A Full Scale Tsunami Evacuation Drill In Six Andaman Coastal Provinces In Southern Thailand Is Planned For August 21st

[NBT TV Phuket]

item--1---on VDO on National News Bureau Public Relations Department

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The annual full scale tsunami evacuation exercise is scheduled to take place on August 21st in 76 locations where early warning towers are installed across six coastal provinces in the Andaman region of southern Thailand. The drill will simulate an earthquake scenario which is followed by a Tsunami warning issued by the National Disaster Warning Centre in Bangkok and siren sounded from the warning towers. The scenario will begin at 10.15 am and the full scale evacuation exercise will end at around 11.30 am. The tourist beach of Patong in Phuket will be the main venue for the drill which will be televised live by NBT. The exercise is aimed at raising public awareness for disaster risk reduction and preparedness while it also tests out and enhances skills of related personnel and equipment plus the function of the early warning towers. The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department on Thursday held a meeting with related organizations in Phuket in preparation for the event. The meeting expects around 750 people to be involved in the exercise in Patong.

Andaman News NBT TV (VHF dial) at 8.30am broadcast to Phang Nga, Krabi & Phuket provinces, Friday 7 August 2009

[NBT TV Phuket]

VDO News Thursday 20 August: Preparations for Tsunami drill & Moevenpick Hotel hold internal drill

VDO on http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/prev...hp?news_id=1221

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item--1--- Thailand’s Andaman coastal provinces are ready for the Tsunami evacuation drill on Friday.

All parties involved in the full scale Tsunami Evacuation exercise confirmed their readiness to conduct and take part in the activity tomorrow Friday August 21st during 10.20 – 11.30 am. On Tuesday the Phuket Governor Wichai Praisa-Ngob held a meeting with all agencies concerned to check their preparedness. The National Disaster Warning Centre joins hands with the Ministry of Interior to conduct full scale Tsunami exercises in 6 Andaman coastal provinces in southern Thailand which experienced massive destruction in December 2004. The tourist beach of Patong is designated as the main location with a televised live broadcast by National Broadcasting Services of Thailand or NBT. The exercise involving around 1,500 participants will be presided over and observed by the Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Suthep Tueksuban. Some foreign dignitaries will also attend the drill on Patong beach. The drill on Friday morning will simulate an earthquake of 8.8 on the Richter scale. After analyzing the data, the NDWC issues a Tsunami warning and triggers the alarms linking all 76 Tsunami warning towers in six Andaman coastal provinces. The siren will be sounded within about 1.5 kilometers parameters and send messages in five different languages namely Thai, English, German, Chinese, & Japanese, the evacuation exercise then begins. Related personnel will carry out their tasks such as the disaster prevention and mitigation team, rescue, navy for sea rescue operation, medical personnel with a command centre set up. People will run to designated evacuation shelters located around 1 kilometre from the beach road. The annual exercise will end at around 11.30 am. As for other areas, in Phang-Nga the main focus will be at the Namkem village which was the most devastated site in 2004 while Krabi’s comprehensive exercise is planed at the Shell Cemetery. In Ranong the drill will focus at Ban Bang Bane where the Permanent Secretary to the Prime Minister’s office Mr Natee Premrasamee will be presenting 10.8 million baht from the disaster relief fund towards the installation of 4 additional warning towers for the prone locations in Ranong.

item--2--- Hoteliers and beach operators on Patong beach welcome the Tsunami Evacuation exercise and said they would take part in the activity as it reinforces safety measures for themselves and their clients.

Beach operators on Patong beach joined hands with the officers from Royal Thai Navy Third Command to clean the beach in front of Soi Bangla where the Tsunami evacuation exercise will take place. A fruit vender at the beach told Andaman News that she prepares to join in the drill as it means re-enforcing safety for herself and to assure the potential customers of the authority’s policy in preparedness measures. It was the same for a deck chair operator who insisted that she will be part of the operation as it means to review the procedures for herself, colleagues and her guests. There are 3 warning towers on Patong beach and one was the first to be installed in Thailand 3 months after the tsunami incident. The other two are located on top of hotels – Seaview Patong and Sunset Beach Resort.

Item -3--- The National Disaster Warning Centre held seminar for amateur radio operators in southern Thailand to enhance communication efficiency in handling emergencies.

Amateur radio members from all 14 southern provinces attended a seminar on 'communication management in response to crisis' hosted at the Metropole Hotel in Phuket city during August 19-20th, 2009. Held by Thailand National Disaster Warning Centre (NDWC) , the session aimed at surveying and gathering the present communication resources under the ‘Disaster Warning Networks’ laying down plans, and discussing the crisis communication management leading to efficient communication in times of crisis or disaster. The expert from the NDWC Mr. Manas Songsang pointed out that when a disaster occurs, normal communication networks usually fail. The Ministry of Information Technology then prepares main and backup plans to handle any types of disaster and crisis. The NDWC has built up the ‘Disaster Warning Network’ which comprises amateur radio members to act as disaster warning networks and disseminating information along with the NDWC’s early warning towers which are installed across the six Andaman coastal provinces. He said over 1,000 of them have undergone training and that the NDWC set a target to extend the network to 300,000 people across the nation. Panom Sukwichai, a network member from Yala, said he believes that the authority’s integration work with members of the public or amateur radio clubs would help mitigate or reduce the impact from disaster. Thaiwarit Petchsut from Samui Island in Surat Thani sees the ‘Disaster Warning networks’ as a mobile network which can accurately disseminate information for people in vulnerable locations.

item--4--- Moevenpick hotel in Karon held a tsunami drill for internal staff

The Moevenpick Resort & Spa, on Karon Beach in Phuket, held the latest of its regular tsunami or fire drills, usually held every 2 or 3 months, with about 150 internal staff taking part in a training session and then an evacuation up the 6 flights of stairs to the roof top where they assembled. Joining in organizing the evacuation exercise, Phuket provincial chief of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Chotenarin Keodsom said it was a good way to check the integration plans for businesses and the authority and that Moevenpick is a good example of a hotel which recognizes the importance of evacuation drills. Hansruedi Fruitiger, GM of the hotel, told Andaman News, why the drill was held and who was involved, just 2 days before the full scale tsunami drill in 6 provinces: voice *******

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VDO Vox Pop: 3 tourists in Patong - views on tsunami drill this Friday

VDO on http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/prev...hp?news_id=1222

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We asked 3 tourists in Patong yesterday if they knew about Friday's tsunami drill in Thailand, their confidence in the safety system and thoughts on locations for their hotel in relation to any possible tsunami, as in the last 3 days, there have been an unusually high number, 26 in fact, of minor earthquakes at nearby Sumartra Island of Indonesia: Let's hear what they think: .........

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Andaman News NBT TV (VHF dial) at 8.30am & perhaps repeats on Phuket Cable TV channel 1 at 3.30pm, 7pm, 1.30am & 6.30am, broadcast to Phang Nga, Krabi & Phuket provinces & maybe Mazz Radio FM108 at 7pm in Phuket, Thursday 20 August 2009 & http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/ & www.YouTube.com/AndamanNews