Thailand Tsunami Safety: Phuket Not Ready!

[george]

Tsunami safety: Phuket not ready

The chaotic 'Keystone Cops' type response to last month's

tsunami threat in Phuket confirms that we're not ready yet.

PHUKET OPINION: -- The confusion following the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in northern Sumatra last month highlights the urgent need for better disaster preparedness at every level in Thailand, from the people at the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) right on down to local Phuket officials and hotel staff.

The latest (April 7) false alarm was not the first. The public panic that ensued following the quake was considerably less than on the night of March 28, 2005 when a much more powerful 8.3 quake off the coast of Sumatra also failed to produce a tsunami.

As for the April 7 false alarm, neither the NDWC nor the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) have yet to issue a definitive statement explaining why an evacuation order was issued via SMS, but without sounding tsunami warning towers in risk areas like Phuket. [see story, page 5 of the current issue of the Phuket Gazette. Web subscribers click here to download.]

Efforts by the Gazette to clarify what went wrong that morning have yielded circumlocution and contradictory statements, suggesting confusion and real gaps in the safety net.

High-ranking staff at the NDWC said the decision not to sound the sirens was based on a real-time review of seismic data and monitoring of the tsunami direct detection buoy northwest of Phuket.

However, a member of the regional DDPM office here in Phuket later confirmed that an evacuation order had been issued by SMS, although not one for a 'full level three’ evacuation that requires ‘immediate’ flight without giving evacuees time to collect valuables.

Obviously, much needs to be done, but a good first step for the NDWC would be to put more effort into the website it launched last year at http://www.ndwc.go.th

The website that morning failed to carry any information about an evacuation order, although a brief Thai-language statement was issued later confirming that an evacuation order had been called off.

A quick review of the site, where English is available, shows that upgrading content has not been a focus of NDWC efforts this year. But of course the NDWC is not the only government agency in Thailand with an embarrassing Internet presence. Indeed, the Gazette is aware of comment areas on some government sites which are so poorly administered that they contain little more than spam links to pornography.

Later this year, the NDWC hopes to launch two more direct detection buoys off the Andaman coast to improve tsunami preparedness.

Let’s hope they also invest more resources to ensure that the public can access real time information about potential tsunami threats that go beyond the 160 character limit of a standard SMS message.

-- Phuket Gazette 2010-05-02

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

[Redsunset]

Sounds like the NDWC just needs to communicate in a more coordinated fashion!

[Redsunset]

Even the cartoon does not make any sense....

...people running after they look at their phone and I assume read that there might be a tsunami headed their way.... one person says "What's going on?" The other person says "I dunno, low bat." What the heck is that suppose to mean? What does low bat have to do with a tsunami sms warning?

[MESmith]

Even the cartoon does not make any sense....

...people running after they look at their phone and I assume read that there might be a tsunami headed their way.... one person says "What's going on?" The other person says "I dunno, low bat." What the heck is that suppose to mean? What does low bat have to do with a tsunami sms warning?

wasn't there a report last year about the tsunami detection buoy for Thailand having a dead battery?

[Jimi007]

I didn't get any SMS or hear the tsunami warning tower, maybe a kilometer away from my house either time. On both occasions the only way I knew about the earthquakes, after the fact, was by reading about it online! Great warning system!

Edited May 2, 2010 by Jimi007

[keeniau96]

The original tsunami warning buoy was installed about two years ago. The battery was supposed to last a year; Thais were supposed to replace the battery. This was never done, so about 1-1/2 years later after the battery died there was much discussion, very Thai style, and the decisin to replace the original buoy with a new Thai buoy. Don't know if that was ever done. But the battery change on the first one should have been perfectly adequate IF it had been done. TIT.

[Redsunset]

Sounds like how the doctors talk in Bumrungrad.... if there is the slightest thing wrong with you that could be remedied with an aspirin, the doctors would still say: "You need surgery to replace your heart, your kidney, your liver.... "

Forget maintenance, repairs... everything needs to be replaced, IF YOU PAY FOR IT!!!

If they pay for it, it is never replaced with something new... for example condominium airconditioners.

[Tokay]

Honestly, is anyone surprised?

[Thaihog]

There was a story in the Phuket Gazette last year about a Colonel disappearing with 100 million baht stolen from the Tsunami funds kindly donated by western countries.

Silly question I know, but I don't suppose this person was ever apprehended?

The Thai govt. appears to have plenty of money to prop up the Thai baht, but it is reluctant to spend money when peoples lives are at stake.

TIT.....

[Ulysses G.]

If I remember correctly, they have had something like one tsunami in the last 200 years. Maybe it does not seem like that big of a priority.

[enginerevision]

Is there a basic swimming course in Thai education system? If not most people cannot swim.... that's a disaster at itself.

[321niti123]

Even the cartoon does not make any sense....

...people running after they look at their phone and I assume read that there might be a tsunami headed their way.... one person says "What's going on?" The other person says "I dunno, low bat." What the heck is that suppose to mean? What does low bat have to do with a tsunami sms warning?

low batt means he cant turn on his phone=no sms warning which shows the inability to communicate it safety warning, shows the inability of the disaster unit.

[britmaveric]

Wonder if they ever got around to replacing the buoy battery yet?

[Spee]

Out of sight, out of mind?