gotta give it to you Kev- You even find pictures of babes in public service announcements.

From the looks of the last pic, the camera was last AFTER the tsunami.

Paul writes;

From the looks of the last pic, the camera was last AFTER the tsunami.

F-wit card to you Paul. If you took the time to read the story instead of looking at the pictures, you would have read that the finder of the property took the pictures.

Hey- I was distracted. LOL

good catch

The stories are all heartbreaking...Some good ones yes but overall...
You look at the smiles of these two women and you wonder..will there be memories for them to share or will their families never know. It saddens me deeply.
thank you for keeping us grounded.

wow, thousands of people are coming up dead in asia and u want to return a fucking camera to its owners or family, wow ur retarded

Wow, what is wrong with attempting to return somone's displaced property? what are YOU doing about the tsunami?

Brad,

Just ignore those f-wits. That's how they get their kicks; knowing that they've annoyed you gives them pleasure.

Um...greg? If the camera is able to be returned to these people doesn't that mean they are ALIVE??? Isn't that a GOOD thing???

ur the dum one, dude.

Maybe I'm wrong, but this at least looks less than kosher. If your source is known, Kevin, my apologies. But I can't help mentioning a few points. First, two dates are distinguishable - 12-28-94 and 1-6-95. At 600x the date on the top photo is still not visible and a pixel examination at least leaves the door open for its having been modified to hide it. If the dates were added at a develppment house, it's unlikely they'd be so off.

Second - What kind of electronic date recording camera works "after the waters recede" from a flood the camera was presumably in?

Third - Assuming you found a camera under these circumstances - no body, no person - how likely would you be to pose so smilingly snapping away with it like it's just another day on vacation?

Maybe I'm wrong - but I hope you'll admit, these are at least some interesting questions.

Sorry about the statement regarding taking pics on vacation. I forgot the first two were supposed to have been taken before the storm. I still can't get past the date and working camera issues though.

Even if the camera was out of sync, not enough days have passed to go from 12/28 to 1/6.

Dan
It was obviously a camera belonging to a woman.
How many women do you know who can set the date on a digital camera. How many women do you know who can set a digital clock for that matter.

It is nice of you to publish this and we hope that owners find this site and make a claim.
It is always nice to know that someone survived.

Could have been a guys camera. Who is behind the camara? maybe a playa' taken his women on a vacation?

Hmmmm, tropical island , lots of women....

....Anyway, I hope it all turns out ok, must have been a good camera/bag to stay dry.

Ok I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed but, the only person that is in all 3 pictures is the woman on the left in the first 2. The other 2 women are not the same. This leads me to believe that the woman on the left was the owner of the camera along with possibly her husband taking the photos. Also seeming as she is also the person in the last photo (taken what seems to ba after the tsunami), this leaves me to believe that this is a hoax and not a real story. If I am wrong on the other hand.... I do hope the people pictured are still alive and well and everything turns out happy.

Meu coração está entristecido com esta tragédia, agradeço a Deus pelos sobreviventes por que são abençoados pois somente o poder Divino livra as almas do mal. Deus,cuida dessas famílias e protege os necessitados, consola nossos corações e provê as necessidades de cada um. Senhor te inclina a ouvir o clamor desse povo. Amém

In response to Ed's comment wayyyy near the top:

It said the finder of the camera took SOME pictures... not THESE pictures.

Hi, to whome ever presumed that a woman cannot program a digital camera date (or digital clock for that matter) I am the one in my house to figure out and use ALL the electronic equipment around here. My EX husband was the moronic idiot who was a useless pussbag when it came to anything electronic. All he could do was play retarded video games and that is about as usless as tits on a boar. So.... I kicked his arse to the curb while I kept all the awsome digital equipment for myself. And if you are lucky enough to have tricked some poor woman into being with you DAN2 I hope she gets wind of what you said and crushes your balls and leaves you behind while taking all your electronic equip for herself and her lesbian lover on vacation somewhere that you will never get to go. You suck dickweed. Furthermore, who gives a ripe f@ck about the date on the camera, perhaps when it got wet it reset itself? My son dropped my camera in our pool once and it still worked but the date and time were screwed up for a month after until we took it to be repaired. I just hope those chicks survived the second waves etc.

Ok for those who seem confused by this. A nice person found the camera. On the camera were the first two pics (probably the owner). The third pic was taken by the nice person who found the camera, after the tsunami.

Now let's all stay focused, hope the owner is OK and thank the nice person who took the time to try to give some comfort to others of this tragedy.

(Unbelievable; the number of moronic people who wrote in...).

Take care,

The Optimist

I see nothing to suggest a hoax. The top two pics are supposedly taken by the owner of the camera, the bottom pic supposedly taken by the finder of the camera. If the finder is in the US now, the bottom pic was probably taken on the 27th or 28th. That would make the middle picture taken around the 18th. The date imprinted on the top picture looks like it might say the 27th, meaning it would have been taken around the 17th.

The question of the camera working after it was found is a valid one, but there was nothing in the message to suggest the bag had been under water.

Other observations:

The top to pictures seem to be indeed from Phi Phi.

This kind of date imprint is only done by film cameras. So if the story is true, the film from the camera was developed/had digitized by the finder.

IMO, the women in the top two photos look Australian, and the woman in the bottom photo looks American.

Since the women had been there at least a week, they may have planned to return from their vacation on the Sunday of the tsunami, explaining why they may have been forced to abandon their non-under-water bag (and presumably other belongings).

My opinion is that it's most likely real.

Thanks for the amusing reading,I think you are doing a good thing. Good luck to all in SE Asia

To a capable woman, it sonds like you have been jilted badly and nedd a good hard pumping, and i would like to be the one givin it to ya.

Why does this remind me of the hoax where shortly after 9/11 someone found a camera in the rubble of the World Trade Center. When they developed the film they were shocked to find a picture of a man standing on the observation deck with an airplane approaching in the background.

With all that has happened I'm puzzled why someone would be putting in any effort to return a camera and a few personal effects to a tourist.

Someone mentioned a digital camera, I suspect it was a film camera, don't know of any digital cameras that put the date on the image. That info and much more are normally embedded in a meta tag in the file. The date on the first picture also appears to have been partially removed where as it's clearly visible in the other two.

Sorry Just don't buy it.

Such a horrible tragedy...yet I am highly entertained by all these hilarious posts you people put up! How boring the world would be without people advertising their stupidity to entertain us intelligent ones.

The first photo (with boat in background) was taken at Lodalum Bay.

People, the reason we put this up is so that if the people in the camera (god forbid) died in the Tsunami, their relatives can at least have SOMETHING to remember them by. God how morbid it is to write this, but it's true.

My DIGITAL CAMERA will imprint the date on the bottom right. It is a Minolta Dimage Z1. Although the imprint does look as though it is from a standard film camera. God bless everyone involved in this horrible tragedy.

"SOMETHING to remember them by." If god forbid they didn't survive I'm sure their relatives would have SOMETHING to remember them by, such as a lifetime of memories. I'm sure that their relatives would appreciate the pictures but you act like there would be NOTHING to remember them by without them.

I think thou are taking thy pictures to seriously.

Why is it such a bad thing to try to give relatives of people who are probably gone, some pictures of their last happy days.
Why do so many seem to have trouble with this?
Good job making the efforts - there is little that most of us can do other than donate money, and if you're not even doing that, then quit critcizing!

---->This is for "Dan2. He says, and I quote "How many women do you know who can set the date on a digital camera. How many women do you know who can set a digital clock for that matter."

I work for an extremely large (over 8,000) company and I am the e-mail administrator of all of them. That would be duel network of Microsoft Active Directory and Novell's GroupWise systems combined. So, DICKHEAD, not only do I do that, but I can go home to my 200 year old house -that I maintain and remodel, I am an excellent cook - very clean, and know how to maintain my car. I have great sex with my man, ride a crotch rocket and love animals. I've worked in IT for the last 15 years, but I really Really REALLY try to figure out how to set the date on my digital camera and clock. You freakin MORON... YOU.

The exercise appears to be a valid attempt to assist someone and whether or not such is actually a hoax seems harmless enough to me. It deserves no over-analysis IMHO.

I am present in this discussion only 'cause 12 of my last 100 readers came straight from this link. I musta been on the top of blogroll.

Everyone's passion is so entertaining. The main point; this camera could provide solice to loved ones of this tragedy so knock off the cynicism. I don't believe this is a single's hook up site either. Bless those who have lost someone.

Shawn has a point. In addition, I think I see a reflection of Oliver Stone in one pic. This is an obvious hoax.

I'm so saddened by how selfish this world is that our concerns seem to focus on accusations and judgements during such a severe and devestating tragedy. Thousands of people are dead. Thousands of poor babies and children are left homeless and without parents. Not a single person in SE Asia is not effected by this event, and yet somehow, not many people I speak to seem to feel effected at all. Make a donation, say a prayer, adopt a child, but MY GOD, please try to learn to focus on the real matter at hand...these poor people's lives are ruined, and you are accusing somebody who simply tried to place a camera with its correct owner of a scam. Who cares...who cares? Leave your accusations and do what you can to help, whatever it may be.

I am responsible for the posting of these young ladies photos. My friend found the camera on an upper floor of her hotel while looking for dry shoes and dry clothing. It was in a bag and it was a film camera. We had the film developed and put on a CD after it arrived in So. Florida. Put your suspicions to rest or perhaps imagine that these young ladies might be one of your loved ones.

New Year Wishes During Tsunami Crisis
It's a tragic time, this New Years Eve. People are still coming to terms with the disaster, while others are trying to get on with their lives.

Please consider the profound grief that humanity is experiencing at this moment and respect the endless sorrow of people who are mourning.

This is an invitation to keep a moderate tone to all celebrations tonight, and spend a minute in silence in commemoration around midnight.

Peace to all

This is to Janis.... YOU GO GIRL!!! I bet right now mr. Dan2 is about to crap his drawers because he can't handle the truth of him being the PERFECT Moron dude, and what's funny is he probably sits on his couch eating chips and watching the Jerry Springer show because he has no job and can't even figure out how to wind his watch (that doesn't need winding) hmmmmmmm! He just can't handle the truth that women, yes I said women can and are alot smarter that "MAN".
God speed to all those affected by this horrific
event.

Those chics are probably all dead. Just about everybody's dead over there.