Posted on 12/29/2004 1:00:53 PM PST by Charles Henrickson
STOCKHOLM (AFP) - With more than 1,000 Swedish tourists in Thailand still unaccounted for, Sweden looked likely to be the Western country hardest-hit by the giant tidal waves which struck Asia's coastlines.
"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 on Wednesday.
Calling the tidal waves "a huge tragedy" Persson said the number of Swedish victims was "very high", but offered no figures beyond the six Swedish fatalities which had been positively identified since Tuesday.
"What we need now is national unity," Persson said.
Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds spoke of a "national trauma" for her country.
In Phuket, Thailand, where she touched down on Wednesday, Freivalds said more than 1,000 Swedes were still missing.
"Many of them, I fear, we will not find," she was quoted as saying by the TT news agency.
Freivalds compared the trauma for Swedes with the 1994 sinking of the Estonia car ferry, Europe's worst post-war maritime disaster, which occurred during a crossing from Tallinn to Stockholm and was survived by only 137 of the 989 on board.
"You won't find many people in Sweden who don't have some personal link to this tragedy," Freivalds said.
When the waves struck, some 20,000 to 30,000 Swedes were believed to be holidaying in the disaster areas, of whom up to 10,000 could have been travelling independently of any tour operator, officials said.
Some 80,000 Swedes visited Phuket in 2003.
The Thai authorities said that Western tourists had borne the brunt of the tidal wave disaster, especially northern Europeans.
"For the tourists the hardest-hit group was northern Europe, especially Scandinavia," Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told reporters.
Norway was still without news of 446 of its citizens in Thailand, the government said Wednesday.
A further 930 Norwegians were believed to have been in the region at the time of the disaster, but their exact whereabouts were not known, Foreign Minister Jan Petersen told a news conference.
The official casualty toll was still 13 Norwegians dead, and between 20 and 40 injured.
Norway was to dispatch a second aircraft equipped with medical facilities on Thursday to Thailand after a first such plane took off Wednesday.
As families across Scandinavia endured the painful wait for news from their loved ones, the Swedish government announced efforts to repatriate its citizens from Thailand.
"The most important thing is now to get all Swedes home," Freivalds said.
This included those in hospital. "They are clearly well taken care of, but we are putting strain on the health services here in Thailand which does not have enough resources for its own population," she said.
Swedish tour operator Fritidsresor said Wednesday that simply evacuating people from Phuket was "no longer enough".
"There is a crying need for ambulance transport for people with open wounds and those who are in a state of shock," Managing Director Johan Lundgren said.
Fritidsresor spokeswoman Lottie Knutson said the Thai authorities sent many tourists from evacuated areas straight to Phuket airport, although they were in urgent need of medical attention.
"There are thousands of tourists with open wounds, bleeding and in a state of shock at the airport," she said. "There are no doctors, no air conditioning. People are lying there in the heat and dying," she said.
At the request of the government, Scandinavian flagship carrier SAS said it will add 14 flights from Thailand to Scandinavian capitals to its regular schedule before the weekend, and hopes to repatriate 3,500 Swedes. The first two aircraft left Stockholm's international airport Arlanda on Wednesday.
Swedish mobile phone operators Telia, Tele2 and Vodafone all stopped charging for mobile phone calls to and from Southeast Asia for 48 hours to make it easier for survivors to get in touch with their families.
The three companies also sent SMS messages to all Swedish-registered phones in Thailand asking subscribers to make contact with their families or the Swedish embassy.
lol...Hey thats stereotyping! lol I'm from swedish ancestry and have blonde hair and stand 6-8". Yes, I happen to be from Minnesota but that is just stereotyping! How dare you
oofdah...
Actually, more Swedes (like my grandparents) settled in Chicago and northern Illinois than in Minnesota.
Thats why are states are so liberal cuz of scandinavian population. I'm an excpeption to the rule being a Republican swede, but still that has to make some sense.
"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."
Isn't that special? You've never been there, but you're sure all these tourists were there for the sex...uffda!
Did you look at the photos? Did you see who they're talking about? It's families. Phuket is a resort on the water. Families go there, just like we go to Cancun or Cabo san Lucas. The sex trade is elsewhere in Thailand, in areas not affected by this tsunami.
The trouble with jerking your knee is that you're likely to knee yourself in the face.
An unprecedented disaster... really sad.
"Actually, more Swedes (like my grandparents) settled in Chicago and northern Illinois than in Minnesota."
Yah, sure...you bet. It's the Norskies that headed for Minnesota...my wife's ancestors among them. Uffda!
"The sex trade is elsewhere in Thailand, in areas not affected by this tsunami."
Well, the sex trade is indeed pretty active in Phuket - although authorities have pushed it into some enclaves as to not put off the mainstream tourists too much. Overall, it's not too much of a bother, just occational unwanted(?) attention for males passing bars, etc.
"Well, the sex trade is indeed pretty active in Phuket - although authorities have pushed it into some enclaves as to not put off the mainstream tourists too much. Overall, it's not too much of a bother, just occational unwanted(?) attention for males passing bars, etc.
"
Thanks for the info. From the photos, though, it doesn't look like any of those folks were there for that purpose. This is the second thread I've read where someone was trying to tie the tsunami into the sex trade. You could do the same thing in some parts of New York or Chicago, too.
That photo breaks my heart. I hope that his parents and brother are found among the injured or displaced. If not, I pray he has family somewhere looking for him and that he is reunited with them.
Yes, and that was mistake! :-)
I'm a Swede who grew up in Chicago - but now live in Minnesota - where we have the Swedish-American institute in Minneapolis.
Can you add me to your 'ping' list?
Yea, like I said earlier, Phuket is simply one of the major tourist hubs of the world. The prostitution goes where the tourists go, just like the t-shirt stands. Nothing fishy there.
Must every thread concerning this disaster be about sex tourism? This thread is about Swedes, who are wonderful people, being particularly hard-hit by this tragedy. Show some damn respect!
spot on! It's definitely a follow the 'money' industry - to the furthest corners of the earth.
Yes, I'll be glad to add you to our growing-rapidly-today Swedish Ping List.
thanks
oof dah back at ya. do you look like Dulf Lundgren?
I grew up in a nearly all-Swede/Norske town in MN. I'm not the least bit of either, but did learn a little Svenska
from friend's parents. (mostly from them cussing at him in
native tongue)
Can't see how they can eat lutefisk. It's like Stretch Armstrong's innards soaked in lye.
Well, most of us don't eat Lutfisk ;) Still, it doesn't taste too bad - in fact it tastes virtually nothing. (Which is why I don't eat it...) Now, for culinary crimes against humanity, I doubt anything can beat Surströmming though...
It's terrible stuff. What is funny though is my last name is Svensk which native swedes find hilarious since it means "swede". To us it would be like a guy having a name like "Johnny American".
Don't sweat the flames.
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