Tsunami:Not enough DARTs!

[The Enforcer!]

Come on Guys ... it isn't April 1st!

The Enforcer!

[admin]

No, it's all real! And a tidal wave in Phuket!

[ttaaee]

Strong Quake Hits SE Asia, Tsunami Kills Dozens (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=574&ncid=721&e=1&u=/nm/20041226/wl_nm/quake_dc)

By Arjuna Wickramasinghe

COLOMBO (Reuters) - A huge earthquake rocked Southeast Asia on Sunday, setting off tsunami tidal waves that killed more than 150 people in Sri Lanka, sent residents rushing to high ground in Indonesia and washed into the Indian city of Chennai and the Thai tourist island of Phuket.....

[ttaaee]

Click here for current earthquake activity in Asia (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Maps/region/Asia.html)

[ttaaee]

Click here for info of the quake (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqinthenews/2004/usslav/)

And also here (http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/bulletin/) for worldwide earthquake activity

[otherstuff1957]

I've been watching the BBC all day. Nothing but news about the Earthquake and Tsunamis. Curiously enough, there doesn't seem to be any coverage on the Thai language TV chanels! My wife keeps calling her friends to see if any of them have heard any news. Most of them don't even know that an earthquake took place! It's just amazing, 61 dead and 100 missing in Phuket and the Thai TV Channels are all showing game shows instead of news!

[admin]

Thai TV has had brief blurbs about the tidal waves during newsbreaks, but, as far as i observed, no preempting of regular programming. As quite a bit of Thai news follows the international wire services, often in-country media have local stories only after they appear internationally.

[Hitesh]

I was woken up this morning by the tremors. My condo was swaying a lot. The building was evacuated so I had to walk down 34 floors while the tremors died down.
I looked to the pool and the vibrations could clearly be seen in the water, it was definately scary.
I live next to Asoke so I went down the street and heard many fire alarms going off and quite a few people standing on the street too scared to go back in.

[Nekochan]

I kept switching between BBC and CNN. Thai TV just showed boxing, music stuff and silly game shows.

There was a short break every hour on ITV. It started with "we have a latest report".....

Very unprofessional.....everything seems to be in slow motion!!

Where is our dear leader when we need him most?

SIGH....

[Medic1669]

Live radio feed from Phuket's amatuer radio network which is the most effective form of communication during this emergency situation.

http://www.siamradio.net/radio.html

[bangyuk]

Sympathies to all of those affected. At what point did Thai TV wake up to the scale of the disaster? It says something about Thai TV that they would seem to rather continue to pour out advertising than provide news of the deaths of thousands in the region, let alone in Thailand itself.

Ian

[Big_Egg]

Sympathies indeed - I used to live and work at the Phuket Cabana Resort right on Patong beach. I can only guess from the BBC pictures that the place has been flattened. I know info is hard to come by at this stage but if anyone knows the latest with regards to the Hotel, I'd be grateful - cheers!

[The Enforcer!]

Originally posted by The Enforcer!
Come on Guys ... it isn't April 1st!

The Enforcer!
Having had a hard evening I missed the news of this until 3pm.

My condolances to anyone who has lost friends or relatives.

Pictures from Phuket showed at least two friends alive but I gather one lost his boat - I am not sure who was in the boat with him.

A sad Day.

The Enforcer!

[Wisarut]

So far, ONLY Modern 9, TV 11, and ITV have such kind of coverage on Andaman Disaster .... which KILLED old political veteran like Khun Borom Tanthian .... whic was planned to attain the funeral of Khun Rewut Jindaphon who died from Heart ttack a few days before disaster ....

[ncr]

Apart from all the countries already mentioned, one really has to wonder what happened in Burma...... zero information yet, as far as I know (well, we can imagine the reasons). But just look at a map, they have a very long coastline along the Andaman Sea and Gulf of Bengal, so the worst has to be expected here as well.

Also Bangladesh - it is well-known that most of the country is extremely low and flood-prone...... but not much reported from there.

[ttaaee]

Grandson of Thai king among those missing after deadly tidal waves (http://asia.news.yahoo.com/041227/afp/041227052605asiapacificnews.html)

Monday December 27, 1:26 PM

PHUKET, Thailand, (AFP) - A grandson of Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej is among those missing after tidal waves smashed into this southern resort island, officials said.

"We have no report of his whereabouts yet," said a Phuket rescue center official of Bhumi Jensen, 21, who disappeared at Khao Lak beach resort while jet-skiing.

Bhumi is the son of Princess Ubolratana and her estranged American husband Peter Jensen. He was holidaying with his mother at the time but media reports said she was safe.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra confirmed that Bhumi is still missing but remained optimistic he may only be injured.

He said Bhumi disappeared with two others who are also still missing but his four special branch police bodyguards survived.

[ttaaee]

Grandson of Thai king killed by tidal wave in southern Thailand (AP) (http://asia.news.yahoo.com/041227/ap/d877t1302.html)

Monday December 27, 5:06 PM

The Thai-American grandson of the country's king died after giant waves struck the resort island of Phuket, it was announced Monday.

The body of 21-year-old Poom Jensen, accompanied by his mother, Princess Ubolratana, was flown to Bangkok aboard a private airplane, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told reporters.

The princess and her son were vacationing on the island of Phuket when earthquake-spawned tidal waves struck the beaches of the internationally popular resort.

Officials earlier indicated that Jensen, a lover of outdoor sports, was jet-skiing when the huge waves surged toward the island's beaches. Thaksin said up to 700 persons may have died in areas of southern Thailand from the waves and flooding.

Thailand's royal family, and especially King Bhumibol Adulyadej, is highly revered.

The king's eldest daughter was studying in the United States when she married American businessman Peter Jensen in 1972. They were divorced after 20 years of marriage and in recent years the princess and her son lived in Thailand, where he was studying in Bangkok.

[nathawat]

I was in Malaysia (PJ, Selangor) when the quake took place. Nothing I could feel from the 17th floor.

Very sorry for all victims. What a year of horrors 2004 for Thai!!

Bird flu, southern conflicts, tidal waves. They are lives and economic destroyers.

Let's just pray for the 2005.

[Wisarut]

Now, those who live in Phang Nga has sen the unofficial body count: 2000 Deaths!

[The Enforcer!]

Originally posted by ttaaee
Grandson of Thai king killed by tidal wave in southern Thailand (AP) (http://asia.news.yahoo.com/041227/ap/d877t1302.html)
On 1st September 1999 I had the honour of flying back to UK with HRH Princess Udolratana and Khun Phumipon Jensen. A tragic waste of a young life.

The Enforcer!

[bangyuk]

ncr,

Good point. Virtually no news so far from Burma or Bangladesh. I would have thought Bangladesh would be badly hit as the tsunamis funnelled up the ocean?

Ian

[bkkfarang]

PM Thaksin should resign.

US President Truman had a sign that said "The Buck stops here" with PM
Thaksin one dreads to imagine what the sign would read. A man of honor
would be tendering his resignation, giving his wealth to the country
and entering the monkhood for life for the damage he has caused and
allowed to happen. Instead PM Thaksin Shinawatra's family company
makes profits from the mass of mobile telephone calls and everyone
else grieves. For shame, for shame.

PM Thaksin brushes the tragedy in Tak Bai under the carpet. The DVD is
damming and we are too ignorant to see. The "Independent" report is
now for his eyes only and we are too ignorant to read.

With the tidal waves it was the possible financial loss and the lack
of leadership that kept the Meteorological Department silent. Yet to
cover it's backside a warning was issued at 11.29 am for "waves 3-5
metres high" after a Tsunami had already hit Phuket at 8:30 am.

Thailand needs a Prime Minister and government that works for the
people and takes responsibility for it's actions or lack of.

[Wisarut]

Sorry Khun bangyuk,

My country folks did NOT share your viewpoints though ... However, they case a BIG blame to Channel 3, Channel 5 and Channel 7 who have let DOWN the publikc at large while prasing Modern 9, Channel 11 (with station in Phuket) and ITV who are in TOUCH with the public

[R. Zimmermann]

Bangladesh friends report one child/one father killed at a place
called Barisal. "Otherwise everything is fine".

[Wisarut]

Now, the death from Tsunami in Thailand is breakign 1000 body counts ... 1010 persons perished ....

[jpatokal]

I'm not exactly the Thai Cowboy's biggest fan, but...
Originally posted by bkkfarang
PM Thaksin should resign.

With the tidal waves it was the possible financial loss and the lack
of leadership that kept the Meteorological Department silent. Yet to
cover it's backside a warning was issued at 11.29 am for "waves 3-5
metres high" after a Tsunami had already hit Phuket at 8:30 am.

Thailand needs a Prime Minister and government that works for the
people and takes responsibility for it's actions or lack of.
...what exactly are you blaming Thaksin for now? It's not his fault there was no early warning (every other country in the region was also hit by surprise), and now that the disaster did strike, he mobilized the Thai navy immediately and flew down to supervise rescue efforts. Compare this with Malaysia, whose tourism minister was on BBC yesterday proclaiming that this was a minor incident, tourist areas were unaffected and everybody should come holiday in truly Asian Malaysia right now.

[dick]

Full abhorrence we saw the news service (dutch news one issue). Commiseration, powerlessness; with fellow feeling our condoleances.

[bkkfarang]

Originally posted by jpatokal
I'm not exactly the Thai Cowboy's biggest fan, but...

...what exactly are you blaming Thaksin for now? It's not his fault there was no early warning (every other country in the region was also hit by surprise), and now that the disaster did strike, he mobilized the Thai navy immediately and flew down to supervise rescue efforts.

He has managed to squash govenment officers and civil servants to the point that they dare not do anything. He as "CEO" is the only authority which has made the government an ineffective machine that is forever denying responsibility.

From the Nation
Warning rejected to protect Tourism (http://nationmultimedia.com/2004/12/28/headlines/index.php?news=headlines_15908069.html)
“The very important factor in making the decision was that it’s high [tourist] season and hotel rooms were nearly 100-per-cent full. If we issued a warning, which would have led to evacuation, [and if nothing happened], what would happen then? Business would be instantaneously affected. It would be beyond the Meteorological Department’s ability to handle. We could go under, if [the tsunami] didn’t come,” said a source who attended the meeting."

So is Supharerk Tansrirat-tanawong, director-general of the Metrological Department the one to take the blame for claiming that the Department did issue warnings prior to the event when they weren’t?

I also note that CAT and Thai have been ordered to assist where as Shin and Asia-Air are raking in the cash.

[Wisarut]

Now, More than 1500 Deaths and more than 8400 Injurred from this Tsunami ....

[The Enforcer!]

Originally posted by Wisarut
Now, More than 1500 Deaths and more than 8400 Injurred from this Tsunami ....
Sadly if only this were true my friend .... Asian count at 2151 TMT is 38,000 dead.

The Enforcer!

[Wisarut]

Well, my counting is just from THAILAND alone! ... More than 1500 Death in Thailand! ... 900 Bodya Counts from phang Nga ALONE!

[Wisarut]

Latest Body count (9:00 PM - Dec 28, 2004)

total Died:
Died Injurred
Phuket: 230 1265
Trang: 5 66
Phang Nga: 952 5541
Krabi: 198 1881
Ranong: 146 182
Satun 7 15
Total 1538 8950

About 200 Survivors are stranded at Sukorn Island (Palian district of Trang) and Muk Island (Sikao District of Trang). However, there are 1600 Swedish MISSING!

[bkkfarang]

Two years ago a similar quake of less magnitude hit the same area. The Meteorological Department issued warnings of possible tidal waves for the southern coast of Thailand. The tidal waves never arrived, but the general consensus was that “it was better safe than sorry�. The Meteorological Department was reprimanded by the PM Thaksin for causing a disruption to the tourism industry and went on to say that Thailand has not experienced a tidal wave or tsunami for over 300 years and was not likely to experience any in the near future.

And is it any wonder that nothing was done. The PM must resign!!!

[Wisarut]

Now, BTS told the press that BTS has to CANCEL the 24-hour services on New year Eve since the goveremtn has CANCELLED the countdown ceremony ... the whole country is in Mourning Period ... due to the Tsunami Tragedy in the SOuth whcih already claimed mroe than 1500 peoples cna injurred almore 9000 people ...

Therefore, entertainment durign such prioed is DEFINITELY Inappropirated ... Same can be said to thoe Patpong, Ratchada and Soi Cowboy ...!

[The Enforcer!]

Whilst a period of mourning is very necessary, I am unsure if cancelled New Year is appropriate.

I suppose that it will be months before locals in the South can start to rebuild their livihoods so maybe a delay is in order.

The Enforcer!

[Wisarut]

Mind you Khun BkkFarang, The Bureaucrat in Phuket CLAIMED that they COULD handle the disaster without LISTENING to the wrning from Meteorological Department .... and now the have LEARNT the hard LESSONS for their AROOGANCE though ...

[The Enforcer!]

Originally posted by Wisarut
Mind you Khun BkkFarang, The Bureaucrat in Phuket CLAIMED that they COULD handle the disaster without LISTENING to the wrning from Meteorological Department .... and now the have LEARNT the hard LESSONS for their AROOGANCE though ...
When do you draw this from?

The Enforcer!

[Wisarut]

It is the warnign in 1998 .. and those who Phuket provincial hai did NOT belive the warning ... and they want to PLEASE those who run tourist business in Phuket including Hotel owners who would feel very BAD about such kind of bad news from prediction .... and now, they have to learn in very hard way ...

[bkkfarang]

Originally posted by Wisarut
Mind you Khun BkkFarang, The Bureaucrat in Phuket CLAIMED that they COULD handle the disaster without LISTENING to the wrning from Meteorological Department .... and now the have LEARNT the hard LESSONS for their AROOGANCE though ...

While the people in who's lives they are entrusted pay the price and they smile sheepishly and ignore the consequences. Time for people in power to take responsibility for their actions.

[Wisarut]

Probably, we just have mroe Look Krueng (Half-Blood) so the numebr of those whti RH neative is increasing from 3 in 1000 to 4 in 1000.

BTW, the latest number of casualties (11 AM of Dec 29, 2004) are:
.

Death Injurred
Phuket 233 1268
Trang 5 66
Phang Nga 986 5541
Krabi 198 1881
Ranong 146 182
Satun 6 15
Total 1574 8953

Now, we just recovered the body of Dr. Kasinee Sunthornkasem M.D. -> the Director Takua Thung District Hospital .... Need a new director to take her duty as soon as possible ... since LOTS of corpses and injurred are piling up in Phang Nga

Now, UAE has donated US$ 2 Million & the country is going to ship 30 Metric Tons of Food, Bankets, and clothes to those who got Tsunami Attack ....

Saudi Arabai has donated US$ 10 Million -> US$ 5 Million for food, + Tents + medicine
and the other US$ 5 Million for the Red Cresent Organization (Muslim version of Red Cross) or so ...

[bangyuk]

Regarding the paradise destroyed article on Phi Phi. Could there be an argument for NOT rebuilding Phi Phi? It is, after all, in a national park, and building a small town on a beach isthmus is surely just asking for another disaster to strike - if not a tsunami then a typhoon?

Ian

[Wisarut]

the latest bodycount at 4:00 PM - Dec 29, 2004

Death: 1657
Injurred: 8954
Missing: 4086

[Wisarut]

Now, there are 6 Spots of Land Subsiding in Satun ... due to Tsunami

There are at least 150 more corpses uncollected by the
rescue officers since they need heavy machines to remove
the debris before collecting those rotten corpses ....

[Wisarut]

Khun BKKFarang,

Welkl, one of Thai netters said

"It is The Democrat's Faults who REFUSE to grant the budget for installing the Tsunami Monitor Station in 1998 ... since it will hurt the image of their cronies' business in the South ... so we have to face such enormous catastropes .... "

[The Enforcer!]

Originally posted by Wisarut
Khun BKKFarang,

Welkl, one of Thai netters said

"It is The Democrat's Faults who REFUSE to grant the budget for installing the Tsunami Monitor Station in 1998 ... since it will hurt the image of their cronies' business in the South ... so we have to face such enormous catastropes .... "

Any truth in this?

The Enforcer!

[Nekochan]

I remembered what PM Taksin said ablout Tsunami. Perhaps, it is a type of catastrophy we have never encountered before. No one can cope with it whether Thailand is under TRT or DEM!!

We are very poored equipped to say the least (almost everything about hazards prevention). Now we need any warning system...URGENT MATTER.

I agree one thing that Phi Phi should be left alone as national park as it was. Many Thais I talked too confirmed this. Perhaps Surin Island, too.

If Phi Phi and any other damaged spots fully recover one day, Thais (most people I talked to, they believe in somewhat supernatural stuff) still do not want to go there and spend some nights. Thinking about any place that once was full with dead bodies!!

I am surprised that Pantip web is full of accusation to the Meteorological Dept, pointing fingers to its director.

Finding SCAPEGOATS??!!

[Hitesh]

its a bit sad to use this event for political gains. Hindsight is 20/20 and given the chance to do things differently im sure everyone here would, but unfortunately we can't.

I agree with leaving Phi Phi uninhabited because it is a national park and there aren't supposed to be any structures on it.
Although regarding Phuket and other resort and beach areas, After having witnessed the difficulty rescue crews have had getting to disaster sticken areas, perhaps we need to appreciate that good road networks and logistics are vital at all times.

[Wisarut]

Well, even though Phi Phi Archepelago is national Park, ther are some local Muslim Fishermen who have setteled down LONG beofre teh declaration of Natinal Park ... What can WE do about THEM? Same can be said to Khao Lak Natinal Park (Khuek Khak distgrict of Phang Nga)

[Wisarut]

Latest Figure from disaster.go.th (at 8 AM of Dec 30, 2004)
Dead Injurred Missing
Phang Nga: 1208 5573 2250
Phuket: 264 1270 1782
Krabi: 341 2649 1943
Ranong: 151 189 97
Satun 6 15 1
Trang 5 12 0
Total: 1975 9808 6043

[Wisarut]

Now, Even Premier Thaksin siad the number of death would reach 3000 or MORE ... since the are thousands of people MISSING .. some of those injurred have fungi inside theri braind due to the polluted water ...

[The Enforcer!]

Whilst in no way wishing to be little the 2,100 dead and missing in Phuket, several Thai friends of mine who live there are very angry at the press picture being painted that the resort is totally destroyed etc.

They say that 90% of the island is unaffected, most businesses are back to normal and trading. At Patong beach he says whilst the beach road and low lying shops are gone, everything from Rad Uthit Road inland is intact and open or ready to open.

They fear that the press are giving the picture that Phuket is permanently closed for business and it is not.

The Enforcer!

[bkkfarang]

The head of Thailand's Meteorological Department was suspended from his duties Tuesday pending a probe into his responsibility for the lack of advance warning of the Dec. 26 tsunamis that smashed into the coasts of six southern provinces, killing more than 5,000 people.

Suparerk Tansriratawong, the department's director general, was transferred to an inactive post at the Prime Minister's Office for a six-month period. The move was decided at a weekly Cabinet.

The sacrificial lamb is slaughtered. Having been slapped around by the CEO/PM Thaksin 2 years ago for hurting Thailand's Tourist image when Suparerk Tansriratawong warned of a possible tsunami and it turned out to be a false alarm. It is no wonder that Khun Suparerk chose to not warn the public this time.

As PM Thaksin is the only person in the country who has the power do anything and knows what to do for all situations. It is par for the course he passes the blame to an underling while running around on TV showing us all what a superman he is.

In all those highbrow books he supposedly read I guess it says take the credit when you can and pass the blame everytime. "Oh so sorry my wife handles all the family finances and I know nothing about her transferring the stock to the maid".

For shame.

[bkkfarang]

Originally posted by The Enforcer!
They fear that the press are giving the picture that Phuket is permanently closed for business and it is not.

UK and US press passed on the message that the Thai Government have banned foreigners from areas of the South. One friend who lives in Phuket was told at London Gatwick airport that if he was going to Phuket he wasn't allowed to and he should postpone his trip.

The chances of it happening again soon is remote but it is the issue of disease that has most worried. American friends have canceled their trip on the Orient Express and a trip to Samui. 4 emails from one who lives here were not enough to change their minds. Will think about it next year when things settle down.

Where is the Government spokesperson and the hourly press conferences that western countries use to ensure that the correct information gets out. The press that are sent here are outsiders and are not sensitive to local issues. Video of tourists at untouched beaches swimming was portrayed as fools at play.

Sadly it will be a year or more before EU/US forget and the hotels fill again. But it is the Asian tourist that matters making up over 75% of the visitors. What is the press like in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and Korea like?

[Wisarut]

Dear bkkfarang,

One thing to be sure ... Ai Rayam Phokin, Ai Sat Narok Suwit have vested interest on hotels in Phuket so they ask the\ rescue officers to stopp searchign those corpses ... Now, Thai netteres are going to post thsoe FLAMING words toward Ai Phokhin and Ai Suwit ...

Howevber, the flame will NEVER reach Premeir Thaksin at all ..... to be sure since Premier Thaksin has told Khun Ying Pornthip that he'll help her at all cost ....

[Enis]

Hello

Have any of you seen some ad in todays thainewspapers from the swedish primeminister and people thanking the thai inhabitants for theír kindness an help under days after the tsunami?

If so can you scan and publish please.

/Enis

[bkkfarang]

Originally posted by The Enforcer!
They fear that the press are giving the picture that Phuket is permanently closed for business and it is not.

AirAsia is helping out.

Phuket Gazett (http://www.phuketgazette.net/news/index.asp?id=3934)

Wednesday, January 5, 2005
Now everyone can drive

PHUKET: AirAsia (motto “Now everyone can fly”) has announced that it is terminating its direct Phuket-Singapore flights effective today, due to lack of demand following the tsunami disaster of December 26.

Public Relations Executive Jacqueline Mercader told the Gazette today that the number of passengers in recent days had fallen to as few as three per flight, and that the company had decided to halt the flights temporarily and reassess its marketing strategy.

She said the carrier cannot say when the service may resume, but that management hopes it will not be long. In the meantime, AirAsia’s schedule of four daily flights between Bangkok and Phuket remains unaffected, she said.

The Singapore route was launched with promotional fares of 1,200 baht exactly two months ago.
17:45 local time (GMT +7)

[The Enforcer!]

Originally posted by bkkfarang
AirAsia is helping out too. They have just canceled service to Phuket from Singapore.

The worry that my Thai friends have is not short-term - but for later in 2005. If a flight is cancelled now, will it be re-instated.

Many hotels have re-opened, some never closed but business is being kept back!

The Enforcer!

[bjreev]

http://suicideandmentalhealthassociationinternational.org/img/spirittop2.jpg Asian Tsunami Memorial Online (http://suicideandmentalhealthassociationinternational.org/asiantsunami.html)

Hello,

We have created an online memorial dedicated to the Asian Tsunami.

Won't you please visit?

Click here to view the tsunami memorial. Be sure to sign the guest book.

http://suicideandmentalhealthassociationinternational.org/asiantsunami.html

Please allow a few seconds for the pages to load due to graphics and music.

Please feel free to share the link with anyone who might be interested.

Please take good care,

Brenda Reeves

[ncr]

Reverberations from the disaster.................

From The Nation, 14 January 2005.

RISK ASSESSMENT: Capital may join list of quake zones

Bangkok’s clay base could amplify tremors; agency to seek re-evaluation

Bangkok is likely to soon be declared an earthquake-vulnerable zone, putting the city on a par with 11 provinces – all in the North, except Kanchanaburi in the West.

Somsak Potisa, director-general of the Department of Mineral Resources, said the designation resulted from a new assessment after the December 26 quake off Sumatra and subsequent tsunami.

The underwater quake of magnitude 9 on the Richter scale was felt in Bangkok and caused massive destruction in the South.

Bangkok may be vulnerable to earthquakes from nearby Kanchanaburi and Burma, said Somsak, who will put the proposal to the government very soon.

This is because Bangkok and its environs were below sea level some 6,000 years ago and layers of marine clay would amplify and intensify the tremors.

“We must also look at people’s behaviour [in responding to earth tremors] and see how it can be changed,” Somsak said.

Tortrakul Yomnak, president of the Engineers Society of Thailand, supported the move and said special attention must be paid to the structure of buildings such as hospitals and schools to make sure they can withstand strong tremors.

He said that while Bangkok itself has no history of being at the epicentre of a quake, historical and geological records should be re-examined.

It is now known that sea gypsies who live in the Andaman Sea area – such as the Morgan people – refer to past tsunamis in their folk songs, despite the Meteorological Department having no record of such previous events.

The Morgan people went to the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropological Centre in Bangkok to sing a song, which includes how to avoid danger from tsunamis, Tortrakul said.

“In the song it instructs people that if the sea [abruptly] recedes, then they should run for safety,” he said during a seminar on “Earth-quakes and their Impact on High-rises in Bangkok” organised by the Thansettakit business newspaper group.

Arun Chaiyasri, a leading construction consultant and engineer responsible for many high-rise buildings in Bangkok – including the Baiyoke II Tower, the capital’s tallest structure – insisted that if high-rise buildings are constructed properly they should be able to withstand earth tremors.

High-rises are safe but it depends on construction standards, Arun said. If new construction standards are introduced as a result of Bangkok being re-designated as vulnerable to earthquake, it may lead to a 10-per-cent increase in construction costs.

Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayothin said special committees for disasters had now been set up.

Pravit Rojanaphruk

The Nation

[Tower 43]

Check out this image from NASA.

http://naturalhazards.nasa.gov/shownh.php3?img_id=12677

[Hitesh]

There was another earthquake about 45 minutes ago (approx. 11.10 local time). I live in a highrise and could definately feel it.
The usgs put it at 8.2 on the richter scale. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Quakes/usweax.htm

[sabaisabai]

I felt it in our apartment in Singapore. BBCNews states "Big earthquake off Sumatra triggers tsunami warning. More soon."

SG news says immediate tsunami warning has been issued.

[repeated link edit]

[Hitesh]

Thai tv says theyre evacuating people from the coast and news reports on the internet are saying the same thing.

msnbc: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7316846/
reuters: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050328/wl_nm/quake_asia_dc&cid=574&ncid=2337

[GWR]

I've felt earthquakes about 10 times since the Tsunami and including it. Certainly felt this one as almost as strong as the Tsunami event. Sometimes, I have the impression that the shaking goes on for hours (or even days) at a time after these aftershocks; but I suppose I may have become oversensitised to them. It seems that the combination of an upstairs room and a cheap computer chair assists their detection.

[GWR]

http://www.angkor.com/2bangkok/2bangkok/forum/showpost.php?p=3968&postcount=1

[Yappofloyd]

Also worth checking the www.reliefweb.int site for info & updates

[GWR]

Where did our tsunami cash go?

Western countries send complaint to police after loss of money donated to identify victims

Seven major Western countries recently submitted a joint complaint to the Royal Police Headquarters alleging that money intended to help identify tsunami victims had been stolen, according to informed sources.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/specials/monday_letter.gif

[GWR]

See letter in first post or click here: -

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/specials/monday_letter.gif

"This is the first time that such a large group of Western countries has questioned the integrity of Thai police in an official letter."

EXCLUSIVE
Where did our tsunami cash go?

Western countries send complaint to police after loss of money donated to identify victims

Seven major Western countries recently submitted a joint complaint to the Royal Police Headquarters alleging that money intended to help identify tsunami victims had been stolen, according to informed sources.

The sources, who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the subject, said funds contributed by Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States and France amounted to almost Bt60 million.

The money was donated by the citizens of those countries, who wanted to help victims of the tsunami that killed more than 5,000 people in the Phuket, Phang-Nga and Krabi areas.

The source said more than 60 per cent of the funds were wasted and disguised as travelling and other miscellaneous costs. "To be frank, someone has stolen our citizens' money," said one of the sources, who has followed the victim identification process from the beginning.

Thailand Tsunami Victim Identification (TTVI) was established by the international community in January 2005. With its disaster victim identification (DVI) operation, TTVI is considered the largest such multinational operation ever conducted. At one point there were at least 600 officials from Thailand and 30 other countries to help the victims.

In a joint letter dated November 22 addressed to General Kowit Watana of the Royal Thai Police, diplomats raised two pivotal issues: the status of DNA data of over 400 bodies and the bodies of over 400 missing victims which have not been located.

"Without any additional new information or discoveries of further bodies (now very unlikely), these last remaining bodies and missing people are sadly unlikely to be reconciled," the letter read.

The source said the Public Health Ministry had constantly refused to hand back DNA data.

"We want the data to be returned to the centre for further testing and matching," said the source.

The issue was raised in the letter in a more polite way. It said that during the first 10 days after the tsunami, approximately 2,000 bodies were released to relatives. Among them, the diplomats believed, were some misidentified bodies. At the time, nobody wanted to raise any questions as efforts were concentrated on helping the tsunami victims.

The diplomats also urged the Royal Thai Police to help ensure that DNA analysis is completed by tomorrow, the second anniversary of the tsunami. Since the letter's submission, there has been no response from the police or the Foreign Ministry, which was given a copy of the complaint.

The most damaging part of the letter was the request to have an internal audit concerning the funds. The sources claim to have reliable information that the funds contributed by the seven countries were misused. It requested an internal auditing by "a reputable and qualified private accountancy company" covering the period from January 2005 until the present time.

The sources said the US government had agreed to meet the costs of the audit using the funds available in the tsunami-related cooperative agreement with the TTVI and DVI, which began in January 2005.

The letter said that "any such misuse would be an especially sensitive and distressing matter for us all, given the generous-spirited and cooperative nature of the whole DVI operation".

According to General Amarin Niumsakul, assistant police commissioner-general, the letter from the envoys alleging misuse of funds was a serious allegation, which he said could be a misunderstanding.

Deputy police commissioner-general General Achiravit Suwanphesad said the funds were used not only by Thai officials but foreign experts as well.

The joint letter, which was also addressed to Foreign Minister Nitya Phibulsonggram, was signed by Sweden's Lars Erik Backstrom, German Ambassador Dr Christoph Bruemmer, Dutch Ambassador Pieter Marres, Swedish Ambassador Jonas Hafstrom, British Ambassador David Fall, US Ambassador Ralph Boyce and France's charge d'affaires Pascal le Deunff.

This is the first time that such a large group of Western countries has questioned the integrity of Thai police in an official letter.

The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006/12/25/headlines/headlines_30022434.php

[GWR]

TSUNAMI CASH ROW
Foreign diplomats 'acted on rumour'

Diplomats' cash claims 'undermined Thailand's good will'

A senior Foreign Ministry official yesterday said diplomats of seven countries should have double-checked information with Thai authorities before alleging the misuse of Bt60 million in donations given for identification of tsunami victims.

Kulkumut Singhara na Ayutthaya, director-general of the Department of European Affairs, also expressed "serious concern" over the issue, saying it had adversely affected Thailand's public image in the international community.

"They [embassy officials] should not have relied on only rumours [about the alleged misuse of money] and reacted. They should have submitted a request to the relevant Thai agencies seeking clarification on the spending," he said.

He said the issue had undermined Thailand's good will and all efforts made in helping tsunami victims throughout the past two years. "All the efforts and everything are now completely wiped out merely by a rumour suggesting the misuse of the money," he added.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont yesterday summoned national police chief General Kowit Wattana to discuss the diplomats' allegations.

Though polite, a letter signed by the diplomats requested that "a reputable and qualified private accountancy company" conduct an internal audit of the funds covering the period from January 2005 until the present time. The letter was addressed to Kowit.

According to a source, Kowit informed Surayud that a fact-finding committee had already been set up to look into the scandal.

"Relevant officials have been asked to clarify their disbursement of funds in detail," the source quoted Kowit as saying.

The source added that Surayud instructed Kowit to ensure transparency and emphasised that this scandal could harm the country's image.

Police General Noppadol Somboonsap, who previously played a key role in the tsunami identification process, separately said foreign officials usually came to work in Thailand for just 15 days and their travel expenses must have been covered by the funds.

He was speaking in response to a claim that more than 60 per cent of the funds were wasted and disguised as travelling and other miscellaneous costs.

Noppadol was the person initially authorised to withdraw money from a bank account that was opened to hold funds for the tsunami victims' identification.

However, a source said a police colonel later took care of the account in place of Noppadol.

"We have found that an approval for a Bt5-million purchase of redundant software had been granted. There are many receipts for items that cannot be located when the need to use them arises," the source said.

The source added that the police colonel was believed to have pocketed about Bt15 million.

In a related development, Prathan Banperng - one of the tsunami survivors in Phang Nga - complained that parents had yet to receive Bt15,000 promised for their children's education.

"The government didn't keep its word," he said.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006/12/27/national/national_30022621.php

[GWR]

I read about this Tsunami Warning Practice at 41,000 Feet, but it appears that if I had been living just above sea-level in the affected area I might not have been given prior warning by the provincial authorities:

Tsunami-warning towers tested


Tsunami-warning towers in six Andaman-coast provinces were tested Saturday resulting in surprised residents in many areas.

People living near the towers in some provinces had not been informed and were surprised by noises emitted by the towers yesterday morning. The test was cut short.

National Disaster Warning Centre director Smith Dharmmasaroj said provincial governments had not informed residents.

The centre planned to test 79 signal towers in Krabi, Phuket, Phang Nga, Ranong, Trang and Satun on a daily basis at 9am, starting Saturday. It also plans a large-scale system test and evacuation drill in about three months.

Smith said the centre would restart testing when it was informed all residents had been notified. Tests will probably resume after the Songkran festival.

A hundred towers have been built along the Andaman coast, and another 48 will be constructed in Gulf of Thailand provinces.

Central, North and Northeast Thailand will have 82 towers to alert people to floods and air pollution. Towers have been erected in Mae Hong Son, Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai and will be tested in April and May.

Phuket Disaster Prevention and Mitigation chief Arun Kerdsom said yesterday's first round of tests for the island's 19 towers had gone well. Phuket residents had been informed, and the test did not cause panic.

Sirens were audible for just 50-70 metres. The test included a short signal followed by five 30-second sound checks, Arun said.

Arun said the Phuket towers had worked well. Previous daily testing had been silent. Relief workers are drilled daily too.

The Andaman coast was hit by the December 2004 tsunami, which killed more than 5,000, including foreign holidaymakers. Another 11,000 were injured.

The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/read.php?newsid=30031360

[GWR]

New anti-tsunami system opens

Washington (USInfo) A second tsunami-detection system for the Indian Ocean has been launched from Jakarta, to join the $1 billion US recovery, restoration and technical contribution to the region.

The new system was hastily designed and is being installed as a result of the 9.1-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that devastated the area in 2004 which took more than 240,000 lives.

The first device, called a deep-ocean assessment and reporting of tsunami (DART) system, launched from Phuket in December 2005. It was placed on the seafloor at 9 degrees north, 89 degrees east, halfway between Thailand and Sri Lanka.

Officials from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are visiting Indonesia to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with their counterparts from the archipelago nation’s Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries.

The agreement, officially signed last Tuesday, focusses on cooperation in ocean and coastal observations and observing systems, marine and coastal hazard mitigation and ocean climate research.

"Indonesia is an emerging economy," said Richard Spinrad, NOAA assistant administrator for oceanic and atmospheric research, "and it’s a good time for us in the United States to do technology sharing and scientific exchanges. The MOU will give us that opportunity."

May expire soon:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=121881

See also related thread with photograph of one of the bouys:

http://www.angkor.com/2bangkok/2bangkok/forum/showthread.php?p=17227#post17227

[GWR]

Thailand plans outdoor tsunami memorial museum


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[Photo: MCOT]

BANGKOK, Dec 25 (TNA) – Thailand's Culture Ministry will build an outdoor museum as a tsunami memorial at the battered village of Ban Nam Khem in Phang-nga province where 2,500 people died in the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, a senior ministry official said on Monday.

The Historical and Cultural Development Steering Committee for the Tsunami-Hit Area asked the ministry to build the museum on a historical and cultural site at Ban Nam Khem in Bang Muang of Phang-nga's Takua Pa district, Permanent Secretary for Culture Weera Rojpojanarat said.

The museum design by Fine Arts Department architects has been completed, he said, adding that two fishing trawlers, Chokesiriporn and Srisamut, that were washed ashore by the 2004 tsunami in Ban Nam Kem, a small Phang-Nga fishing village, will be converted to an outdoor museum and tourist attractions both as an educational centre and to provide local income.

The two fishing boats were grounded around one kilometre from the beach but they will be relocated to 200 metres away, to be part of the museum.

Mr. Weera said the museum would be built on a 5-rai plot of land in the district.

The outdoor museum is planned to comprise a simulation of the tsunami, exhibition and information centre. A concrete warning tower will also be built so that tourists can also appreciate views around the museum.

The initial budget for the museum is Bt30 million, Mr. Weera said.

The tsunami remembrance ceremony to mark the third anniversary of the disaster that visited Thailand's six Andaman coastal provinces would be held December 26 and it would be opened for donation to build the museum which was scheduled to be completed in 2008.

Thailand's six Andaman coastal provinces -- Phang-nga, Krabi, Phuket, Ranong, Trang and Satun -- were hit by the Boxing Day tsunami Dec 26, 2004, with over 5,000 local residents as well as Thai and foreign holidaymakers losing their lives in the tidal waves. (TNA)-E003
http://enews.mcot.net/view.php?id=1968

[GWR]

Survivors remember tsunami victims 3 years on
TNA
Public and private sectors held a tsunami remembrance ceremony to mark the third anniversary of the December 26 disaster that hit Thailand's six Andaman coastal provinces killing more than 5,000 persons three years ago on Wednesday.

Phuket deputy governor Tri Akkaradecha presided at a ceremony marking the disaster and paid tribute to the victims of the giant tidal waves that hit the southern provinces on Boxing Day.

The ceremony was held at Loma Park of Patong Beach, Kratu district and families of the victims and tourists attended the rite.

At Mai Khao Cemetery in Thalang district, where unidentified bodies are being kept, religious ceremonies – Buddhist, Christian and Muslim -- were held.

Thailand's six Andaman coastal provinces -- Phang-nga, Krabi, Phuket, Ranong, Trang and Satun -- were hit by the unprecedented tsunami of Dec 26, 2004, with over 5,000 local residents as well as Thai and foreign holidaymakers losing their lives in the tidal waves.

During the evening, a "Light Up Phuket" activity will be held to let the victims relatives and general public to join the candle-lit ceremony to pay tribute to the dead and other victims.

Meanwhile, the ceremonies in Phang-nga were held in three locations in the morning: at the grounded police patrol vessel Tor 813 at Tambon Kikkak in Takua Pa district, in Ban Nam Khem Tsunami Memorial Park, and Bang Maruan Cemetery for the unidentified victims.

Wednesday evening, religious services will take place at Chong Fah Beach, Bang Niang in Takua Pa district and Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya will preside.

Prime Minister Gen. Surayud Chulanont and ambassadors accredited to Thailand were scheduled to join the ceremony.

An exhibition commemorating the life of Khun Poom Jensen, son of Princess Ubolratana, eldest daughter of King Bhumibol Adulyadej is also being held.

In addition to memorial services, Krabi and Phuket will present an exhibition to educate the public regarding the tsunami.


May expire soon:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories/topstories.php?id=124705

http://enews.mcot.net/upfile/1198662973.jpg
[Photo: MCOT]

Thailand's tsunami warning systems up to standard

NONTHABURI, Dec 26 (TNA) – Senior officials reaffirmed that Thailand's existing tsunami warning systems are effective on the commemorative day of the tsunami, which smashed Thailand on Dec 26, 2004.

Smith Tumsaroch, chairman of the National Disaster Warning Committee and Suparerk Tansriratanawong, director of the Meteorological Department, attended a merit-making ceremony for victims of the 2004 tidal waves.

Meanwhile, Mr. Smith said that the existing tsunami warning systems along the Andaman coastline and the Gulf of Thailand are up to standard, but that additional tsunami detection buoys will be installed in the Andaman Sea. Growing numbers of tourist arrivals showed that they are confident of Thailand's warning systems, he said.

However, Mr. Smith warned that he was worried about the installation of the disaster warning systems in other regions nationwide. He said the centre would try to finish the task before the next rainy season.

Mr. Suparerk said that the installation of the disaster warning systems will be accelerated across the country. The cooperation will expand to international disaster warning agencies.

He affirmed that the existing systems are ready to operate, and that officials test the systems every day.

Smith said that the National disaster warning centre will hold the merit making ceremony every year on December 26 to commemorate the loss of more than 5,000 lives in the tsunami, which hit Thailand's six Andaman coastal provinces.

The disaster led to the establishment of the disaster warning system in the country. (TNA)– E004

General News : Last Update : 16:44:41 26 December 2550 (GMT+7:00)
http://enews.mcot.net/view.php?id=1999

[GWR]

May expire soon:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories/topstories.php?id=124705

http://enews.mcot.net/upfile/1198662973.jpg
[Photo: MCOT]

http://enews.mcot.net/view.php?id=1999

Some Boxing Day tsunami survivors remain stressed

http://enews.mcot.net/upfile/1198648001.jpg
[Photo: MCOT]

BANGKOK, Dec 26 (TNA) - Three years after the tsunami tragedy made its unwelcome visit to Thailand's Andaman coastal provinces, some young survivors are still suffering from stress, while numbers of mentally-disturbed adults have turned to alcohol to suppress their anxiety disorders, according to a senior Thai public health official.

Director-General Somchai Chakrabhand of the Mental Health Department said Wednesday that some children still had bad dreams, awakened in the night and shut themselves from the outside world, while adults who could hardly forget to the terrifying event turned to using alcoholic drinks or drugs.

In the first two years after the 2004 tsunami, Thai and American health professionals had surveyed 800 survivors on their posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) -- an anxiety disorder after exposure to a terrifying event, and found that 13 per cent of them remained suffering from stress. Another survey six months later found the stress reduced to seven per cent.

However, anxiety disorders have remained in some survivors, he said, adding that health officials will conduct another survey early next year.

The country's six southern provinces were hit by the December 2004 tsunami which killed nearly 5,400 people in Thailand, including 1,953 foreigners. (TNA)



http://enews.mcot.net/view.php?id=1994

[GWR]

May expire soon:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories/topstories.php?id=124705
http://enews.mcot.net/upfile/1198662973.jpg
[Photo: MCOT]
http://enews.mcot.net/view.php?id=1999

http://www.prachatai.com/english/news.php?id=450

TSUNAMI WATCH : So who's going to press the button?
Nantiya Tangwisutijit , The Nation
26 December 2007

Travel down the Andaman Coast and you can't miss them - the 20-metre-tall steel towers with sirens on top, the evacuation directions signs, even standalone weather bureau offices, all built in the past three years as the country's first-ever tsunami warning network.

There's just one problem, no one's clear on who's supposed to push the alarm button.

"If you really want to make sure your community's safe, you should put volunteers on lookouts on your beaches every night," Montree Chanachaivi-boonwat, director of the Disaster Management Policy Bureau, told villagers from Ban Nam Khem - the community hardest hit by the 2004 tsunami with about 800 lives lost - during their recent meeting in Phuket.

"No matter how much we want to watch out for you, we're in Bangkok. When the tsunami comes, you'll be the ones getting killed. So if people in your community don't make the sacrifice, who will?"

This point was illustrated quite clearly just three months ago. On September 12, a major 7.9-earthquake struck under the ocean floor in nearly the same spot as the big one that triggered the 2004 Andaman tsunami. While many communities were aware of the earthquake as it occurred during the day, they had no idea whether they should flee or not.

"We closely monitored news about the earthquakes on TV, but there was nobody to help us evaluate the possibility of a tsunami," said Maitree Jongkraijak, a community leader from Ban Nam Khem.

"Government officials said on TV there was no need for evacuation, but we weren't sure how much we could trust them. Who knows why the warning towers remained silent, was it because they didn't want to scare tourists? Our unease grew as night began to fall."

Finally, several hours later, Smith Thammasaroj, chairman of the National Disaster Warning Committee, appeared on TV to make a national announcement that only a small wave was expected, so there was no need to take emergency action.

"Don't ask me why there was no official warning announcement on TV Pool, but there was one to cancel the warning several hours later. I don't know either," said Waiyapot Worakanok of the National Disaster Warning Centre (NDWC).

Such a cancellation statement coming so late after tsunami warnings had already been issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii to most countries on the Andaman Sea, just added to the communities' lack of faith in the new warning system, said Re Sripimai of Klong Pakbang, the last fishing community remaining on Phuket's Patong Beach.

"I remember vividly the horror three years ago. I don't need anyone to tell me what to do, I just ran to a high place with my emergency bag," Re recalled.

"The warning tower? Yes, there's one nearby, but who knows if the system works. What if those sirens are broken because of poor maintenance?"

Low confidence in the central warning system is widespread among communities in the areas affected by the 2004 tsunami, says a recent study entitled "Disaster Risk Reduction: People's Report" compiled by Action Aid. Omitting local consultation in formulating the government's strategic national action plan for 2008-2017 only adds insult to injury, the report said.

That's why the villagers of impoverished Ban Nam Khem developed their own disaster-preparedness plan. Initiated by some two dozen leading figures in the community, they raised funds to train volunteers and buy communications equipment to assist emergency evacuations.

"We've got a great system now that we've built on our own. We have regular meetings, drills and procedures to make sure everyone knows what to do when we sound the alarm," said Panya Anantakool of Ban Nam Khem.

"We didn't need all their fancy equipment, nor could we trust it, so we set up our own which works much better," said fellow villager Maitree.

"We also installed new signs to point out evacuation routes because those put up by the government are useless.

Some say you have to run 4 kilometres before you can reach a high spot. Would women, kids and the elderly be able to run that far in time? Our signs are more practical because we know our neighbourhood.

"But what we have would be all useless unless we can trust someone to inform us when a wave is on its way," Maitree added.

The absence of any warning by the government three years ago was seen as a crucial factor in the high death toll.

While the Meteorological Department knew of the warning issued from Hawaii, nothing was passed on to the Thai public on December 26.

The NDWC's Waiyapot said when an earthquake occurs, it's the job of the director-general of the Meteorological Department, in his capacity as NDWC director, to issue an evacuation warning.

However, the director could only recommend evacuation while the actual orders to evacuate people have to come from the governors of the affected provinces.

"Why only communicate to the governors who live in the city, why not also us who are actually on the shore?" Maitree of Ban Nam Khem wanted to know.

Waiyapot said it did seem somewhat odd that while the broadcast facility to feed into TV Pool is located in the NDWC's office in Nonthaburi, the head of the Meteorological Department, who is in charge of announcing the warning, sits some 40 kilometres away at the department's headquarters in Bang Na.

"In case there's a need to issue a tsunami warning during Bangkok's rush hours, how long will it take him to brave the traffic across town to the broadcast room?" Waiyapot asked.

Maitree said it was not just a matter of announcing whether to evacuate or not, but to immediately demonstrate to the public that the government is in control of the situation.

"As soon as they are aware of a tremor that has any possibility of generating a major tsunami, they must notify the public, even if their recommendations are for us to sit and wait for further information," Maitree said.

"Thankfully, because of radio and TV we might at least hear about an earthquake and decide for ourselves what to do."

"But what we're really scared about is what happens at night when none of us are listening or watching. We can't have people on the beach patrolling all night, and how much warning will this give us anyway, it's crazy."


Source:
http://nationmultimedia.com/2007/12/23/national/national_30059969.php

[GWR]

26 December 2007
Tsunami victims call for solutions to land problem

Chairman of the subcommittee combating land poverty, Gen.Surin Phikulthong (สุรินทร์ พิกุลทอง), reports that a network of tsunami victims in Phangnga province requests the new government to approve land title deeds of 13 communities by January next year.

Yesterday, the network arranged an event to commemorate the third anniversary of the 2004 tsunami disaster at the Ban Nam Khem (บ้านน้ำเค็ม) Community, Takua Pa (ตะกั่วป่า) district, Phangnga province.

Meanwhile, Coordinator of the network Maitri Chongkraichak (ไมตรี จงไกรจักร์) says the network has been monitoring progress of its requests submitted to the previous government. The requests include the approval of the land title deeds, the issuance of identification cards for the Le (เล) tribe, the set up of a committee to grant nationality to Thai immigrants abroad as well as a committee to study impacts of the government’s projects on local people.
Reporter : RTI-Reporter05
http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/index.php

[GWR]

May expire soon:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories/topstories.php?id=124705


http://www.phuketgazette.com/news/index.asp?id=6181

Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Tsunami victims remembered with memorial service

http://www.phuketgazette.com/newsimages/bull12262007-6181-1.jpg
[Photo: Phuket Gazette - Wanapa Thongdee helps her young son release flowers to the sea at Patong Beach, near where her friend, a drink vendor, was lost to the tsunami on December 26, 2004.]

PATONG: About 200 people took part in a memorial service at Loma Park this morning to mark the third anniversary of the 2004 tsunami disaster.

The event, which began at 10 am, included a food and alms offering to 108 monks who spent an hour praying for those who perished.

Phuket Vice-Governor Tri Augkaradacha opened the service, which was organized jointly by Patong Municipality, the Tourism Authority of Thailand and the Governor’s Office.

All attendees observed a one-minute silence to remember those lost to the waves.

When the chanting was over, many people whose relatives and friends died in the disaster went to the water’s edge and released flowers as morning beach-goers looked on.

Dressed in black, German couple Mr and Mrs Hert said they came to pay their respects to a friend they saw washed away by the tsunami but were powerless to help.

In Kamala, the Phuket-Japanese Association held a similar service on the beach near the Kamala Beach Hotel.

[GWR]

Wednesday, January 23, 2008
NDWC to install more tsunami-warning buoys

PHUKET CITY: The National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) has finally received 165 million baht from the central government to install two more tsunami-warning buoys in the Andaman Sea. They are to be installed by the middle of this year, NDWC Director Dr Smith Dharmasaroja told a conference in Phuket City on January 21.

The conference, at the Royal Phuket City Hotel from January 21 to 24, was held to simultaneously update a total of 77 key figures in the region.

At the seminar were Phuket Vice-Governor Tri Augkaradacha, the directors of 24 schools in Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi, Ranong, Trang, and Satun, as well as officers from Phuket office of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM – Phuket), the Provincial Fisheries Office, Phuket Provincial Education Office, the NDWC and the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology.

Dr Smith confirmed that the budget was approved the day before the seminar, on January 20.

“The two buoys will be about 250 to 300 kilometers from Phuket, much closer to shore than the one already installed, which is about 1,000 kilometers from the coast. They will give us better and faster information than the old buoy; the Meteorological Department will be responsible for making sure they are functioning,” explained Dr Smith.

“The buoys will confirm whether or not a tsunami is approaching, and will be critical in making the decision whether or not to issue a tsunami warning,” he added.

Dr Smith called for the buoys to be installed quickly. “We have to hurry because there have been many earthquakes in the region. We have to open the bidding for contractors to build and install the buoys very soon,” he said.

He also expressed concern about the system of warning towers throughout the six tsunami-affected provinces. “Many areas still need more warning towers and some islands still do not have any warning towers at all. But it’s difficult for us to do anything now because we have to ask for more budget from the government, although we have received many requests from Krabi, Phang Nga and Ranong provinces for more warning towers,” he said.

“I still worry for villages that are far from high ground. They should have tall buildings for tsunami shelters. We now have the budget to build four tsunami shelters this year, but we have yet to begin construction.

“Koh Phi Phi Don has only one tsunami shelter. I think that’s not enough because there are many tourists on the island, and don’t forget what we owe to tourism,” he warned.

“Currently, we have only 79 warning towers in the six Andaman provinces. It’s not enough because many danger areas are still isolated.

“Also, Patong has only three towers and they are not loud. Patong should have five towers. If we have more towers, we will not have problems with people not hearing the warning. We are also currently improving the language used in the warning,” he said.

However, Dr Smith warned, “I’m not satisfied with warning tests. It’s not good enough. We should hold tests more often and not warn people that a test will be held.

Key organizations and figures, such as the Ministry of Interior and local leaders, must develop evacuation routes, he added.

“We will inform people of the warning system through TV and through public notices in tourist areas. People in risk areas should be warned as soon as possible and be able to react quickly,” he said.

Dr Smith repeated his call for the NDWC to be an independent body. “Our problem is that we have only a few officers and our organization is not an independent entity. Some of our executives are from other government sectors. We will appeal to the new government to pass a law to make us an independent entity.

“The NDWC is already recognized by various nations about our duty, service and ability. I want all people in the six Andaman provinces to trust our system and I urge them to follow instructions from officers when we conduct our [tsunami-warning] tests,” he said.

http://www.phuketgazette.com/news/index.asp?id=6234

[GWR]

http://www.phuketgazette.com/news/index.asp?id=6234

Khun Smith must have been on his way back to Bangkok after the conference quoted in the previous post:

24 January 2008
Natural Disaster Warning Director experiences car accident
Director of the Natural Disaster Warning Center Smith Thammasarot (สมิทธิ ธรรมสโรช) experienced a car accident in Kraburi (กระบุรี) District of Ranong province. Mr. Smith’s 4 door pickup truck turned over while traveling on a slick road while heading to Ranong from Phuket province.

Mr. Smith’s vehicle was traveling on Petchkasem (เพชรเกษม) road in Ranong province heading back from Phuket with moderate rains soaking the road. Mr. Smith’s driver reportedly lost control of the pickup truck during a wide turn and flipped off of the road. Mr. Smith received a cut to his right eyebrow, injuries to his head and scratches along his neck. He has been sent to Thonburi hospital in Chumporn province where doctors conducted X-Rays on his injuries.

Medical officials report that Mr. Smith is free further injuries. He is conscious and can speak to medical staff.
Reporter : RTI-Reporter01
http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/previewnews.php?news_id=255101230019

[GWR]

Ambassadorial letter that includes a complaint about irregularities in funds for tsunami victims (click with magnifier cursor to see image full-size):
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/specials/monday_letter.gif

Thursday, February 21, 2008
Officer charged over tsunami funds misappropriation

BANGKOK (Kom Chad Luek): The Royal Thai Police Disciplinary Division has charged a high-ranking officer in the Foreign Affairs Division over alleged improprieties in the use of funds for the Thailand Tsunami Victims Identification (TTVI) center.

Col Chaiyaporn Wannaprapa, Deputy Commander of the Disciplinary Division of the Royal Thai Police, on February 12 announced that Col Pornprasert Karnjanarin was formally notified of the investigation against him just two days before a resignation letter he had tendered was set to take effect, on February 10.

Col Pornprasert, Deputy Commander of the Royal Thai Police Foreign Affairs Division, will have his pension benefits seized unless he is able to prove himself innocent, Col Chaiyaporn said.

“The investigating panel has issued Col Pornprasert a two-part summons ordering him to appear and hear the charges against him and also notifying him that if he fails to appear within 15 days a decision will be rendered and punishment imposed based solely on the facts already collected by the panel,” Col Chaiyaporn said.

“From our investigation, we believe that Col Pornprasert cannot prove his innocence and had thus been trying to avoid the consequences by reporting in sick until his resignation took effect,” he added.

Col Pornprasert said that it was important that justice be proved in the case because the image of the Royal Thai Police was at stake.

The Disciplinary Division will have one year to conclude the case before the statute of limitations runs out, he said.

It was also reported that since the alleged impropriety, which first came to light in 2006, Col Pornprasert had changed his first name to Paramate.

The case made international headlines after the ambassadors of seven countries that donated funds to the TTVI requested then-Police Commissioner Kowit Wattana to launch an independent audit of how 88 million baht in donated funds were used.
http://www.phuketgazette.com/news/index.asp?id=6290

[GWR]

Fault Line Spawned Indian Ocean Tsunami Ruptures Repeatedly
By CHRIS BRUMMITT / AP WRITER / JAKARTA
Tuesday, February 26, 2008

The fault line that spawned the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami has ruptured nearly 20 times this month, with three strong quakes in the last 24 hours alone. The activity shows the stress the seam is under and could be a harbinger of worse to come, scientists warn.

Kerry Sieh, a US professor who has studied the fault for more than 10 years, likened the seam to a length of rope in an imaginary tug of war between a group of men and an elephant.

http://www.irrawaddy.org/articlefiles/10559-2.jpg
[Photo: AFP - File picture shows Indonesian meteorological officials checking a seismograph screen. A 7.2-magnitude quake struck Monday off Indonesia's Sumatra island, sparking a tsunami alert.]

"One by one, two by two, the men are getting worn out and are letting go of the rope. That puts more stress on each of the remaining men," he wrote in an e-mail Tuesday. "Who knows which one will let go next, or whether they will let go all at once?"

Sieh and other scientists using Global Positioning System transmitters to measure the uplift of the quakes say another massive temblor sometime in the next 100 years or so is likely, but they cannot give an exact prediction.

The fault line is the seam in the earth where the Eurasian and Pacific tectonic plates have been pushing against each other for millions of years, causing huge pressure to build up. It runs the length of the west coast of Sumatra about 200 kilometers (125 miles) offshore.

The steady stream of quakes it is has produced this month do not seem to be alarming residents too much. Witnesses say some cause people to flee swaying homes, but few are heeding or are aware of the tsunami warnings that automatically accompany the big jolts.

"People did not really care because such a tremor is nothing new," Erwin, a receptionist at a hotel in the coastal town of Padang, said minutes after a powerful quake early Tuesday. "It was just like the one in the afternoon," said Erwin, who like many Indonesians goes by a single name.

The 2004 earthquake off Aceh province in northwest Sumatra had a magnitude of 9.2, making it the most powerful temblor in four decades. It triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in 12 Indian Ocean countries, more than half in Indonesia.

Three months after the Asian tsunami, a magnitude 8.6 quake further down the seam killed 1,000 people, while in September last year, an 8.7 quake opposite Bengkulu province damaged thousands of homes, killed about 25 people and sent a 3-meter (10-foot) tsunami crashing into nearby coastlines.

The most recent events have occurred opposite Bengkulu.

Last Wednesday, a magnitude 7.4 quake killed three people and damaged scores of houses. Since Sunday, four other events strong enough to prompt tsunami warnings by international agencies have jolted the region.

"They are best seen as part of a chain that began in 2004," said Dr. Fauzi, a top scientist at Indonesia's National Earthquake Center. "The stability of the fault has been disturbed," said Fauzi, who goes by a single name.

Since the Indian Ocean tsunami, Indonesia has spent millions of dollars (euros) on establishing a nationwide tsunami warning system, but there are still few warning sirens on beaches, including on Sumatra's threatened western coast.

Officials and residents of the two most populous cities of Padang and Bengkulu said no sirens sounded following the recent quakes despite warnings issued by the country's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency.

"We don't have such equipment," said Suyud, an official at Bengkulu's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency. "If there were tsunami warnings issued it was only government officials who knew that from text messages on their cell phones."
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=10559

[GWR]

Khun Smith must have been on his way back to Bangkok after the conference quoted in the previous post:
http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/previewnews.php?news_id=255101230019

Contrary to a report Frontpage ( http://www.2bangkok.com ), Dr. Smith has told the Phuket Gazette that he hasn't resigned ... yet!:

Thursday, March 13, 2008
Smith denies resigning as NDWC chief

Dr Smith Dharmasaroja has denied reports that he has resigned as Director of the National Disaster Warning Center.

BANGKOK: Dr Smith Dharmasaroja late this afternoon denied reports in the Thai media that he had resigned his position as Director of the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC), which is responsible for issuing tsunami warnings.

In a telephone interview with the Gazette, Dr Smith said that he told a press conference in Bangkok yesterday that he was only considering resigning – out of frustration from the lack of support from successive governments in funding the work of the NDWC.

The NDWC was set up after the 2004 tsunami to avoid a repeat of the huge loss of life in that disaster.

Dr Smith, 72, was widely quoted in the Thai media as having already resigned his position.

He was a vocal critic of the Gen Surayud Chulanont government for failing to establish the NDWC as an independent agency with its own budget and spending discretion.

The NDWC continues to be administered by the Meteorological Department.

However, Dr Smith said that he was still contemplating handing in his resignation. “I am still thinking about it because the central government still does not support the NDWC with any form of budget or staff, or improve the center by making it independent. To achieve anything we must have help from other organizations,” he said.

“Also, the Office of the Auditor General of Thailand has criticized the NDWC for making a profit and has accused us of not working hard enough, which they said creates a bad image for Thailand in foreign eyes – and all of that is not true,” Dr Smith said.

“Now our staff are very dispirited. We waited for any form of support from the previous central government, but none came. Now there is a new government and we have still received nothing. I don’t know how long we must wait,” he said.

“My health is still not good after the car accident a few months ago, and I plan to meet the Minister of Information and Communications Technology soon,” he added.

While returning to Bangkok from a tsunami-related conference in Phuket, the pickup Dr Smith was traveling in ran off the road in Ranong on January 23. He suffered minor injuries in the crash, including a blood clot in the brain.

Phuket, Thailand
18:55 local time (GMT +7)
http://www.phuketgazette.com/news/index.asp?id=6333

The earlier report:

2008-03-13 21:35:26
Thailand's head of disaster alert center quits, citing lack of government support

By AMBIKA AHUJA,
Associated Press Writer.

The head of Thailand's disaster warning center, established after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, resigned Thursday, complaining a lack of government support made the agency "powerless to do anything."

Smith Thammasaroj, chairman of the National Disaster Warning Center, said he stepped down because the government failed to make his ad-hoc agency more effective by granting it legal status as an independent body.

"We have no power to hire people, to give our employees any security, buy necessary equipment or make any decision at all," he said. "Disaster prevention work requires flexibility and efficiency."

Smith said the agency's effectiveness remained limited because it remains under the Meteorological Department of the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, without clear authority.

"After all the years we remain powerless to do anything," he told The Associated Press.

His center was established after the devastating Dec. 26, 2004 tsunami, which left more than 210,000 people dead or missing across a dozen countries. In Thailand, almost 5,400 were killed and 2,800 left missing.

Smith acknowledged the center has significantly improved the tsunami warning system on Thailand's southern Andaman Sea coast. But he said warning systems for floods and landslides in other parts of the country remain lacking, with no effective evacuation plans.

Smith's center was established in haste by then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, mainly to process information on seismic activity and issue early warnings for tsunamis that could hit the Andaman coastline.

He was also put in charge of other types of disaster prevention, including floods and landslides.

Before the tsunami, Smith's repeated warnings that the country's southwest coast could face deadly giant waves fell on deaf ears.

As chief of the meteorological department at the time, he was accused of causing panic and jeopardizing the huge tourist industry that had grown up around the tropical resort island of Phuket.
Link may expire:
http://www.axilltv.com/bkpost-2.php?newsid=313384

[GWR]

Friday, May 2, 2008
Investigation launched into ‘stolen’ tsunami victims’ coffins

PHANG NGA (Kom Chad Luek): Grave robbery has taken on a disturbing new form in Takuapa, where 11 aluminum coffins intended for tsunami victims were recently reported missing from a storage facility at Bang Maruan Cemetery.

In mid-April, cemetery manager Nitinai Sornsongkram, who is responsible for inventory of tsunami victims’ remains and government property at the cemetery, noticed that 11 of 40 coffins in the storage area were missing.

Saying that both he and Takuapa District Police made frequent checks of the site, K. Nitinai noted that the most recent recorded removal of a coffin from storage was on March 27.

K. Nitinai reported the apparent theft to the Takuapa Police, who have yet to update him on the progress of the investigation, he said.

Estimating the total value of the missing caskets at about 400,000 baht, he speculated that whoever removed the 70-kilogram coffins might have sold them off to a local scrap dealer.

Takuapa District Police Inspector Maj Anant Kuaboonkaew said officers had checked every local scrap shop, without success.

It is impractical to ask scrap dealers to identify the source of all the scrap aluminum they buy, he said.

“Stealing the coffins could not have been easy, because they are big and heavy. Perhaps this is a result of the cemetery’s internal management system. However, we will continue to investigate this case,” Maj Anant said.

However, a source in the Takuapa Police investigation team said that police had evidence that one shop had recently bought a large amount of scrap aluminum that had already been melted down.

A local scrap dealer identified only as “Montri” said that scrap aluminum currently fetches about 70 baht per kilogram, but that no shop would be likely to accept a new, complete coffin as scrap.

“If someone sold the coffins, they must have cut them up first,” he said.

At local rates, the 11 coffins would fetch more than 50,000 baht as scrap.

The remains of 390 tsunami victims are still at the Bang Maruan cemetery pending identification by the Thai Disaster Victim Identification (TDVI) center, which was formerly known as the Thai Tsunami Victim Identification (TTVI) center.

Administered by the Royal Thai Police, the TDVI is tasked with identifying the remains of foreign tsunami victims and repatriating them to their homelands.

On February 29, visiting UK Foreign Minister Meg Munn asked Interior Minister Chalerm Yoobamroong for an update on the TDVI’s work on tsunami cases.

Phuket Provincial Police Commander Maj Gen Decha Budnampetch was subsequently asked to follow up and urge the TDVI workers to report their progress to the Interior Ministry.

The missing coffins were bought by Thailand Tsunami Victim Identification (TDVI) center with funds provided under an 88-million-baht joint donation by countries whose nationals perished in the disaster.

Following a request by the donor countries for an investigation into how the donated funds were being used, the Royal Thai Police Disciplinary Division in February announced that at least one former high-ranking TDVI officer was found as likely to have misappropriated funds.

The officer, Col Pornprasert Karnjanarin, will have until February 8 next year to clear himself of the charges. If he cannot, he faces loss of his pension benefits as well as possible criminal charges.

In an official statement released by Deputy Press Attache Cynthia A. Brown of the United States Embassy in Bangkok, the US officer working on the case said, “We are pleased to learn that the Royal Thai Police investigation into the possible misuse of TDVI funds is proceeding.

“We encourage the Disciplinary Division to conclude the investigation in a timely manner with regard to allegations of financial misuse.

“We would also like to encourage the TDVI to continue its efforts identifying the few remaining unidentified victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami, so that all families who lost loved ones in this tragedy can find closure.”

18:04 local time (GMT +7)

http://www.phuketgazette.com/news/index.asp?id=6452

[GWR]

Plodprasop flames NDWC’s effectiveness

CAPE PANWA: Dr Plodprasop Surasawadee, assistant minister of the Prime Minister’s Office, today likened the status of Thailand’s National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) to that of an “abandoned toilet”.

His scathing remark was made at the opening of a three-day convention on coral reef research and management at the Phuket Aquarium.

As a former director of the NDWC, he said he would use his current position to lobby Cabinet for the NDWC to be an independent agency.

The NDWC, established by the Thaksin administration after the tsunami, was placed under the Thai Meteorological Department by the government of Surayud Chulanont.

That move has harmed the NDWC’s effectiveness to the extent that he compared the agency’s current status with that of an “abandoned toilet”.

Formerly, the NDWC could issue warnings independently, but now all alerts must first be approved by both the Meteorological Department and Prime Minister’s Office. The resulting delays could cost many lives if another disaster strikes suddenly, he said.

Dr Plodprasop said that the enormous death toll in Burma’s Irrawaddy Delta region [as a result of Cyclone Nargis] would have been much lower if Burma had a disaster warning center in place.

“I am worried that Thailand could face a situation like the tragedy in Myanmar under the current system,” he said.

The current tsunami early-warning system is also incomplete and ineffective, with just a single direct detection buoy too far from the Thai coast to give ample warning time, he said.

On the topics being discussed at the convention, Dr Plodprasop called for strict controls on diving at vulnerable reefs.

Although Thailand’s efforts to restore degraded reefs and build artificial ones are still in the early stages, they have so far been successful, Dr Plodprasop said.

Saying that Thailand’s coral reefs were deteriorating day by day, he also encouraged government officers to work hard at protecting these vital resources.

The convention at the Phuket Aquarium is being held by the Department of Marine and Coral Resources and its Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) as part of International Year of the Reef 2008 activities.

The topics of today’s seminars were: Technical methods used to survey coral reef ecosystems; Reef Ecology and Diversity; Oceanographic and climate change impact on reefs; Community-based coral reef management; and coral reef restoration.

Topics to be covered over the next two days include coral reef management strategies, coral reefs in crisis, and trends in coral-reef restoration techniques and academic research.

Phuket, Thailand
19:33 local time (GMT +7)
Non-specific link:
http://www.phuketgazette.com/news/index.asp?id=6461

[GWR]

See also today's previous post.

Thailand and India to link information on tsunami warning buoys

BANGKOK, May 8 (TNA) – Thailand and India agreed to link information on tsunami warning buoys
in the Indian Ocean to enhance the ability to pool their resources to prevent damage and loss of life
from the natural disaster in the future, the Thai Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Minister
said Thursday.

Mun Patanotai told reporters after meeting with Indian Ambassador to Thailand Latha Reddy at the
ministry on Thursday that they discussed cooperation to link information from tsunami warning buoys
between the two countries as Thailand plans to soon purchase a buoy to be deployed in the Indian Ocean.

He added that the talks on Thursday would lead eventually to the signing of a memorandum of understanding on bilateral cooperation.

Thailand plans to send technical experts to India to study two tsunami warning boys in the Indian Ocean.

The Indian buoy were home-developed while underwater buoy and software were imported from Italy, he said, adding that the system that the kingdom would purchase should be compatible with that of India

India also agreed to sell buoys to Thailand at inexpensive prices, Mr. Mun said.

Meanwhile, Smith Tumsaroch, chairman of Thailand's National Disaster Warning Committee said he expected the purchase of a buoy would take place by the end of this year as the most suitable time for deployment was during November-December because that time frame was not affected by the monsoons.

Mr. Smith said Thailand could deploy such buoys in only two locations, but the protection they would offer
extended over six provinces in the Andaman Sea side of Thailand's southern peninsula.

The former Director General of the Meteorological Department added that Thailand's tsunami early warning system is reliable and could warn the public within 45 minutes. (TNA)-E003

General News : Last Update : 21:04:38 8 May 2008 (GMT+7:00)
http://enews.mcot.net/view.php?id=4178

[GWR]

The ICT Minister told the Phuket Governor to ask all beach front hotels to have their alarm system linked with the NDWC warning towers for highest safety of their guests

The Information Communication and Technology Minister Man Pathanothai told the Phuket Governor to coordinate with beach front hotel operators around the island to have their alarm systems connected to the National Early Warning towers to ensure the highest safety for guests. The Minister ordered the Governor Mr. Nirund Kalayanamit after he inspected and witnessed the function of the warning tower on tourist beach of Kata. He stressed that in case of any natural threata like a tsunami or cyclone, the hotel system then must broadcast the NDWC warnings in 5 different major languages in their guest rooms. After the 2004 tsunami, 19 warning towers have been installed on Phuket’s beaches with direct links to the National Warning Centre in Nonthaburi.
http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/previewnews2.php?news_id=103

[GWR]

Local residents, hotel operators and tourists in Bangtao Bay are invited to join a tsunami evacuation drill on June 17th.

The Phuket Provincial authorities are inviting local residents, Thais or foreigners, hotel operators and tourists who are in the area to take part in a tsunami warning and evacuation exercise on June 17th at Bangtao Bay, near Cherng Talay northwest of Phuket. According to the provincial Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office Chief Chotenarin Koedsom, three major operations will be emphasized: the 1st is evacuating people out of vulnerable locations, which will be assumed to be BangTao beach, near the Laguna hotels. The 2nd issue is to test out the command and management of the evacuation centre; the 3rd element would be a test to see the operation after a disaster occurred to see how search & rescue teams get in amidst destruction. Around 1,000 people are expected to join in. All related agencies and personnel including rescue, medical and commanding bodies will assess the operation in preparation for the full scale exercise on July 7th in all six Andaman coastal provinces.
http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/previewnews2.php?news_id=241

[GWR]

Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Sirens sound for tsunami drill

BANG TAO: The tsunami warning sirens at Bang Tao Beach sounded at 10:30 am today in a tsunami evacuation drill organized by the provincial government to ensure local villagers, especially the teachers and students at the local school, are prepared for an emergency.

The sirens were triggered locally for the simulation, which lasted about 60 minutes. School children were evacuated to higher ground and the “mock injured” were processed through triage and taken to emergency first-aid centers set up for the drill.

About 60 students from Baan Bang Tao School ran to the Cherng Talay Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) offices about about 1.5 kilometers away. They were sprayed with water en route to cool them off in the late-morning heat.

The “injured” were recovered by emergency medical personnel in about 10 ambulances and quickly taken to the Cherng Talay OrBorTor office, where they received further treatment from nurses stationed there.

About 125 officers were called on for the exercise, which was led by Cherng Talay OrBorTor President Manote Panchalad and Chotenarin Kerdsom, chief of the Phuket office of the Department of Disaster Mitigation and Prevention (DDPM – Phuket)

One student taking part in the event told the Gazette, “I really didn’t hear any sirens. The staff shouted at me to run quickly to the ‘safe area’ at the OrBorTor office.”

K. Chotenarin was satisfied with the drill. “We successfully evacuated all victims out of the tsunami danger area,” he said.

“We would have liked to see more local businesses joining the exercise. However, we understand that in the low season they have few staff to care for the guests they have; in the high season they are very busy looking after their guests".

“Regardless, we will ask Cherng Talay OrBorTor to better arrange involvement from businesses later,” he added.

Another tsunami evacuation drill will be held on July 7, he said.

“On July 7, we will conduct a similar drill, but with all 19 tsunami warning towers in Phuket. This time, the evacuation drill will be co-ordinated by the NDWC [National Disaster Warning Center] and will be carried out throughout the Andaman provinces,” he said.

Phuket, Thailand
16:56 local time (GMT +7)
Non-specific link:
http://www.phuketgazette.com/news/index.asp?id=6560

[GWR]

A full scale Tsunami evacuation drill in six Andaman Coastal provinces of Southern Thailand is scheduled to take place on July 7th, 2008 while the Thai authority places importance on public education on natural disasters.

The Thai cabinet meeting on June 10th discussed the national warning system and placed the emphasis on educating for public awareness. It also stressed that the government’s Public Relations Department be the main media channel for information dissemination. The government also scheduled an annual full-scale Tsunami warning and evacuation drill on July 7th 2008 in six Andaman coastal provinces of southern Thailand with Deputy Prime Minister Suwit Khunkitti as chairman of the organizing committee. The exercise, planned to take place in the morning at around 9.30am (not 10.30 as stated), will be conducted in Phuket, Phang-Nga, Krabi, Trang, Satun and Ranong provinces involving local residents and tourists.

http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/previewnews2.php?news_id=273

[GWR]

Friday, June 27, 2008
Phuket prepares for tsunami drill

PHUKET: At 9:45 am on July 7, all 79 tsunami warning towers operated by the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) will sound their alarms as part of a comprehensive tsunami warning test for the six Andaman provinces.

Deputy Prime Minister and Industry Ministry Suwit Kunkitti announced the drill on nationwide television at 3 pm yesterday.

Co-ordinating the drill from a command center at Saphan Hin in Phuket City will be Governor Niran Kalayanamit and Chainarong Kerdsom, chief of the Phuket office of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.

The drill is scheduled to start at 9:30 am and finish at 11:30 am.

In addition to conducting a tsunami evacuation drill at Saphan Hin, the command center will also act as the communications center for co-ordinating the siren tests throughout Phang Nga, Krabi, Ranong, Trang, Satun as well as Phuket..

Residents from Rassada and Wichit and students from Phuket Technical College, Phuket Vocational College and Phuket Polytechnic College will join the evacuation drill at Saphan Hin, K. Chainarong said.

Preparations for the drill will begin at about 8 am, he added.

“The Phuket Provincial Office recommended that the command center be set up at Patong, Kata or Karon, but the NDWC decided on Saphan Hin,” explained Governor Niran.

K. Chainarong said the choice of location was not that important because all low-lying coastal areas are at risk and need advance warning.

All tambon administration organizations (OrBorTor) and local municipalities have been asked to co-ordinate evacuation drills in their respective areas, he added.

Gov Niran expressed concern that not enough people will be aware that the exercise will be only a drill. “I worry that tourists and other people around the 19 tsunami warning towers will not know that it is only an exercise,” he said

To help inform the public, the Phuket office of the Public Relations Department has posted billboards announcing the drill at the main intersection leading to Phuket International Airport and on Patong Hill.

In addition, about 50 flags intended to warn people of the drill have been posted along popular beaches around the island.

The drill will be televised live on NBT.

Phuket, Thailand
18:11 local time (GMT +7)
http://www.phuketgazette.com/news/index.asp?id=6589

[GWR]

I am irreverently wondering if the real thing will also have an opening ceremony with some phu-yai know-nothing making a long turgid speech.

Andaman coastal provinces conducting tsunami evacuation drills

The six Andaman coastal provinces, namely Ranong, Phang Nga, Phuket, Krabi, Trang and Satun, in cooperation with the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation and the National Disaster Warning Center conducted the annual tsunami evacuation drills today (July 7th).

The Deputy Prime Minister and Industry Minister, Mr. Suwit Khunkitti, presided over the opening ceremony of this event at Laem Saphan Hin in Muang district of Phuket province. The warning system was tested and the comprehensive evacuation drills were carried out concurrently in 79 locations in the six Andaman coastal provinces at around 09.20 hours. The drills would enable relevant units and public members in the six provinces along the Andaman coast to be prepared for potential tsunami disaster. The Director-General of the Meteorological Department, Mr. Suparerk Tansriratanawong, indicated that the warning towers will play the national anthem from 08.00 to 18.00 hours everyday to ensure that the warning towers are operating well. He asked the general public to report to the officials, if the operation does not work properly in order to improve its performance.

During the opening ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Suwit thanked related working bodies for taking part in this drills. He said this activity will increase the confidence of foreign tourists. He said similar natural disaster drills are expected to take place in northern Thailand, in preparation for potential earthquake in this region. He said China and Japan recently experienced earthquakes more frequently, and therefore, Thailand has to be ready for such occurrence.
http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/previewnews.php?news_id=255107070013

[GWR]

The two districts mentioned in this report are genuinely rather quiet places, with little of the continual noise pollution to be found most other places in this country:

Ranong’s warning towers need to be improved as the sound was too faint during the Tsunami evacuation drills

The Tsunami evacuation drill took place in 5 locations of 2 districts in Ranong. They were Suksamran and Kapur. After the exercise Ranong Governor Kanjanapa Keeman said the sounds from the towers were too faint and that the warnings in speech were too long. She expressed her concerns that if the Tsunami warning were to be issued at night time, the general public would not hear. She suggested that the sound of the towers be adjusted. Meanwhile the provincial chief of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Jessada Wattananurak said the National Disaster Warning Centre or NDWC has approved a 9.2 million baht to install 4 additional towers for Ranong. They are to be installed in Pak Klong, Bangwan village, Kampruan and a Bang KluayNok pier. The provincial authority will also request a budget for another 6 locations.
http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/previewnews2.php?news_id=381

Tourists stay put as tsunami sirens sound

PATONG: Tourists in Patong opted to soak up the sun rather than run for their lives during yesterday's tsunami drill. The exercise, held across the six Andaman provinces, included the sounding of all 79 tsunami warning towers operated by the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC).

At Patong Beach, a female English tourist told the Gazette, “I heard the siren and knew what it was, but when I looked out and could see that there was no tsunami coming, I just sat here.”

When questioned what she would have done had a real wave been hurtling towards the beach, the English tourist gave no reply.

One male Kuwaiti tourist said, “The hotel told me about the drill and gave me brochures, so I knew there was no real danger. I am staying on the ninth floor of my hotel so I feel very safe on holiday in Patong.”

One male tourist said, “I knew there was a drill, but I couldn’t hear the siren.”

The drill, which was co-ordinated from a command center in Saphan Hin, in Phuket City, began at 9:30 am and finished at 11:30 am, with all 19 of Phuket’s warning towers tested.

At Saphan Hin, local residents from Rassada and Wichit joined students from Phuket Vocational College, Phuket Technical College and Phuket Polytechnic College in the drill, along with emergency-response personnel.

Meanwhile, tambon administration organizations (OrBorTor) and local municipalities conducted their own drills around the island.

Phuket Vice-Governor Smith Palawatvichai said that he was satisfied with Phuket’s part in the Andaman-wide tsunami drill.

http://www.phuketgazette.com/news/index.asp?id=6618

[GWR]

Second Phase: Phuket to install additional earthquake detector

PHUKET, July 11 (TNA) – Phuket will initiate the second phase of its earthquake detector installation in November to increase the efficiency of Thailand's disaster warning system.

Chamnong Chitpakdee, director of the meteorological center in the southwestern region said the second phase of the earthquake detector project will be built on Racha Noi island in Phuket.

Both a seismic station and a strong motion accelerograph station will be set up on the island, which presently has two existing seismic stations.

He said the Royal Thai Navy has allowed the disaster warning system to be installed in its area, and that the system, when complete, will cover all disaster prone areas.

Mr. Chamnong said that Thailand's tsunami warning system is considered 100 per cent complete, with various systems including disaster warning towers, tsunami detection buoys, and automatic weather stations installed across the country to ensure efficiency. (TNA)

General News : Last Update : 16:38:27 11 July 2008 (GMT+7:00)
http://enews.mcot.net/view.php?id=5184

[GWR]

http://enews.mcot.net/view.php?id=5184

Thursday, July 31, 2008
‘Wave watcher’ may predict tsunamis

PHUKET: An automatic weather station to be installed on Koh Racha Noi will also measure wave and tidal movements, which may be able to help warn against impending tsunamis.

The proposal has been approved by the Royal Thai Navy and the Town & Country Planning Department, though the budget required has yet to be determined, said Chumnong Chitpukdee, Director of Southern (West Coast) center of the Thai Meteorological Department (TMD).

The data will help TMD officers better understand the frequency of waves, which may help with developing an alternative energy source, said K. Chumonong.

More importantly, he added, the equipment, through monitoring wave frequencies, may be able to determine whether an earthquake has happened in the region and possibly help to warn against impending tsunamis.

The project has been approved by the provincial committee for coastal conservation, led by Phuket Vice-Governor Worapoj Rathasima, and other relevant committees. Rawai Municipality, the local authority responsible for Koh Racha Noi, has also granted permission to install the facility.

Other automatic weather monitoring stations will be set up in Kamala, Karon and Pa Khlok as part of a network of 820 such stations set up nationwide, K. Chumnong said.

“The Meteological Department currently lacks coastal weather information. We used to receive such information from commercial ships, but now fewer commercial ships pass through the area so these stations will help measure temperature, humidity and air pressure. The data will be sent to our center for us to analyze, which will help us more accurately forecast the weather,” said K. Chumnong.

The data will be sent automatically to the National Disaster Warning Center and automatically uploaded to a TMD website so that all TMD officers can access the data, he added.

Phuket, Thailand
17:58 local time (GMT +7)

http://www.phuketgazette.net/news/index.asp?id=6669

[GWR]

Thursday, August 21, 2008
Tsunami warning system improvements stalled

PHUKET: Plans for Thailand to launch two more “tsunameters” off the Andaman coastline to improve its tsunami warning system capability have become bogged down by red tape and technical problems, leaving only one direct detection unit in place as the fourth anniversary of the 2004 disaster nears.

Dr Smith Dharmasaroja, who chairs the committee that directs the Nonthaburi-based National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC), last weekend told the Gazette that the NDWC was budgeted 165 million baht for the two tsunami direct detection units in 2007.

When deployed about 250 to 300 kilometers off Phuket, they will greatly enhance the NDWC’s ability to detect and warn of an impending tsunami, he said.

Technically known as Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami (Dart) monitoring systems, the state-of-the-art tsunameters consist of a pressure sensor on the ocean floor that relays data to a surface buoy equipped with satellite technology.

The units enable national agencies, such as the NDWC, to detect a tsunami and issue a warning in real time. They also eliminate the need for expensive, panic-inducing false alarms that can occur when warnings are issued based on seismic data alone.

Unfortunately, the contractor the NDWC is negotiating with to provide the two tsunameters is unable to meet the technical requirements that Thailand and India agreed to in their effort to set up a regional system, Dr Smith said.

Describing himself as “only an employee”, Dr Smith said the authority to move forward with the purchase rests with the ICT Ministry and its Meteorology Department, which must first approve all technical aspects and sign off on procurement.

Two “tsunameters” have been deployed in the Indian Ocean since the tsunami. The first, launched by Thailand and the US on December 1, 2006, in the middle of the Indian Ocean, is still functioning normally and providing date to the NDWC.

Last year Dr Smith confirmed the suspicions of a Gazette reporter that the location of the first tsunameter was too far west of the subduction zone where the last tsunami originated to be of real benefit to Phuket should another tsunami-producing earthquake occur there, because by the time the west-moving tsunami wave reaches the sensor, its east-moving counterpart would already have reached Phuket beaches.

However, Dr Smith described as inaccurate reports attributed to Dr Plodprasop Surasawadee who, as assistant minister of the Prime Minister’s Office, was quoted by a Bangkok-based English-language daily in May as saying that the first Thai tsunameter was not working at all.

Jakarta-based David McKinnie, of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) serving as a coordinator for the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System (IOTWS), also confirmed that the Thai tsunameter is still functioning normally.

“It is operating and providing full services to Thailand as well as other Indian Ocean nations,” he wrote the Gazette in an email. He encouraged readers to confirm this by visiting the website www.ndbc.noaa.gov/dart.shtml that displays monitoring data from the Thai station and many others from its global network.

He agreed, however, that the Dart unit needs better maintenance.“Under our agreement with Thailand, NDWC was to establish a maintenance contract for the system by December 2006. These systems need regular maintenance and the Thai station is long overdue for such routine work. We are concerned that no agreement is in place, though we understand NDWC and the Thai Meteorological Department are making progress in this area,” he wrote.

The second tsunameter, further south off the coast of Sumatra, is broken, he admitted.

“The second tsunameter deployed in partnership with Indonesia in September, 2007, was providing data to NDWC until it was vandalized by fishermen in March, 2008. We are working with Indonesian authorities to redeploy a tsunameter there as soon as possible,” he said.

“We know that NDWC is planning to purchase two additional tsunameters as well and that NDWC has issued a solicitation for procurement. Although we are aware of other elements of the Thai system, I do not have good information about NDWC plans for developing the Thai tsunami warning system or progress toward NDWC goals in this area,” he said.

Mr McKinnie also refutes claims that the location where the first Thai-US Dart unit was deployed was poorly chosen. In fact the siting is nearly optimal, he said.

“One of the basic siting considerations is that tsunami waves travel very fast in deep water and much more slowly in shallow water. The waters between Phuket and the Andamans are relatively shallow. The water from the source to the Dart station is relatively deep. A tsunami would reach the Dart station 1.5 to two hours before it would reach Phuket, thus the station provides a potential warning lead time of 1.5 to two hours. A tsunameter sited c