In some areas they are starting to use elephants for heavy lifting. She has not seen it personally but it has made the news. I assume yahoo probably has some pictures of it.
The Thai Prime Minister came down to visit yesterday and did a good job of pissing everyone off. Radio use by the relief crews was forbidden so everything had to stop while he was there.
Because of another thread on FR, I asked her about UN efforts. So far, she has not seen anything with a UN logo on it. Since they are really good at branding anything they are even remotely involved with, it is a good sign they are not there.
The various groups I mentioned before are all still there as well as quite a few foreign 'tourists' who have joined in the efforts. The 'tourists' helping out are from all over but she specifically mentioned some Americans that are there helping. :)
There are rumors going around of some US ships off the coast helping out with things now. She hasn't been paying much attention to the local news so doesn't know more about it.
Things continue to stabilize. A lot of the volunteers who were helping out have left because they need to go back to work. This is creating more work for everyone but is also a benefit since only the more hardcore people are left. A lot of the petty bickering has stopped since those asserting themselves have gone back to their day jobs.
There are still a lot of volunteers as well as foreigners helping out. Things are not as hectic now and they are starting to get more into logistics of how they are going to proceed with things.
There have been a lot of posts about animals not being killed. My friend said there have been a number of dead pigs, snakes and other animals. There have also been a lot of sharks, fish, and dolphins that washed up on shore. A group of people a few days ago were trying to rescue two dolphins that got washed up into a 'pond'.
A lack of manpower is a big problem. A number of the large resorts were barely damaged but the staff who worked there were killed. They don't have the people they need to clean up and re-open.
Finding bodies now is becoming a bigger problem. The stench is gone (they are past that point of decomposition?) so it is making locating them very difficult.
My friend will be back in Bangkok on thursday to take a break. Once she has Internet access again, I will link to some of the pictures she has taken.