Oh Fucking Hell :(

[Scouse]

I've just had the best christmas present.

If you've been keeping abreast of the news you'll have noticed there's been an earthquake and resultant tidal wave which has wiped out fuckloads in South East Asia...

...where I'm due to go on holiday in 8 days...


...to the Maldives



I do feel terribly sorry for these people (especially the Maldivians who's main source of income in their £500million GDP heaven is tourism). But I am a tad fucked off that my £2000+ holiday, my first proper holiday since 2002, with my new(ish) girlfriend is going to be either a) Cancelled or b) Really shit.

If it's cancelled I reckon I won't see a penny of the cash back either because it's an Act of God isn't it??


To make matters worse - I haven't even bought my holiday insurance yet - was going to do that this week


Sukketh the balls, sukketh the planet. 2 grand down the pan and the joyous job of consoling the girlfriend, who's idea of paradise was where we're going

 

[old.user4556]

I was going to say "no bother, holiday insurance will sort that out"...


...until I read your whole post. I suspect it'll be ok, if you sort it out now and then claim in about a weeks time when you can say "the foreign office have advised not to travel after deliberation".

G

 

[DaGaffer]

I'm supposed to be flying to Bangkok on Tuesday and then on to...Phuket for New Year's Eve. shit shit shit.

 

[Furr]

Wow... when was the last time so many countries got hit by the same natural disaster

its all very sad

 

[mank!]

Yeah, how dare natural disaster and thousands of deaths ruin your holiday? The nerve of it!

 

[Jupitus]

Yeah, how dare natural disaster and thousands of deaths ruin your holiday? The nerve of it!

For once I agree with Mank....

 

[DaGaffer]

Yeah, how dare natural disaster and thousands of deaths ruin your holiday? The nerve of it!

Piss off you arsehole. I have a friend over there who I was worried sick about. She managed to call me this afternoon and sounded absolutely terrified. So don't get holier than though with me.

 

[Deebs]

I met and made a many great friends on the island of Koh Phi Phi at Hippies Bar.

My brother planned to be on the island for Xmas Eve but at the last minute decided to stay in the north and head down for New Years Eve, thank fuck for that decision being made.

Neither him or myself can get hold of any of our Thai friends on the island we now fear for them having seen this:

"On the island of Koh Phi Phi, made famous as the location for the 2000 film "The Beach", officials spoke of widespread damage and islanders and tourists being airlifted to safety.

One report from the island said 200 bungalows had been swept out the sea. "

The island is so small and I more than likely stayed in one of them.

My heart goes out to the people, they touched it, my thoughts are with them during this time.

 

[nath]

Piss off you arsehole. I have a friend over there who I was worried sick about. She managed to call me this afternoon and sounded absolutely terrified. So don't get holier than though with me.

I'm fairly sure he was being holier than Scouse, not you.

 

[Jupitus]

I'm fairly sure he was being holier than Scouse, not you.

I know that I was

 

[Scouse]

OMG. Of course I feel sorry for the thousands that lost their lives and the hundreds of thousands more that have lost their homes. There's not a chance that I (or anyone who wasn't/isn't there) can come to comprehend their loss.

Having said that - just because I've not lost a loved one it doesn't mean that I'm not actually allowed to be pissed off at my personal loss.

If I'm honest (which I tend to be) - I'm pretty fucked off that the thought of me being totally selfish even crossed Manc's and Jup's mind. How warped would I have to be to not have any sympathy? But what can I do?

I never rated this as a place where you have to tread on eggshells just in case people make moral judgements about you.


FFS. I've felt the need to edit my post twice just in case someone managed to read "****" into it.

 

[mank!]

My post was aimed at Scouse, not you DaGaffer so get off your high horse.

I just find it completely moronic that you're worried about missing out on a holiday because thousands of people died in a massive natural disaster. I was due to fly out to Madrid on the day of the terrorist bombings earlier this year, I didn't go out of respect to the people who lost their lives and their families, it would have been perfectly safe and whatever but it just felt wrong. We explained this to the airline, they were perfectly happy to give us the money back in credit to use for another flight later on in the year and so were the hotel. I'm sure whoever you're travelling with would be equally considerate but the way you wrote your post seemed entirely selfish to me, you wrote about half a sentence about earthquake/tidal wave then wrote twice as much about your "personal" loss.

Get over it, you can always go another time. The people who died and those who lost family/friends won't get over it so easily.

 

[adams901]

OMG. Of course I feel sorry for the thousands that lost their lives and the hundreds of thousands more that have lost their homes. There's not a chance that I (or anyone who wasn't/isn't there) can come to comprehend their loss.

Having said that - just because I've not lost a loved one it doesn't mean that I'm not actually allowed to be pissed off at my personal loss.

If I'm honest (which I tend to be) - I'm pretty fucked off that the thought of me being totally selfish even crossed Manc's and Jup's mind. How warped would I have to be to not have any sympathy? But what can I do?

I never rated this as a place where you have to tread on eggshells just in case people make moral judgements about you.

FFS. I've felt the need to edit my post twice just in case someone managed to read "****" into it.

what island you going to?, not all the islands were hit and some didnt suffer any effects at all.

 

[Jupitus]

OMG. etc....

FFS. I've felt the need to edit my post twice just in case someone managed to read "****" into it.

Sorry Scouse, I guess I was a bit opinionated and DaGaffer amplified that. I'm sure we're ALL sympathetic for those caught up in this disaster

 

[caLLous]

Phuket is lovely... really, really beautiful - and it's one of the closest parts of Thailand to the epicentre.

My cousin lives in Bangkok but I think it's too inland to have come to any serious harm. I'll be ringing him as soon as he gets back from work though. :\

 

[throdgrain]

20,000 people have died. Thats an incredible figure

 

[DaGaffer]

20,000 people have died. Thats an incredible figure

Puts 'The War On Terror' into perspective doesn't it. My friend has managed to get out of Phuket, by bus. It sounds like the Thai government is playing down things (obviously because of tourism fears) where other governments affected are being more straight. There's no power in many of the Phuket beach areas as we speak and lots of people are camped out by the side of roads waiting to get evacuated.

 

[Ukle]

And they haven't even got close to the area next to the epicentre to know how many died there, so expect that figure to go well past 30,000.

 

[Scouse]

Puts 'The War On Terror' into perspective doesn't it.

You know - I'm not so sure. I've heard figures close to 200,000 casualties being bandied around you know.

Obviously that doesn't even come close to the number of people who'll have been made homeless by this quake.

 

[Tom]

Its obviously the yanks testing their new super-secret space weapon of doom.

:/

 

[mank!]

Its obviously the yanks testing their new super-secret space weapon of doom.

:/

hilarious

 

[Gumbo]

Lighten up, it didn't happen to us!! </bodhi>

 

[TdC]

I have lived in several of the places hardest hit, and have been to most of them. Today in the news I saw a picture of a crying man in a facemask walking through rows of bodies in Banda Aceh, Sumatera. I grew up there. There are good odds that some of those bodies were my friends. A terrible event. My heart goes out to all those touched by it.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Saw somone else moaning on IRC about their ruined holiday, not showing any remorse for the 40,000+ dead.

OH NOES MY REPLACEABLE MONEIS MIGHT HAVE BEEN WASTED.

Rather cash than thousands of lives. You should be thanking your lucky stars it occured before you went out there, and take a thought for the people who's lives are now totally ruined for years because of this. Two grand is nothing.

If it were me, I'd still go provided the flights etc are still running. Maybe when you get there you'll realise the scale of the situation.

 

[DaGaffer]

Saw somone else moaning on IRC about their ruined holiday, not showing any remorse for the 40,000+ dead.

OH NOES MY REPLACEABLE MONEIS MIGHT HAVE BEEN WASTED.

Rather cash than thousands of lives. You should be thanking your lucky stars it occured before you went out there, and take a thought for the people who's lives are now totally ruined for years because of this. Two grand is nothing.

If it were me, I'd still go provided the flights etc are still running. Maybe when you get there you'll realise the scale of the situation.

I'm flying out to Bangkok tonight. I intended to carry on with my trip, but delay the Phuket bit until the end of next week (to give blood if nothing else; there's a big shortage of 'farang' blood types e.g. rhesus negative groups, apparently) but, the Thai government is now saying don't go to affected areas for about a month. I know a lot of people out with businesses etc. who even if they weren't hit, are looking at a pretty grim few months at least, which is why I had intended to try to get there eventually and do my bit for the economy if nothing else, but it think the advice from the Thai government is the right one if I'm honest, they don't need more tourists arriving right now.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Yes, and "tourists" won't go. I was talking about going on a eye-widening thing. If you're already planned and lined up to go I'd jump at the chance to see the circumstances and document them from my personal view.

 

[DaGaffer]

Yes, and "tourists" won't go. I was talking about going on a eye-widening thing. If you're already planned and lined up to go I'd jump at the chance to see the circumstances and document them from my personal view.

Know what you're saying, but I'd feel like one of those rubbernecking wankers at a traffic accident if I did that (I don't have any particular skills to help reconstruction). The Thais have asked tourists not to go, so I won't.

 

[Darthshearer]

My mates have just phoned up from Phuket, so glad there OK.

God Bless to those who aint as fortunate

 

[Munkey]

over 32,000 i've heard now. Bloody hell, was doing geography revision, reading about 730 people who were killed in the LA quake and the 6000 in the Kobe quake. Then you see this figure and it just seems all so...

 

[Jupitus]

On the news tonight they are estimating 60,000 + dead. Absolutely devastating