For Better Things Next Year
To my friends and the world,
I won't say have a Happy New Year this year, as I just don't feel it's appropriate this year with the scale of the tragedy and devastation that has hit us all. This is a tragedy that has hit everyone from the poorest people to the 21-year-old Prince Khun Poom, grandson of the His Majesty the King. It doesn't matter who you are - we are all in this together. For the past few days everyone has been trying to contribute every little way I can. My family and I have been buying necessary stuffs and donating them to various organizations in Thailand. I will also go give my blood donation. I've also volunteered to help as translators, but they already have enough translators for English, French and Japanese. The translators they are currently in need of most are Scandinavian languages. In Thailand, the number of deaths for foreigners is 60% and Thais 40%, which stands currently at a total of over 4,500 deaths and another 6,900 still missing. Nowhere in any other countries is the number of foreigners as high. This is because the areas hit were the prime holiday spots during the peak holiday seasons with all hotel rooms fully booked.
There is currently a need for blood donation of the the rare RH Negative type, which most foreigners (Westerners) have and Thais do not. If anyone has foreign friends in Thailand who has this blood group, please tell them to go make their blood donation to the Red Cross Society if they can.
On a more grim note, if anyone worries about the fate of their friends and relatives who are still missing in Thailand and wants to check for the dead and injured, they can click on the following website for information and details here. Please pass this information on to anyone who might find it useful. (Warning: The site contain horrific pictures.)
Finally, I would like to send my best wishes to all my friends and the rest of the world. I sincerely hope that 2005 will be a much better year. But a tragedy such as this has seen people in the West and the East, the rich and the poor, the young and the old, all uniting and doing their part to help and you feel that there is hope in the world after all.
My thoughts & prayers to all of you. May 2005 be a year of peace, success and opportunities.
~Ra
I won't say have a Happy New Year this year, as I just don't feel it's appropriate this year with the scale of the tragedy and devastation that has hit us all. This is a tragedy that has hit everyone from the poorest people to the 21-year-old Prince Khun Poom, grandson of the His Majesty the King. It doesn't matter who you are - we are all in this together. For the past few days everyone has been trying to contribute every little way I can. My family and I have been buying necessary stuffs and donating them to various organizations in Thailand. I will also go give my blood donation. I've also volunteered to help as translators, but they already have enough translators for English, French and Japanese. The translators they are currently in need of most are Scandinavian languages. In Thailand, the number of deaths for foreigners is 60% and Thais 40%, which stands currently at a total of over 4,500 deaths and another 6,900 still missing. Nowhere in any other countries is the number of foreigners as high. This is because the areas hit were the prime holiday spots during the peak holiday seasons with all hotel rooms fully booked.
There is currently a need for blood donation of the the rare RH Negative type, which most foreigners (Westerners) have and Thais do not. If anyone has foreign friends in Thailand who has this blood group, please tell them to go make their blood donation to the Red Cross Society if they can.
On a more grim note, if anyone worries about the fate of their friends and relatives who are still missing in Thailand and wants to check for the dead and injured, they can click on the following website for information and details here. Please pass this information on to anyone who might find it useful. (Warning: The site contain horrific pictures.)
Finally, I would like to send my best wishes to all my friends and the rest of the world. I sincerely hope that 2005 will be a much better year. But a tragedy such as this has seen people in the West and the East, the rich and the poor, the young and the old, all uniting and doing their part to help and you feel that there is hope in the world after all.
My thoughts & prayers to all of you. May 2005 be a year of peace, success and opportunities.
~Ra