Posted on 01/03/2005 11:00:52 AM PST by tbird5
As many as 5,000 Americans are still unaccounted for a week after the world's deadliest tsunami pounded a dozen countries across the Indian Ocean, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said.
Powell told reporters aboard his plane en route to Bangkok that the confirmed toll of Americans still stood at 15 with a defense department worker listed as missing.
"The number of private citizens or citizens unaccounted for still lingers around 4-5,000," he said, adding the figure was based on phone calls from relatives or friends inquiring about their whereabouts.
Powell said this did not mean they were necessarily casualties in the catastrophe.
But he added: "We can't ignore the very distinct possibility that there are Americans within this number who have lost their lives. We just don't know that."
Well, I don't know if this happens in the US (I'd be suprised in a way) but over in the UK many teenagers spend their year between finishing school and starting university exploring other countries. Thailand's a particularly popular destination- certainly three or four of my friends went there amongst other places.
Young people travelling alone and staying in youth hostels would be exactly the sorts of people who could go 'missing' rather easily- every year we have instances of British backpackers wandering into the jungle/Australian outback and disappearing. Just a thought.
As I said to ken5050, I suppose it's cool when American sailors get killed because so many of them directly or indirectly support the "sex trade" or 'self-exploitation' by females in different ports around the world.
I am well aware..sickening.
I know a missing American, presumed dead, who was vacationing in Thailand with her husband; my own daughter had originally planned to go to Phuket for Christmas; most tourists were just that: tourists who wanted to enjoy a holiday in 'paradise' that turned into hell. But the pedophiles were there, too. This may not be the time for this topic, but facts are facts: thousands go to Thailand every year for exactly that purpose. The pedophiles go there from Germany, from all the Scandinavian countries, from the US, the UK, and elsewhere. Sorry state of affairs.
5,000 ?? .... WOW
I always associated Thailand with adult prostitution. Perhaps the stories I've read don't delve into this other aspect but that's the way I'd always seen it portrayed.
In any event, they have similar problems in other countries. But it doesn't mean every or even more than 1 percent of Americans there are pedophiles.
I think the article is hyping a comment that may or may not prove to be true at this stage..... People with family/friends, etc over in the region apparently calling our agencies looking for info since they haven't heard from them. Thus the number but nothing to confirm death. ..from the article.
.....
"The number of private citizens or citizens unaccounted for still lingers around 4-5,000," he said, adding the figure was based on phone calls from relatives or friends inquiring about their whereabouts.
Powell said this did not mean they were necessarily casualties in the catastrophe.
But he added: "We can't ignore the very distinct possibility that there are Americans within this number who have lost their lives. We just don't know that."
....
FYI: Lots of child prostitution in Thailand as well as other nations in Asia and around the world.
That said, we cannot assume that the US tourists who are lost were there for this reason. I would support these nations coming down strong on this horrible situation just as the US has done in the past few years however.
I thought the fact that Thailand is known for prostition of all kinds was common knowledge.
I was responding to someone who apparently was unaware.
>>Families and legit tourists also go there.<<
But the question is WHY? Forget the tsunami, what in the heck is the allure down there that isn't present in other tropical environments, like Hawaii or the Virgin Islands?
I understand the see the world, bit, but I've never had any desire to vacation in Sri Lanka. I bet many, if not most, Americans didn't even think it was possible to vacation there (i.e., stretching the definition of vacation as much as possible).
Why? The people are wonderfully friendly and kind, the food is brilliant, and the area is certainly more unspoilt then what I remember of Hawaii. There is also plenty of cultural stuff, elephant rides etc. Northern Thailand is even nicer then the South IMO.
I'd pick Thaliand over Hawaii any day.
The last number I'd heard was about 2,000; this came as a surprise.
I didn't see the post that was deleted so I wasn't defending it.
It is interesting, as stated in a later post, that if upwards of 5,000 Americans were missing you would expect to hear more about it - and their relatives waiting at home - in the media. It was news to me that there might be that many Americans missing. Why hasn't the media reported this sooner?
No he was posting the same crap just this morning.
I saw him. What a pig.
Your argument just doesn't hold water. By your reasoning, everyone who goes to Colombia is buying cocaine, everyone who goes to the Netherlands is smoking dope, and everyone who goes to Mexico is taking Laetril. It just isn't so.
could have something to do with exotica, but as likely is $$$$ .. you can get a lovely room at a S.E. Asian resort for well under $20/night .. try THAT in HI !!!! Also, meals for under $5. If you're traveling with a family of 4, that ads up fast, and the airfares can be comparable.
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