BANGKOK: -- Thailand's participation in a Pacific Rim tsunami-warning drill last night ran into telecommunications problems, delaying text-message warnings via mobile phones by several minutes, a senior technocrat said.
Unesco's Hawaii-based Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission staged a simulated tsunami warning, supposedly triggered by a magnitude-8.8 earthquake off the eastern coast of the Philippines, and sent the alert to 26 Pacific-rim countries to test regional disaster preparedness.
The test was the first of its kind since the warning system was installed in the Pacific about 40 years ago.
While Deputy Prime Minister Suwat Liptapanlop hailed Thailand's response to the tsunami drill as "successful," leading tsunami expert Smith Dharmasaroja was less bullish.
"It was not 100 per-cent successful," Mr Smith, chief adviser to the National Disaster Warning Centre of Thailand, said in a telephone interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
"We had some difficulties with telecommunication links, so the SMS messages were delayed by five minutes or more," said Smith, speaking from Prachuab Khiri Khan province on the Gulf of Thailand.
The test warnings were also sent by fax to hotels and broadcast on television.
Smith noted that the Thai cabinet would need to be informed about the telecommunications snafu as would His Majesty the King, who keeps his summer palace in Hua Hin in the province.
The king lost a grandson, Phumi Jensen, in the December 26, 2004, tsunami that hit six provinces on Thailand's western coast, killing 5,400 people, half of them tourists. This morning's drill did not include that area, which is on the Indian Ocean.
Smith noted that there was no great likelihood of a killer tsunami hitting the Gulf of Thailand but added that, nonetheless, Thailand should be prepared for the possibility.
He added that Thailand's domestic tsunami-warning system on the opposite, Andaman Seacoast was now 99% complete with only a few remote islands excluded from the network.
But Thailand still lacks tsunami buoys, deemed an important part of setting up a truly efficient warning system.
"Usaid has offers to provide Thailand with the buoys for free, but we still need cabinet approval because we will also need a maintenance budget," Smith said.
--DPA/Bangkok Post 2006-05-17
Tsunami-warning drill not 100 per-cent successful
Tsunami-warning drill not 100 per-cent successful
With A Name Like Bas, It Has To Be Good.
Disaster warning system set for 57 provinces
Thailand will install an early warning system in 144 locations considered vulnerable to natural disaster in 57 provinces nationwide, according to Government spokesman Surapong
Suebwonglee.
The two-year project, from 2005 to 2007, was assigned to the Committee for the Development of an Early Warning System and the National Disaster Warning Centre of Thailand, the spokesman said.
Mr. Surapong said the plan is being implemented in three phases. Phase 1 of the warning system has already been installed in 76 locations in six Andaman Sea provinces -- Phuket, Phang-nga, Krabi, Trang, Satun, and Ranong.
In Phase 2, installation is currently being carried out in 48 locations, with all expected to be complete by the end of September.
And in Phase 3, Mr. Surapong said, the remaining warning alarms will be installed in 20 locations, completing the targeted 144 locations in 57 provinces nationwide.
Funds are not yet available for the last stage, the spokesman said, but implementation of Phase 3 will take place after budget approval.
Whatever shapes or sizes natural disasters come in, the warning system will operate automatically, without human intervention, and the warning sirens can be heard within a one kolometre radius.
The early warning system will help reduce the loss of lives caused by natural disasters, especially floods and mudslides experienced by several provinces every year, as an instant evacuation can be prompted, said the spokesman.
TNA-2006-08-21
Thailand will install an early warning system in 144 locations considered vulnerable to natural disaster in 57 provinces nationwide, according to Government spokesman Surapong
Suebwonglee.
The two-year project, from 2005 to 2007, was assigned to the Committee for the Development of an Early Warning System and the National Disaster Warning Centre of Thailand, the spokesman said.
Mr. Surapong said the plan is being implemented in three phases. Phase 1 of the warning system has already been installed in 76 locations in six Andaman Sea provinces -- Phuket, Phang-nga, Krabi, Trang, Satun, and Ranong.
In Phase 2, installation is currently being carried out in 48 locations, with all expected to be complete by the end of September.
And in Phase 3, Mr. Surapong said, the remaining warning alarms will be installed in 20 locations, completing the targeted 144 locations in 57 provinces nationwide.
Funds are not yet available for the last stage, the spokesman said, but implementation of Phase 3 will take place after budget approval.
Whatever shapes or sizes natural disasters come in, the warning system will operate automatically, without human intervention, and the warning sirens can be heard within a one kolometre radius.
The early warning system will help reduce the loss of lives caused by natural disasters, especially floods and mudslides experienced by several provinces every year, as an instant evacuation can be prompted, said the spokesman.
TNA-2006-08-21
With A Name Like Bas, It Has To Be Good.