Tsunami Warning Buoy For Phuket Now Dead In The Water

[george]

Tsunami warning buoy for Phuket now dead in the water

Despite responsibility for maintenance of the

buoy, Thailand has been unable to provide it.

With a dead battery, the buoy is no longer operative.

Then US Ambassador to Thailand Ralph Boyce

(left) and former Thai Foreign Affairs Minister Nitya

Pibulsonggram in front of the DART buoy before its

deployment off Phuket in late 2006. File photo.

PHUKET CITY: -- The tsunami direct detection buoy launched from Phuket in 2006 is inoperable because the Thai agency responsible for maintenance has not been able to replace its battery, the Gazette has learned.

The Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) buoy was put into place 600 nautical miles northwest of Phuket early in December 2006.

After its deployment, maintenance of the buoy fell to the Thai government.

Funded by the US government’s USAID program, the buoy was the first of its kind deployed in the Indian Ocean.

It is linked to a highly-sensitive pressure sensor on the seabed that measures the mean height of the water column above.

This information is relayed to a satellite that links to the US government tsunami warning center in Hawaii.

Supplied as part of US$16.6 million in funding for the US Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System (IOTWS) Program, the buoy gave Thailand for the first time the ability to detect directly any tsunami waves before they hit land. That ability is now history, the victim of a dead battery.

According to the US Government’s National Data Buoy Center, the buoy sent out the last of its 15-minute-interval signal messages on June 16 this year.

Chotenarin Kerdsom, who heads the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Phuket Office (DDPM-Phuket), confirmed that the buoy’s battery is dead.

“The original battery was designed to power the unit for one year, but fortunately it ran for two years. If we install a new battery it will resume sending its signals,” he said.

The National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) that is now responsible for maintaining the buoy has yet to get budget approval to install a new battery, he said.

“They will have a chance to get a budget in fiscal 2010, but it will require approval from the Budget Bureau,” he said.

The buoy is not under Thailand’s complete ownership. The signals it transmits are first received at the US Government’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii before re-transmission to Thailand, Mr Chotenarin explained.

The battery required is not expensive, but the mission to replace it would require a budget of at least 10 million baht, he said.

The buoy is in international waters and the round-trip mission would take at least five days using a large ship, preferably under escort of a Navy vessel to protect it from pirates, he said.

Until the existing buoy gets a new battery, the NDWC will have to rely primarily on seismic information when deciding to issue a tsunami alert, he admitted.

-- Phuket Gazette 2009-08-10

[Thai at Heart]

The battery required is not expensive, but the mission to replace it would require a budget of at least 10 million baht, he said.

Hopefully another confusion of meaun, saen and lahn baht. I know it is complicated, I do it all the time.

[noahvail]

What? Only two years?!?!?!?!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3a/Ebunny.jpg

[robbiecia]

Well then!

No budget to replace a battery

I guess it's not a priority then

[Insight]

Shame you didn't get Johnny Red Shirt to author this one. He could of headlined it Dead Buoy Floating.

[animatic]

Dear god are they really that stupid?

Read the specs and buy a replacement battery.

Many sources in bangkok for standard values.

Rent a boat with a small crane/ derrick 5-7,000 baht a day.

Go to site with GPS, yank buoy,

take a set of wrenches, Vicegrips, screw drivers and some three in one oil.

Open it up replace battery spray with anti-corrosive contact sealent, hit reset,

seal it up with a bit of chaulk or locktite, and drop it back...

US coast guard does this day in and day out for all sorts of buoys.

I have assisted back in the day.

This is NOT brain surgery!

10 million baht... 10 THOUSAND baht is more like it.

Worried about pirates.. HUH, take 3 AK 47's on rockin roll,

this IS the government after all.

A new level of absurdity is now reached.

Edited August 10, 2009 by animatic

[luvU2much500THB]

Dear god are they really that stupid?

Read the specs and buy a replacement battery.

Many sources in bangkok for standard values.

Rent a boat with a small crane/ derrick 5-7,000 baht a day.

Go to site with GPS, yank buoy,

take a set of wrenches, Vicegrips, screw drivers and some three in one oil.

Open it up replace battery spray with anti-corrosive contact sealent, hit reset,

seal it up with a bit of chaulk or locktite, and drop it back...

US coast guard does this day in and day out for all sorts of buoys.

I have assisted back in the day.

This is NOT brain surgery!

10 million baht... 10 THOUSAND baht is more like it.

Worried about pirates.. HUH, take 3 AK 47's on rockin roll,

this IS the government after all.

A new level of absurdity is now reached.

PSST! Don´t tell them it´s just 10k THB.

Offer them you´ll fix it for just 1 Million , they´ll accept because 9 Million discount and you have 1 Mill. easy maths.

[Mobi]

Dear god are they really that stupid?

Read the specs and buy a replacement battery.

Many sources in bangkok for standard values.

Rent a boat with a small crane/ derrick 5-7,000 baht a day.

Go to site with GPS, yank buoy,

take a set of wrenches, Vicegrips, screw drivers and some three in one oil.

Open it up replace battery spray with anti-corrosive contact sealent, hit reset,

seal it up with a bit of chaulk or locktite, and drop it back...

US coast guard does this day in and day out for all sorts of buoys.

I have assisted back in the day.

This is NOT brain surgery!

10 million baht... 10 THOUSAND baht is more like it.

Worried about pirates.. HUH, take 3 AK 47's on rockin roll,

this IS the government after all.

A new level of absurdity is now reached.

Let's give them the benefit of the doubt. Let's say 100,000 Baht, all in.

That still leaves 9.9 million for corruption - about par for the rake off in "sufficiency projects".

[Soutpeel]

“The original battery was designed to power the unit for one year, but fortunately it ran for two years. If we install a new battery it will resume sending its signals,” he said.

The buoy is not under Thailand’s complete ownership. The battery required is not expensive, but the mission to replace it would require a budget of at least 10 million baht, he said.

The buoy is in international waters and the round-trip mission would take at least five days using a large ship, preferably under escort of a Navy vessel to protect it from pirates, he said.

Designed for 1 year......but fortunately ran for two years.. ....a brillant insight into the mind of a Thai bureaucrat....

"If we install a new battery it will resume sending its signals"....I wonder how many years of higher education he had to do to come up with that conclusion......let me guess he has a Phd....

Also notice the obligatory blame of the farang statement..."not under Thailands complete ownership"

[spongeman]

Ten million baht my buttocks.

Get the job done you fools.

[Soutpeel]

Dear god are they really that stupid?

Read the specs and buy a replacement battery.

Many sources in bangkok for standard values.

Rent a boat with a small crane/ derrick 5-7,000 baht a day.

10 million baht... 10 THOUSAND baht is more like it.

Worried about pirates.. HUH, take 3 AK 47's on rockin roll,

this IS the government after all.

A new level of absurdity is now reached.

Why even rent a vessel, send a navy vessel to do it....sh*t they could do this off a zodiac from a Thai navy vessel and dont have to worry about pirates to boot....

[jpp2bkk]

They are really capable of nothing, unbelievable!.

[Mobi]

When Mr Chotenarin realises how stupid he has sounded, he will deny ever having said anything, and will threaten to to sue anyone who says anything to the contrary.

Problem solved

[Gary A]

Sad, VERY sad. This has to be a new level of incompetence.

[Chunkton]

Sad, VERY sad. This has to be a new level of incompetence.

I hadn't thought there was a limit to incompetence, well at at least since living here. Brace yourself as you discover incompetence knows no bounds. At least you get to enjoy the variety of excuses.

[LaoPo]

1. so it's not running and sending signals since June 16th - 2 months now - because the battery ran out ? and that's one year benefit because normally the battery runs for just one year....

2. the ca. 10,000 Tsunami deaths and missing people in Thailand aren't worth anything anymore ? How do they explain this to the families who lost loved ones during the Tsunami?

3. How does Thailand explain this to the other Asean countries and tourist organizations, worldwide ?

A bitter shame for the Abhisit government since they have the responsibility; how do they explain this to HM the King who lost a grandson ?!

It's simply unbelievable.

LaoPo

[Theyreallrubbish]

They're obviously hoping the US taxpayer will cough up 10 million Baht, they can spend the 10k (Which I believe the previous poster would be the right amount) and then pocket the rest.

After all, if the farang hadn't put the buoy there then it wouldn't have had a battery to run out so the farang has to be responsible for the new battery. How could anyone think otherwise?

And the ten million Baht is cheap for a rich farang government especially for the privilege of having a buoy in Thai waters. The US Ambassador should just go to the ATM and withdraw the money and hand it over and accept that he's in Thailand and that's Thai culture

[BSJ]

Here's the problem. There is no solar panel to trickle charge the battery. Obviously an oversight by the guys that built it. Who would of thought a vital piece of equipment would end up out of commission because of a d@mn battery! Wonder if they heard of Radio Shack???

[animatic]

This should have been changed on SAMAK'S WATCH... a YEAR AGO....

just to put it in perspective.

This is an idiot ministry cock-up, not cabinet, and likely

the government only JUST heard about it when we did.

Good point on the solar cell recharging too.

Still could be upgraded for 50-100,00 baht on site.

This is basically a very short duration burst transmitter similar to

discrete 'spie in country' directional transmissions.

The data is assembled, the transmitter cranks on,

shoots the data and shuts down, matter of a few seconds battery drain.

Only a super low amperage clock chip keeps running till next burst.

10 million baht designs and builds several from scratch,

not a battery replacement.

Edited August 10, 2009 by animatic

[RKASA]

Don't they have a Coast Guard that already maintains various lighted Buoys, light houses and other NAVAIDS. Did someone simple forget to add it to the maintenance list. Like Daaaaaaa

[LaoPo]

This should have been changed on SAMAK'S WATCH... a YEAR AGO....

just to put it in perspective.

This is an idiot ministry cock-up, not cabinet, and likely

the government only JUST heard about it when we did.

From the OP article:

"After its deployment, maintenance of the buoy fell to the Thai government."

That the Abhisit government just heard about it (as did we) doesn't mean they do not carry the responsibility; they DO.

They can't "sell" the story that they didn't know and that a previous government is to be blamed.

It's their task to take action immediately since it's an utter shame for Thailand as a country.

LaoPo

Edited August 10, 2009 by LaoPo

[Soutpeel]

They're obviously hoping the US taxpayer will cough up 10 million Baht, they can spend the 10k (Which I believe the previous poster would be the right amount) and then pocket the rest.

After all, if the farang hadn't put the buoy there then it wouldn't have had a battery to run out so the farang has to be responsible for the new battery. How could anyone think otherwise?

And the ten million Baht is cheap for a rich farang government especially for the privilege of having a buoy in Thai waters. The US Ambassador should just go to the ATM and withdraw the money and hand it over and accept that he's in Thailand and that's Thai culture

I will go and do it for them for 6 million...even throw in the Solar power option for free.....

[mustafa]

Gee I just saw this brief article in the Sydney Morning Herald, then looked up ThaiVisa to see if it's in the news here yet, and instead I see this article! This is what I just read at 4.15AM here:

August 11, 2009 - 6:59AM A huge 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit off the Andaman Islands in eastern India, triggering a tsunami alert across the Indian Ocean, the US Geological Survey reported Tuesday.

I hope some alerts can be made in Phuket in time.

[Datsun240Z]

Dear god are they really that stupid?

Read the specs and buy a replacement battery.

Many sources in bangkok for standard values.

Rent a boat with a small crane/ derrick 5-7,000 baht a day.

Go to site with GPS, yank buoy,

take a set of wrenches, Vicegrips, screw drivers and some three in one oil.

Open it up replace battery spray with anti-corrosive contact sealent, hit reset,

seal it up with a bit of chaulk or locktite, and drop it back...

US coast guard does this day in and day out for all sorts of buoys.

I have assisted back in the day.

This is NOT brain surgery!

10 million baht... 10 THOUSAND baht is more like it.

Worried about pirates.. HUH, take 3 AK 47's on rockin roll,

this IS the government after all.

A new level of absurdity is now reached.

To bad it doesn't work like that in the real world. Sure if you vision it from your own point of view, I'd would say yes, and actually it's that easy! But politics, and companies involved make it alot $$$. Life would be easier, if we didn't focus much on money, but actually doing something.

[meandwi]

Dead in the water? Did not replace the battery? That is unbelievable! So many lives at stake, and there is a current tsunami warning for my coast. We are awake and ready to move.

Thanks to a call from the states.

Unbelievable!

meandwi

[Serpico]

Thailand, the hub of incompetence?

[WhalerJoe]

Dead in the water? Did not replace the battery? That is unbelievable! So many lives at stake, and there is a current tsunami warning for my coast. We are awake and ready to move.

Thanks to a call from the states.

Unbelievable!

meandwi

Where aer you and whats your info source? Whats your elevation?

[Artisi]

It has become obvious that it's April 1 everyday of the year in Thailand.

[LaoPo]

Dead in the water? Did not replace the battery? That is unbelievable! So many lives at stake, and there is a current tsunami warning for my coast. We are awake and ready to move.

Thanks to a call from the states.

Unbelievable!

meandwi

Where aer you and whats your info source? Whats your elevation?

Meandwi was probably referring to this info from member Carmine6:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/76-Earthquak...ds-t287830.html

I don't know about his elevation but he's likely to be on the west coast (Phuket side) of Thailand.

LaoPo

[RickBradford]

When the news about the dead battery reaches anyone in relevant "authority" in Thailand, they ask themselves one important question:

"What's in it for me?"

If they can't answer that question, they do nothing. Hence the two-month impasse.