Tsunami Warning And Evacuation Exercise Monday July 7 2008

[NBT TV Phuket]

MiniVDOs:

http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/prev...php?news_id=364

Tourists on Patong beach yesterday relaxed and swam in the sea as normal. Our news team went to check whether they knew of the Thai government’s Tsunami Warning and Evacuation Exercise to take place next Monday July 7th; most said they are aware of the drill from different sources. Some said they learnt from signs, some from radio and English television news like our program Andaman News. Meanwhile operators on Patong beach like Jet Ski operators said they learnt of the activity from the Patong Municipality and the signs put up. They welcomed the move saying that they are glad that the authority recognizes that safety is important for residents and tourists on Thailand’s shoreline. Some called for the authorities to run the drill twice a year. Patong beach is one of the locations the NDWC is scheduled to conduct a full-scale Tsunami Warning and Evacuation Drill on July 7th when the NDWC will signal warning alarms to all 79 warning towers in the 6 Andaman coastal provinces of Phuket, Phang-Nga, Krabi, Trang, Ranong and Satun.

Here are some of the comments by tourists in Patong yesterday:

---------------

http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/prev...php?news_id=362

Our interview is with Bhuritt Maswongsa, Vice President of the Phuket Tourist Association & Patong Resort hotel about the Tsunami warning evacuation drill on Monday 7 July at 9.30am, when 3 Patong warning towers will sound alarms. Residents & tourists are encouraged to run up Sois/Lanes, while the National Disaster Warning Centre (NDWC) wants all hotels to link their alarms to NDWC towers. But first Bhuritt talks about his hotel being informed about the drill: ……. Contact: www.PhuketTourist.com Tel 076 222177-8 Fax: 076 354139

---------------------

http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/prev...php?news_id=352

Confirming that Krabi will join 5 other provinces in the Andaman region of southern Thailand to conduct the Tsunami warning and evacuation drill on July 7th, Krabi Governor Siwa Sirisaowalak said the drill will be at 12 locations. The siren will be heard from all 12 warning towers linked with the National Disaster Warning Centre. The area covers three districts of Krabi. Starting with Muang district, the activities will be conducted in Rimna village and Loh Ba-gao bay on Phi Phi islands, Railey beach on the east side, Ao Nang Bay, Nopparat Tara beach in Moo. 3 and near the national park’s accommodation, Klong Muang, and Laem Poh. In NuaKlong district, the session will be conducted in Klong Toh village, Ting-rai on Sri Borya Island. In Lanta district, the drill will be at Ban Saladan, and Klong Nin. The National Disaster Warning Centre is scheduled to signal the siren warning of a supposed Tsunami at around 9.45 am on July 7th. Residents and tourists are invited to join in but keep calm when hearing the signal.

---------------

http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/prev...php?news_id=343

The badly hit Ban Namkem village is designated as a focal point for the up coming Tsunami warning and evacuation drill in Phang-Nga on the morning of July 7th. The governor Wichai Praisa-Ngob yesterday afternoon held a meeting with all related agencies in preparation for the drill. Even though the tests will run in all 79 locations where the National Disaster Warning Centre has installed the system, the Phang-Nga authority places importance on a fishing village of Ban Nam Kem. The exercise there will involve local fishing communities, Burmese workers, and school children. Signs and billboards plus brochures of information are distributed into hotels and tourism businesses to make sure that tourists are properly informed. Meanwhile the Krabi authorities focus on the tourist beach of Klong Muang to observe the drill. The beach houses many 5 star hotels and a school. They expect that hotel and hospitality staff would learn how to look after tourists or guests in times of any warnings, while school children will also be educated and tested out. The full-scale drill will involve siren signal from the warning towers, evacuation plus rescue & search for supposed victims.

___________________

Andaman News NBT (VHF dial) + maybe FM90.5 Radio Thailand at 8.30am & relays/repeats on local Cable TV channel 1, broadcast to Phang Nga, Krabi & Phuket provinces, & possibly FM108 Mazz Radio 7.30pm in Phuket, Thursday 3 July 2008 & http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/ Contact [email protected]

[NBT TV Phuket]

MiniVDO on http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/prev...php?news_id=378

MiniVDO: Special - Tsunami Warning & Evacuation Drill at Saphan Hin & Patong on 7 July

<p> After informing people in advance about the full scale Tsunami Warning and Evacuation drill in 79 locations in 6 Andaman coastal provinces where the warning towers are installed, the Thai government on Monday July 7th conducted the exercise. They covered the provinces of Phuket, Phang-Nga, Krabi, Ranong, Trang and Satun.

In Phuket, participants involved included related officials, medical staff, communications, local governments, residents, and tourists, adults and children. It aimed at testing out the personnel, and equipment plus local residents’ and tourists’ awareness for handling future disasters in prevention of any loss of lives.

The activity simulated an earthquake of 8.5 on the Richter scale and the National Disaster Warning Centre (NDWC) issued warnings via towers in all 79 locations. The towers are linked with the NDWC in NonthaBuri province, near Bangkok.

Once the warning tower signaled the alarms for a pretend Tsunami at around 9.45am, the exercise began. At Saphan Hin in Phuket city, after the siren, people and students who were in fact training for sports events, started to evacuate inland along the designated routes heading to higher and safer ground.

<p> At the tourist beach of Patong in Phuket, some residents and tourists joined in the drill relocating themselves to safe ground after hearing the warning siren. They ran along the designated route of Soi Bang La onto Soi Sansabai lane which is designated as higher ground and an evacuation area.

The full-scale drill was run with search and rescue volunteers and medical teams to handle people who were supposedly injured from the tsunami or evacuation. They listened to the incident commander so that management would run as planned. The NDWC announced the end of the situation at around 10.20am.

After the drill the Deputy Prime Minister Suwit Khunkitti who witnessed the mock situation at Saphan Hin, in his capacity as chairman of the national committee on disaster warning systems, thanked local authorities, governments and all the public, and volunteers who contributed to the comprehensive exercise and voiced his confidence in the preparedness of locals in the case of any future natural disaster:

Similar natural disaster drills are expected to take place in northern Thailand, in preparation for potential earthquakes in that region.

Meanwhile Mr Suwit indicated that in future the warning towers will play the national anthem at 08.00 and 18.00 hours everyday to ensure that the systems are operating well.

<p> After the drill we spoke to 3 sets of tourists in Patong, firstly to Australians who joined in the run up Soi Bangla to Soi Sansabai in the middle of town, and who just by chance were the same tourists we spoke to last week on the beach before the drill: According to them, the tower messages were not clear even though they were just 100 metres away:

Then we spoke to another Australian tourist who was staying at Sunset Beach Resort, in Kalim, in the north part of Patong, where another warning siren is installed right on top of the hotel. It is maintained by the Patong Municipality and according to the tourist it went off loud and clear at the same time as other towers on Monday morning:

Finally we spoke to a Dutch family of guests at Seaview hotel on the Beach road at the south end of Patong, where the Municipality also installed a warning siren on top of the hotel. However according to the tourist, the sound was not so clear as expected:

--------------

MiniVDO on http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/prev...php?news_id=379

MiniVDO: Phang-Nga and Krabi governors were pleased with the Tsunami evacuation drills.

<p> Starting from Phang-Nga where the exercise was conducted in 18 locations where the towers are in place. The comprehensive test was conducted at the fishing village of Ban Namkem and involved over 1,000 villagers, adults and school children. The drill simulated Tsunami warnings via warning towers and people started to evacuate to a designated evacuation shelter at Ban Namkem school.

Witnessing the exercise and joining in himself, Phang-Nga Governor Wichai Praisa-Ngob said he was pleased with the exercise and that it was very well participated in by locals and tourists. He said the participants correctly followed the procedures so he is assured that in the case of any future disaster or threat, it would help minimize the loss of lives and properties.

In Krabi, the tests were conducted in 12 locations where the towers are linked with the National Disaster Warning Centre are installed. They included Phi Phi island, Ao Nang bay, Nopparat Tara , Sri Borya island and Lanta island. The local authority also ran evacuation drills in 20 other locations where towers under the provincial authority’s responsibility are built. The governor Siwa Sirisaowaluck was pleased with the exercise saying that people could evacuation to safe ground within the designated time.

---------------

http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/prev...php?news_id=381

MiniVDO: 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.

-----------------------------------------------

Andaman News NBT (VHF dial) + maybe FM90.5 Radio Thailand at 8.30am & perhaps relays/repeats on local Cable TV channel 1, broadcast to Phang Nga, Krabi & Phuket provinces, & possibly FM108 Mazz Radio 7.30pm in Phuket, Wednesday 9 July 2008 & http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/ Contact [email protected]