantly changing.

Number of victims for the 7 countries with more than 100 victims:

Sweden 794
Germany 622
Norway 221
Finland 146
France 132
Denmark 114
Netherlands 104

You will note that most of the victims come from the Nordic countries of Europe and from Germany and France. Most of the victims listed had been injured; a very low percentage of the victims had died or were still missing. Much of the news to date has related to deaths and missing individuals. In the future we will hear more about those individuals who have been injured and have required medical attention.