Free Republic

PHUKET, Thailand - While volunteers struggled to collect bodies washing up on the once-pristine beaches of this upscale resort isle, ghoulish tourists rolled out their towels yesterday, doffed their bikini tops and vacationed like nothing had happened. On Patong Beach and Kata Beach - where hundreds died or disappeared four days ago - the smell of suntan lotion wafted from the shore as a new influx of tourists determinedly ignored the carnage around them, frolicking in the surf or reading under umbrellas. An indignant Russian who arrived at the Novotel Phuket Resort on the day after the tsunami loudly complained...

Jakarta, Dec. 26. (AP): An earthquake measuring 8.5 on the Richter scale rocked large parts of Southeast Asia early today. The quake reportedly caused dozens of small buildings to collapse and triggered tidal waves in northwestern Indonesia, witnesses and officials said. Nine people were killed as a result of the undersea quake in Indonesia's northwestern province of Aceh, where most of the damage was reported, el-Shinta radio station quoted a witness as saying. It was not possible to immediately confirm the reports. Electricity and telephone networks in parts of the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, were knocked out and dozens of...