Finnish diving website www.sukellus.fi became a central point of reference for Finnish nationals seeking news about missing friends and relatives. Once people found that divers and the diving community had a much better handle on the situation on the ground, the number of people visiting the website soared to almost 1 million.
While official government sources floundered, the divers - who had local knowledge and could speak the local language - were able to locate which hospitals people had been taken to, name those who had survived unscathed and accurately list those still missing. The diving website was updated as events occurred, 24 hours per day, and proved invaluable for Finnish nationals.
Information was researched, investigated and then texted by people from the Thai-New Zealand-Finnish Raya Divers operation using mobile phones. This was received and uploaded to the site in Finland by diver and former journalist Alex Nieminen.
The dive centre had the organisational ability and rescue skills to play a key role in the emergency, succeeding where more official sources of assistance were too slow to respond.
The Finnish experience in Thailand demonstrates clearly the benefit of an organised and committed diving community, which used the skills and contacts made within the sport for the benefit of all.
Relevant links
Finnish diving community website in Thailand
Pekka's Diving Place (Finnish diving website)
News Index Page
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