Did people really take advantage of this situation to build new hotels in place of villiages? If so, are there any REAL news articles? That $hit is just mind-blowing how greedy people are.
shareI'm sure at the time I can remember reading things like that - they wouldn't have made it up.
Yep business is greedy - they exist to make money. The Thai Governemnt wanted the tourist industry to be up and running as soon as possible, as the countries economy depended on it.
You're just realizing that corporate leaders do immoral things??
share@a-j-lucero: "Did people really take advantage of this situation to build new hotels in place of villiages? If so, are there any REAL news articles?"
"I came to the village the day after the tsunami to look for my children but the guards had already put a fence up. I begged them to let me in but they said it was their land and they would be building a hotel. They held their guns and said that if I didn't go, I would join those who died in the tsunami. We have lost our families, now we are having our homes stolen too."
-- Daeng, Laem Pom Village, Thailand
Excerpt: Coastal villages hit by the Indian Ocean tsunami are being cleared under the guise of safety to make way for tourist development, according to a damning report by relief agencies.
Presented to the United Nations today, the report highlights discrimination, land grabbing and violence against tsunami survivors in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the Maldives and Indonesia.
It said governments in those countries "have stood by or been complicit as land has been grabbed and coastal communities pushed aside in favour of commercial interests".
Excerpt: One of the barriers to community development is a land grab that was already happening, but has been exacerbated by the tsunami. Many coastal villages, whose residents make a living from fishing and small tourism ventures, are situated on prime oceanfront real estate, much to the envy of multinational corporations. When the tsunami hit, the villagers moved to refugee camps inland. Signs went up on a number of sites in villages, declaring that resorts and upscale tourism businesses would be built there. The companies involved are sometimes connected to the government, with shareholders who also hold public office. Many villagers don’t have title documents to the land their families have lived on for generations.share
The Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR), quotes a senator touring the area, who said, "The developers have tried before to chase people away. Now the tsunami has done the job for them."