Tsunami relief

First of all, I would like to thank everyone who emailed to inquire about me and my family in Thailand. Thank you so much for your concerns. I am not in Thailand at the moment, I had a last minute change of plan and cancelled my trip, so I am safe and sound at home in San Francisco. My family is fine as well, they are on holiday in a different part of the country, fortunately.

Sadly, many other people are not so fortunate. The scale of devastation caused by the tsunami is almost incomprehensible. There are at least 12,000 deaths, and many more are injured or still missing. A frequently updated list of casualties in Phuket and nearby area could be found here.

The Thai government has set up emergency numbers for anyone looking for missing relatives, the phone numbers are +66 76 214492 or +66 1 643 2755. These are supposed to be English language hotlines, but if you had trouble communicating with them in English, please leave a comment for me here in this post (or email me) with your phone number, I will be more than happy to make the call for you. Please don't hesitate, I am more than happy to help.

For those of you looking for a way to help, a fantastic blog has been set up to coordinate help and information in all the affected areas, you could find the blog here: Tsunami Help Blog.

You could also send help to organizations in Thailand, more information on that could be found here.

My favorite organization, Doctors without Borders or Médecins Sans Frontières(MSF), has already dispatched medical teams to help in all the affected areas. Chez Pim has a long standing campaign to raise money to support MSF, and you could add your donation to that campaign by clicking on the Spare Us a Grain of Rice banner to the left. That link was set up specifically for micro-donations, so even if you could only spare a few dollors, please do not hesitate to do it anyway. Every dollar or euro counts in times like this.

If you'd like to contact your embassy to report your friends or relatives who are still unaccounted for, the telephone numbers for embassies in Bangkok are as follow:

Australia +66 2 287 2680
Belgium +66 2 679 5454
Canada +66 2 636 0540
China +66 2 245 7032, +66 2 245 7033 or +662 245 7036
Denmark +66 2 213 2021, +66 2 213 2022, +66 2 213 2023, +66 2 213 2024, +66 2 213 2025 or +66 2 245 7036
Finland +66 2 256 9306, +66 2 256 9307, +66 2 256 9308, +66 2 256 9309
France +66 2 266 8250, +66 2 266 8251, +66 2 266 8252, +66 2 266 8253, +66 2 266 8254, +66 2 266 8255, +66 2 266 8256 or +662 266 0550, +662 266 0551, +662 266 0552, +662 266 0553
Germany +66 2 287 9000
Ireland +66 2 638 0303
Israel +66 2 260 4854, +66 2 260 4855, +66 2 260 4856, +66 2 260 4857, +66 2 260 4858, +66 2 260 4859

Portugal +66 22 34 21 23 +66 92 01 76 46 +66 70 83 88 65
Singapore +66 2 286 2111
Sweden +66 2 263 7200
UK +66 2 253 0191, +66 2 253 0192, +66 2 253 0193, +66 2 253 0194, +66 2 253 0195, +66 2 253 0196, +66 2 253 0197, +66 2 253 0198, +66 2 253 0199
USA +66 2 205 4000.

Comments

[mademoiselle a.]

The Department of Foreign Affairs in Germany has a special hotline for inquiries concerning information on relatives who were travelling in the catastrophe regions. German residents who are missing their relatives should call the following number [from within Germany]: 030 / 5000-1000

[Charlotte Freeman]

If, like me, you work for a big corporation, check to see if they'll match your donation. I work for Cisco, and they're matching dollar for dollar all employee donations ... while there are downsides to working for a global company, at times like this it makes clear how interconnected we all are. Glad to hear your people are okay Pim ... the devastation is just overwhelming.

[Mariko]

I'm glad to hear that you and your family are safe. Thanks for the information about how we can help!

[linee]

hi pim, glad your family is safe-it's just horrific the devastation. i wish we could be more helpful from so far away. i think it's best to send $$ as supplies are too costly to ship, and money buys supplies. alas-we're now home, so call us when things settle down. xo l, b & s

[bacon]

thanks for the link info... just donated to doctors without borders!