Some light relief from flood news

by **JimboPSM** » November 29, 2011, 5:39 pm

As a news junkie I like to think of myself as being reasonably informed, every time I’m dumb enough to think that, I discover some news that I failed to pick up on.

Here is one such item that I think most of us probably missed :shock:

9 Nov 2011

BANGNA – The massive flooding crisis in central Thailand came to an abrupt end when all flood-related problems were solved virtually overnight by the opening of a new IKEA branch in the Bangkok suburb of Bangna.

The long-anticipated home furnishings and accessories store proved to be a surprisingly well-stocked source of everything that was in short supply in flood-ravaged provinces, including an apparently endless supply of “DRYCK” drinking water, “RIS” rice in 20-kilo bags, and small, navigable boats made of MDF and easily assembled using just a hex-key tool and the provided, easy-to-read instructions.

“The government promised me a boat but never delivered,” said Maneewat Poravitboonsern, a shop owner from Nakhon Sawan whose house has been flooded since early October. “But after I took the free shuttle to IKEA, I found a boat on sale there. It works great,” he added, referring to the “VATTERNOSK” 3-man boat he bought for only Bt999.

In addition to an estimated 30,000 boats sold in its opening weekend, IKEA has also sold 240,000 “HJALPME” relief kits, which contain a self-winding LED flashlight, 10 tea candles, a tin of low-sugar organic biscuits, and a pack of dehydrated Swedish meatball powder. Many of the packs were purchased in bulk by various relief agencies which grew tired of waiting for supplies through normal sources......

Full article: http://notthenation.com/2011/11/ikea-so ... -problems/

by **Dr. James** » November 29, 2011, 6:32 pm

Isn't it amazing how the private sector can step in and provide where the government struggles to figure out what to do. Someone ought to recommend hiring IKEA as a consultant to the proper government authorities on how to accomplish supplies and logistics. Only problem will be with dealing with "special fees" that are always tacked on.

by **trubrit** » November 29, 2011, 6:55 pm

Sheer opportunity ism, they will do well in the Thai marketing environment . :roll:

by **jackspratt** » November 29, 2011, 8:39 pm

Jimbo I have learned from previous experience that on UM, "news" from "Notthenation" needs to be clearly marked with appropriate disclaimers.

by **JimboPSM** » November 29, 2011, 10:32 pm

jackspratt wrote:Jimbo I have learned from previous experience that on UM, "news" from "Notthenation" needs to be clearly marked with appropriate disclaimers.

I thought this NNT “report” was one of their better and, at first sight, more believable ones as it draws on some popular western (mis?)perceptions of both IKEA and Thailand and was hence worth sharing.

There was an initial clue in the thread title “Some light relief from flood news” and further clues in prefacing the report with :shock:

and using

as a suffix.

I did think about changing the date to “April 1” but rejected it as being too much of a giveaway, however clicking on the link and going to the full article does give the game away.

I’ve been caught out by NNT reports on a few occasions mainly, I think, because I try to speed read and in so doing often fail to recognise the salient and nuanced elements that should have given me a clue.

It both amuses and annoys me when I get caught out, but it does remind me that when I try to scan through articles too quickly I will almost certainly miss a few details.

Some light relief from flood news