Thailand's Phuket Airport Reopens After Tsunami Scare

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Thailand's Phuket airport reopens after tsunami scare

The Nation

PHUKET: -- Flights to and from Phuket Airport were back to normal Thursday after being shut down during a tsunami scare sparked by a 8.6-magnitude earthquake off Indonesia.

"Actually the airport already reopened Wednesday night after the tsunami warning was lifted," said Bang-orurat Shinaprayon, director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

Thailand’s National Disaster Warning Centre on Wednesday afternoon issued a tsunami warning to the six provinces along the Andaman Sea; Krabi, Phuket, Phangnga, Ranong, Satun and Trang. It lifted it about 8:00pm (1300 GMT) when it was clear the earthquake off Aceh in Indonesia had failed to generate a tsunami.

Tsunami sirens were activated and hundreds of tourists evacuated in Patong and other popular beaches on Phuket Island, 700 kilometres south of Bangkok.

"The warnings systems worked well," Bang-orarut said. "All sectors, the hoteliers, government offices and the warning centre coordinated very well and controlled the situation," she added.

Phuket International Airport was closed for several hours during the scare, with more than 15 flights delayed.

-- The Nation 2012-04-12

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Phuket International resumes operations after warnings lifted

PHUKET, 12 April 2012 (NNT) – The Phuket International Airport has decided to resume operations after the National Disaster Warning Center lifted its tsunami warnings on Thailand's Andaman Coast.

Airports of Thailand President, Flying Officer Anirut Thanomkulbutra, said late Wednesday that, after the National Disaster Warning Center has lifted the tsunami warnings in the country, the Phuket International Airport was promptly re-opened again at 8.30 pm.

Earlier, Phuket Airport was scheduled to become operational again on Thursday morning after it was temporarily closed since 4 pm of April 11th.

The temporary shutdown has initially stranded more than 1,000 passengers, but the service resumption has helped parts of them to fly out of Phuket by Wednesday night.

Mr. Anirut said that, for a number of passengers who could not continue their journey as planned, Phuket Airport has coordinated with various hotels to provide accommodation for them.

In addition, for passengers on a Thai Airways flight, originally scheduled to take off from Phuket at 6 pm of Wednesday, the flag carrier has confirmed that it will send a plane to pick them up at 11 am of April 12th (Thursday).

-- NNT 2012-04-12

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Phuket Airport uses chartered flight to clear passengers stranded due to tsunami alert; Suvarnabhumi Airport prepares special flight for passengers to Phuket /MCOT

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Special flights offered to carry stranded tourists in Phuket

BANGKOK, April 12 – Phuket International Airport has used chartered flights to transfer passengers stranded following Wednesday evening’s tsunami alert.

Phuket airport reopened at 8am today, and Suvarnabhumi Airport prepared special flights for passengers whose flights to Phuket were cancelled.

The 8.6 magnitude earthquake hit 431km (268 miles) off the city of Banda Aceh at 3:38pm Bangkok time (0838 GMT), and was followed by another undersea quake measured at 8.2 off Indonesia which triggered tsunami warnings in Thailand’s Andaman coastal provinces late Wednesday afternoon.

In the aftermath of the strong earthquake, local representatives of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) facilitated tourists in moving from beachfront hotels and providing rooms at Phuket International Airport for stranded tourists Wednesday night as all flights were temporarily suspended.

However, Thawatchai Aranyik, the TAT deputy governor believed that tourists understand it is a natural disaster and Phuket is equipped with reliable warning systems.

Meanwhile, Mairat Peerayakoset, chairman of Association of Domestic Travel said it is one of tough situations tour operations are facing in this peak period during the Thai New Year Songkran festival. However, there have been no cancellations so far, she said.

In Trang province, Thai News Agency reported that hundreds of fishing boats stay ashore as residents in Kantang district remain fearful of a tsunami. They were advised by local authorities to monitor the situation and follow warnings issued.

Almost all hotel room bookings and resorts in Kantang, Palian and Sikao districts were cancelled following the Wednesday earthquakes and tsunami alerts.

Trang Governor Seni Chittakasem said he has instructed four coastal districts to inform tourists and local residents to ease their worries and that they could live their normal lives. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-04-12

[backstairs]

IT WAS A perfect opportunity to test all the systems. How was it for you? I calculated I was 2 km from the shore. And waited. No one knows; seismetoligists made calm predictions from as far away as Alaska. And nothing much happened. But it could; tomorrow. So be safe and guarded. Beneath our feet way inside is a molten mass.

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Stranded Phuket tourists struggle to get home

Phuket Gazette

PHUKET: -- Scores of passengers this morning crowded the departures hall at Phuket International Airport, trying to get outbound flights.

The airport resumed normal service this morning with the first scheduled flight arriving from Bangkok landing at 8:55am.

The airport was shut down and all staff and passengers evacuated from the terminal at 4pm yesterday after the NDWC issued a tsunami alert.

All arriving flights were redirected and any empty planes standing on the tarmac that could take off were ordered to leave.

More than 1,000 passengers waiting to board planes were evacuated to a tsunami safe zone near the control tower.

Most of the stranded passengers were taken by bus to Provincial Hall in Phuket Town, while the remainder were later transported to other safe areas. At Provincial Hall, the foreigners joined crowds of local residents who had gathered at the island’s center of administration in the old quarter of Phuket Town, a location on high ground far from the coast.

An airport official confirmed to the Phuket Gazette today that airport officials received a tsunami alert by fax from the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) immediately following the earthquake, which was first reported at 3:38pm.

A tsunami warning followed and the tsunami-warning tower sirens sound the alarm, said the official.

An airport staffer at one of the information kiosks at the airport confirmed that the tsunami warning alarm was heard inside the terminal. “We could heard the siren from outside and the public address system [inside the terminal] telling us to evacuate the building,” she said.

An empty Thai Airways airplane from Suvarnabhumi arrived at Phuket Airport at midnight to pick up 260 stranded passengers and immediately fly them back to Bangkok, an airport official to the Gazette.

“An empty Bangkok Airways was flown down from Suvarnabhumi Airport [in Bangkok] and arrived at 6:50am to pick up 150 more stranded passengers and immediately fly them to Bangkok,” the official said.

Source: http://www.facebook....118499681560616

-- Phuket Gazette 2012-04-12

[anterian]

" received a tsunami alert by fax " rather an antiquated method!

[belg]

my god, i was just there last week... with 3 toilets for all the people waiting, this must have been HELL if you just ate your last unlimited breakfast that morning

55555

[biplanebluey]

''Passengers were transported to higher ground far from the coast''------ ON PHUKET,HOW COMFORTING !!!!! and were they taken by one of those cheap forms of transport,the Tuktuk ?

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TSUNAMI SCARE

Phuket Airport resumes flights but Trang residents and visitors still on edge

Phuket Airport

PHUKET: -- Phuket International Airport has used chartered flights to transfer passengers stranded following Wednesday evening's tsunami alert.

Phuket airport reopened at 8am Thursday, and Suvarnabhumi Airport prepared special flights for passengers whose flights to Phuket were cancelled.

The 8.6 magnitude earthquake hit off Banda Aceh at 3.38pm Bangkok time and was followed by another undersea quake measured at 8.2 off Indonesia, which triggered tsunami warnings in Thailand's Andaman coastal provinces late Wednesday afternoon.

In the aftermath of the strong earthquake, local representatives of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) facilitated tourists in moving from beachfront hotels and provided rooms at Phuket International Airport for stranded visitors on Wednesday night as all flights were temporarily suspended.

However, Thawatchai Aranyik, the TAT deputy governor, said he believed tourists understood the potential for a natural disaster and were reassured that Phuket is equipped with reliable warning systems.

Meanwhile, Mairat Peerayakoset, chairman of Association of Domestic Travel said the tsunami warning could make the situation tough for tour operations in the peak period during the Thai New Year Songkran festival. However, there had been no cancellations so far, she added.

In Trang province, Thai News Agency reported that hundreds of fishing boats were staying ashore, as residents of Kantang district remained fearful of a tsunami. They were advised by local authorities to monitor the situation and follow warnings issued.

Almost all hotel room bookings and resorts in Kantang, Palian and Sikao districts were cancelled following Wednesday's earthquakes and tsunami alerts.

Trang Governor Seni Chittakasem said he has instructed the four coastal districts to inform tourists and local residents to stop worrying and resume their normal lives.

-- The Nation 2012-04-12

[Gonsalviz]

Again, if they continue this way with the warnings, people will become enamoured and when the real one comes, everyone will still be at the beach.