I read today or yesterday that people in Taiwan have given over US$1 million to help the Thais with their flood.
I think the Thai government says it will cost maybe 100 billion baht (same-same NT$) to fix the flood damage.
I think Taiwan gave a lot more money to help the Japanese after their tsunami.
Maybe it is because Thai people have dark skin?
[quote=“sam_wong”]I read today or yesterday that people in Taiwan have given over US$1 million to help the Thais with their flood.
I think the Thai government says it will cost maybe 100 billion baht (same-same NT$) to fix the flood damage.
I think Taiwan gave a lot more money to help the Japanese after their tsunami.
Maybe it is because Thai people have dark skin?[/quote]
Maybe you need to give your head a shake. 
How about in 2004 when the tsunami hit Indonesia Thailand and India:
[quote]Taiwanese relief efforts continue in tsunami-hit areas in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and India, where Taipei’s representative offices said they are coordinating closely with host governments to make the most of emergency aid. Although the ROC does not have formal diplomatic ties with any of the affected nations, Taiwanese officials in Jakarta consulted with representatives to the Jan. 6 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Tsunami Disaster Summit, in which Taiwan was denied participation.
Despite the fact that Beijing has attempted to block Taipei’s involvement in the international humanitarian aid effort, the ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) expressed a willingness to join relief efforts led by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Taiwan is not a member of either of these organizations.
More necessities and resources like rice, food, tents, blankets, medicines and generators will be delivered to the neediest regions in Sri Lanka, where that country’s health department had made an urgent request to Taiwan for relief. Officers of the Public Construction Committee under the Executive Yuan have arrived in Thailand to discover that prefab houses are desperately needed to accommodate people who have lost their homes in the disaster.
Seventy-eight doctors and epidemic control personnel from the Department of Health and Environmental Protection Administration have so far been dispatched in four rescue teams to the tsunami-affected areas, while another 256 rescue workers from charitable organizations, including the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, World Vision Taiwan and Taiwan Root Medical Peace Corps, flew in to help with recovery efforts.
As of Jan. 11, MOFA had collected a total of US$20 million in cash donations, as well as an abundance of relief materials. The ROC government announced Jan. 2 it would give US$50 million in emergency relief funds to affected countries.
ROC Foreign Minister Chen Tan-sun called on ASEAN, as well as the entire international community, not to exclude Taiwan and its relief efforts just because of political interference. Chen said it is not only the nation’s obligation, but its right, to participate in the global humanitarian effort.
The massive tsunami was triggered when the world’s most powerful earthquake in over four decades struck a point deep under the Indian Ocean Dec. 26. The resulting series of tidal waves destroyed villages and seaside resorts in 11 countries and has claimed the lives of nearly 150,000 people.[/quote]
Maybe people are just wiped out of donation funds.
Maybe Taiwan goverment gave a lot of money for 2004 Tsunami is because all Western countries give a lot of money and it doesnt want that people think Taiwan is Cheap Charlie country.
Missus Huang’s my favourite volunteer. She spent the lil’ Thai princess’s mid-term break setting up, running and bringing in supplies to a communal kitchen to feed the old folks out near Don Muang who refused to leave their homes, and spent her off hours with the army filling sandbags! Bless you, pet!
Meanwhile the aid flow is doing her head in, because it appears much of it is being siphoned off by the usual cronies. China donated a wallop of materials and cash, but then they import 25% of Thailand’s rice crop. Taiwan’s played the right neighbourly game with a generous donation, all things being considered.
HG
Yeah, that’s the reason.
[quote=“Huang Guang Chen”]Missus Huang’s my favourite volunteer. She spent the lil’ Thai princess’s mid-term break setting up, running and bringing in supplies to a communal kitchen to feed the old folks out near Don Muang who refused to leave their homes, and spent her off hours with the army filling sandbags! Bless you, pet!
Meanwhile the aid flow is doing her head in, because it appears much of it is being siphoned off by the usual cronies. China donated a wallop of materials and cash, but then they import 25% of Thailand’s rice crop. Taiwan’s played the right neighbourly game with a generous donation, all things being considered.
HG[/quote]
Huang, any good sources for getting a clear picture of what’s going on? It just seems this is a major disaster but with so much else going on in the world it is not getting the coverage it deserves.
I’m ashamed to say I really don’t have a good one off source, although New Mandala is worth scrolling through. I would be hesitant about accessing some of the comments on that website while in Thailand without a proxy.
asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/
My lazy take is that the situation is improving. The water should be gone in around 11 days. There’s been no more serious rains, and it’s simply a case of letting the flood plains ooze their muck. There is anger in some Bangkok suburbs as flood gates protect some areas while draining through others, but the whole flood system is loaded. It has been the King’s lifetime project, for example, to control this natural flood plain. Overall, Thais that are being flooded are, dare I say it? sort of used to it, and there’s money about for compensation, etc.
I certainly wouldn’t put off travel there if I was staying somewhere dry. Silom, for example.
HG
Taiwan cannot give that much openly because of interference from you-know-who. Most assitance is carried out quietly by private charity organizations, which have been on teh ground since the flood began and have already given assitance on the ground. Several fund raisers have taken place from communities to schools to universities, and this assitance has already been sent. Read local news, not just in English.
Absolutely! The Taiwan Tzu Chi Foundation, for example, were quick to deliver bottled water, which has become extremely scarce. They asked what was immediately needed and the reply was that the Thai army and volunteers were running out of potable water, so they trucked up bottled water from Malaysia.
Here’s the Thai chapter handing out lunch boxes to those in need in Thailand.
The Tzu Chi are currently also assisting those in need after the earthquake in Turkey. I was suprised to see the familiar blue outfits handing out food to the homeless near Sydney’s Central Station many years ago. Something they do quite regularly. They’re bloody everywhere, I tell ya!
Taiwan up!
HG