Message boards have been set up like this one in Phuket for those of you looking for missing relatives and friends.
Here is a list of message boards set up by the BBC for families and friends.
CNN has also set up a Tsunami appeal site for relatives.
The Tsunami Blog has an extensive section with links, hospital sites and phone numbers for people looking for loved ones.
Canadian embassy officials in Thailand do not know the number of Canadians missing. The Thai government has said 13 Canadians are dead, but five days after the earthquake and tsunami, it is difficult to know. Two Canadians have been confirmed as dead in Thailand. One deceased Canadian has been confirmed in Sri Lanka. The Canadian ambassador in Thailand says they have been focused on helping the known survivors.
He was speaking at the Canadian Embassy office at the emergency response centre established by the Thai authorities at the Phuket province offices here.
The centre offers survivors food, clothing, free telephone calls to relatives, Internet access and a speeded-up and pared-down immigration process so they can leave Thailand with temporary documents to replace lost passports and visas.
Thai Airlines is providing five free flights a day to ferry survivors to Bangkok and the Australian national carrier, Qantas, is also providing free flights home for its nationals.
“My sense is we have probably dealt with the bulk of Canadians who need help, perhaps 60 or 70 per cent of them,” Comeau said. “There are going to be others still coming in from more isolated resorts in the next few days, but our efforts now are going to focus on those unaccounted for.”
Ambassador Denis Comeau is asking relatives not to come to search in the 11 countries that were devestated by the tsunami.
The Thais have started taking DNA samples and there will be a data bank, but we are talking weeks or months before many identifications will be made.
“It’s a long process and it’s going to be very painful for people. You don’t get closure. You are always wondering.”
But Comeau strongly urged relatives and friends of the missing not to come to Thailand.
“As painful as it may be for people to deal with the unanswered question, there really is absolutely nothing that people can do by coming here,” he said.
“If anything, it’s going to hamper recovery efforts as you can expect concerned relatives are going to draw on our or Thai resources that should be applied to helping those hurt or so forth.”
CTV has a page set up of who to contact and what information to give.
51 Canadians have been listed as missing by relatives.
The department of Foreign Affairs emergency contact information is here.
Sri Lanka has set up a website with tsuami information and links
More Southeast Asian blogs
Malaysia – Pentang
Maldives
WorldChanging – International
Sumankumar’s yak pad – India
I see – Thailand
Boing Boing has an ongoing list of various blogs and bloggers – text, video – eye witness accounts…
I’ve appreciated your thorough blogging on the tsunamis. Good work!
Thanks Mark. I think writing the White House was quite brave of you. Blog on!
Individuals, firms or agencies seeking missing persons in Myanmar/Burma can contact me to relay their information to our staff on the ground in Myanmar/Burma for assistance.
International telephone calls are nearly impossible to Yangon, much less outlying cities.
Our staff are in the effected areas as well as the major cities of the country. They report that they escaped the devastation visited upon their neighbor countries — yet, for those within about 2-5 miles of the coastline along the Southern seashore — there is total devastation and perhaps the ultimate death toll will be a couple hundred.
The effected area is of course a prime tourism spot and many are trying to learn the whereabouts and condition of family and friends they believe to be in the country or area.
I will forward all missing persons inquiries to our staff for their attention. Please understand that like all agencies — right now you cannot have enough staff to meet the demands. Be patient and pray.
Provide as much information about the person(s) as you can — name, DOB, gender, last contact, itinerary (guess if you don’t know positively), hotel or housing info, any phone, flight numbers, dates, last contacts — ANYTHING and EVERYTHING you can think of that would assist in placing their location and assist us in trying to find them.
Charles R. Thiemann, Assistant to The Director
The Center for Diplomatic Missions
Washington, DC
New York, NY
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Please — no phone calls. Email and attachments only.
Does anyone know of a site which has a list of some sort of the missing or found/dead Australians in the Phucket area from the Tsuami?
If so please email me the site. Thank you.
Here are some links that may be of some assistance.
http://www.p-h-u-k-e-t.com/forum/index.php?s=745610cd62599f744827bc2c5908b186&act=idx
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/4130407.stm
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/12/28/email.appeals/index.html
http://tsunamimissing.blogspot.com/
Consular Emergency Centre in Canberra on 1800 002 214.
I suggest you also look at Tim Blair’s blog from Australia if this has not been helpful.
http://timblair.net/weblog.php