Four Southern Coastal Provinces Declared Disaster Zone

[Jai Dee]

Four southern coastal provinces declared disaster zone

The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department has declared four southern coastal provinces a disaster zone after they were hit by giant waves caused by strong monsoon wind.

Somchai Ramasutra, the head of the southern zone of the department, said the coastal areas of Prachuap Khirikhan, Chumphon, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Surat Thani were declared a disaster zone so that officials could speed up relief operations there.

He said officials were on standby on around-the-clock basis to help the affected people in the areas.

Source: The Nation - 22 December 2006

[Jai Dee]

Disaster zones declared in the South

Four-metre waves in the Gulf of Thailand pounding several coastal areas prompted three Thai southern provinces -Songkhla, Surat Thani, and Nakhon Si Thammarat - to declare disaster emergency zones along their shorelines.

Songkhla governor Sonthi Thechanun has declared coastal areas in two districts - Ranod district and Chana district - as disaster zones following powerful waves hitting the shorelines there.

The local meteorological department forecast that strong winds and rough seas in the Gulf of Thailand would continue through Saturday (December 23).

Songkhla's head of the disaster prevention and mitigation said that the pounding waves damaged 15 seafront houses and a road in two districts.

Agencies concerned will build temporary shoreline breakwaters to prevent more damage.

In Surat Thani, four-metre waves washed away 22 houses in a fishing village in Tha Chana district and about 50 people became displaced. Five metre waves and rough seas continued on Friday.

Surat Thani governor Niwat Sawatkaew is cooperating with local military units to help evacuate people in 150 village households to safe areas. A sandbag embankment was built as a breakwater and a school in the village closed indefinitely until the situation returns to normal.

In Donsak district, surging waves damaged eight houses, leaving 30 villagers homeless.

The governor has declared Tha Chana district and Donsak district disaster zones and ordered all small boats anchored.

In Nakhon Si Thammarat, the 54 kilometre shoreline from Huasai district to Laem Talumphuk in Pak Phanang district is also a critical area, following high waves that smashed the shores and caused inundation in the two districts.

Source: TNA - 22 December 2006

[george]

Three provinces declared disaster zones due to strong waves

SONGKHLA: -- Four-metre waves in the Gulf of Thailand pounding several coastal areas prompted three Thai southern provinces -- Songkhla, Surat Thani, and Nakhon Si Thammarat -- to declare disaster emergency zones along their shorelines.

Songkhla governor Sonthi Thechanun has declared coastal areas in two districts -- Ranod district and Chana district -- as disaster zones following powerful waves hitting the shorelines there.

The local meteorological department forecast that strong winds and rough seas in the Gulf of Thailand would continue through Saturday (December 23).

Songkhla's head of the disaster prevention and mitigation said that the pounding waves damaged 15 seafront houses and a road in two districts.

Agencies concerned will build temporary shoreline breakwaters to prevent more damage.

In Surat Thani, four-metre waves washed away 22 houses in a fishing village in Tha Chana district and about 50 people became displaced. Five metre waves and rough seas continued on Friday.

Surat Thani governor Niwat Sawatkaew is cooperating with local military units to help evacuate people in 150 village households to safe areas. A sandbag embankment was built as a breakwater and a school in the village closed indefinitely until the situation returns to normal.

In Donsak district, surging waves damaged eight houses, leaving 30 villagers homeless.

The governor has declared Tha Chana district and Donsak district disaster zones and ordered all small boats anchored.

In Nakhon Si Thammarat, the 54 kilometre shoreline from Huasai district to Laem Talumphuk in Pak Phanang district is also a critical area, following high waves that smashed the shores and caused inundation in the two districts.

--TNA 2006-12-22

[george]

Four southern coastal provinces declared disaster zone

The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department has declared four southern coastal provinces a disaster zone after they were hit by giant waves caused by strong monsoon wind.

Somchai Ramasutra, the head of the southern zone of the department, said the coastal areas of Prachuap Khirikhan, Chumphon, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Surat Thani were declared a disaster zone so that officials could speed up relief operations there.

He said officials were on standby on around-the-clock basis to help the affected people in the areas.

-- The Nation 2006-12-23

[Jai Dee]

Smith Thammasaroj said abnormally high waves caused by abnormality in northeastern monsoon

Mr. Smith Dharmasaroja, the director-general of the National Disaster Warning Center, believes that disaster warnings can be issued to the public more quickly and with more coverage if there is exchange of information between related agencies.

Mr. Smith spoke of the high waves that washed into the coasts of several southern provinces on Thursday, and said that they were results of anomaly in the winter northeastern monsoon that sweeps from the upper portion of Thailand into the Gulf. The monsoon this year is stronger than those of previous years by 40 kph, and this generated waves of 2-5 meters in height. The end result was intensified by the supporting sea level, which was at a height of 1.5 meters.

Mr. Smith noted that there was still lack of data coordination between the Meteorological Department and the National Disaster Warning Center, and said more information exchange should occur in the future. He said the National Disaster Warning Center has warning towers in several coastal provinces and this would enable more efficient inspection of sea waves.

Mr. Smith said that data from the Meteorological station in Chiang Mai indicates that the weather will become warmer and the winds in the Gulf of Thailand will also lessen in intensity in 1-2 days.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 23 December 2006

[Foggy Bottom]

Three provinces declared disaster zones due to strong waves

SONGKHLA: -- Four-metre waves in the Gulf of Thailand pounding several coastal areas prompted three Thai southern provinces -- Songkhla, Surat Thani, and Nakhon Si Thammarat -- to declare disaster emergency zones along their shorelines.

--TNA 2006-12-22

I've posted this before and will do so again - 4-metre waves are nothing. Every year this happens in Thailand and they never learn - too much of the drama queen in every incident affecting Thais?

Every year, all around the UK's coastline, such waves are experienced regularly, and local yacht clubs still hold their regattas in such conditions - I even sailed in such a sea state in a 14-foot "Bosun" sailing dinghy (one of the few times that the overweighted Bosun came into it's own and had an advantage over lighter craft such as Emterprises. I've also raced in worse in a 55-foot Nicholson ketch with all canvas up including stay-sails and spinnaker (admitedly the small one not the big one - I ain't that kamikaze).

A four-metre wave is only 2-metres above calm water level - it becomes 4 metres because the peak is 2-metres high and has a trough 2-metres deep on either side of it. The height of this difference (bottom of trough to top of peak) is generally irrelevant in THIS size range - what IS important to boats is the wave frequency (the distance between peaks) - even a small dinghy can ride out a 100-metre frequency (in fact it's quite fun) but if the frequency shortens to less than 10 times the boat's overall length, then it becomes dangerous for any size of "small" boats - the safety calculation a UK regattas is normally wave height x boat length must be a minimum of 1/3 of frequency

e.g. a 15-foot dinghy is nominally regarded as 5 metres LOA, 5m x 4m wave = 20 x3 (frequency) = 60 metres minimum frequency for safe (sic) navigation.

In the open sea, an 80-foot LOA fishing boat with nominal metre length of 25 metres in a 4-metre sea should be thinking about heading for harbour if the wave frequency gets shorter than 300 metres.

There comes a point when size of boat and height of freeboard (ships side from waterline to deck level) changes the ratios - a supertanker for example wouldn't be bothered by 4-metre waves of any frequency, in fact, shorter frequency is better for them.

Thailand's coastal communities' problems are two-fold -

First is the shallow slope beaches which allow abnormally large waves to run unusually far inland, from the normal high water mark (as demonstrated by the tsunami).

Second is the Thai habit of encroaching on waterfront land - this is witnessed everywhere on beaches, rivers, lakes and reservoirs.

If the government had any modicum of control, they would not only enforce building and planning restrictions, but also educate the people as to why they should not build so close to the water. They would also implement a "som nam na" policy of not assisting encroachers and squaters - regardless of social status. The lack of "cause and effect" skills education in the Thai schooling system blatently comes to the fore in every story of this nature.

I do get sick and tired of hearing about Thais who flout the law, then suffer from nature's wrath, and immediately hold out their hand for state assistance ..... simple lesson - if you obeyed the law you'd probably have been somewhere else and not be suffering right now. Because you flouted the law, go away and fend for yourself. Why didn't you think ahead?

At times it really does feel like the only way to teach Thais anything and have them remember it, is to hit them exceptionally hard in the wallet - this is an ideal opportunity, but even if announced, such som nam na reactions would soon be nacked down because Thai officials don't like to be seen as uncaring .... it loses face. And so this problem will resurface every year.

Harsh? - yes

Truthful? - I hope you agree with it

In the west we have saying such as "have to be cruel to be kind" and "once bitten twice shy" etc. We have them as part of standard culture and they work - the actions they refer to, do help us to learn and avoid such situations in the future. Which is why we don't build businesses and homes on the sand a few feet above the regular high water mark, and why we do not have these "disasters".

Wakey wakey Thailand.

Gaz

[tropo]

A four-metre wave is only 2-metres above calm water level - it becomes 4 metres because the peak is 2-metres high and has a trough 2-metres deep on either side of it.

How can you be sure they are reporting the technical wave height and not the height about calm water level?

[Tony Clifton]

Thanks for the wave frequency formula lesson. Listening to a radio programme yesterday, guy was explaining they got off a boat into a dinghy to study a glacier when slices of it slipped into the water creating giant waves, had they still been onboard the bigger boat , they wouldn't have survived.

[jaidam]

Well done Gaz !!!

You hit the nail right on the head. If the houses were built a respectful distance from the sea and using foundations, I doubt they would have been swept away by 4 meter wind chop. The water level is very high now. I've just been down to Pak Nam Chumpon for a look. Sue enough theres water over most of the cement walkways, and in most houses down there.

[Gary A]

Quote

I do get sick and tired of hearing about Thais who flout the law, then suffer from nature's wrath, and immediately hold out their hand for state assistance ..... simple lesson - if you obeyed the law you'd probably have been somewhere else and not be suffering right now. Because you flouted the law, go away and fend for yourself. Why didn't you think ahead?

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

Their hand out ?? Are you serious? They can hold their hand out for as long as they want and their hand will still be empty. Do you actually believe that these poor people get help from the Thai government?

You must have mistaken Thailand with the USA or the UK.

[george]

Heavy waves batter Southern Gulf of Thailand coast

SOUTHERN REGION: -- Strong waves as high as four metres continued to hit southern coastal provinces along the Gulf of Thailand Saturday, scattering and sinking small fishing craft and leaving many villagers homeless.

In Surat Thani province, Sai Kaew beach -- a popular destination among foreign tourists -- was swept Friday along a seven-kilometre stretch of beach, wiping out 30 fishermen's homes and two restaurants. Three fishing boats were destroyed and even coral reefs were damaged.

A road along the beach in further down province of Pattani was also damaged because of the huge waves which were as high as three metres, causing hardships to several hundreds of villagers as they could no longer travel and use the road.

In nearby Songkhla province, villagers living along the seashore prepared to evacuate as high waves continued to lash the coast. A number of houses were destroyed and the weather service warned of continuing strong waves in the Gulf for one or two more days.

National Disaster Warning Centre chief Smith Tumsaroch said that the high waves were triggered by a cool air mass moving south from China, and that they were likely to continue until early January. The hardest hit provinces are expected to be those along the southern coast.

Meanwhile, the Meteorological Department warned Saturday that the current cold wave would continue to affect all regions except the South. The lowest temperature in several northern provinces would likely be between 7-8 degrees Celsius while it would decline as much as a further 3 degrees at the mountains.

The weather department urged the public to keep warm and to stay away from the open air.

--TNA 2006-12-23

[Foggy Bottom]

Duplicate thread George

Reger to this one - http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=97980

[Foggy Bottom]

A four-metre wave is only 2-metres above calm water level - it becomes 4 metres because the peak is 2-metres high and has a trough 2-metres deep on either side of it.

How can you be sure they are reporting the technical wave height and not the height about calm water level?

Coz I was watching them on TV

[Foggy Bottom]

Quote

I do get sick and tired of hearing about Thais who flout the law, then suffer from nature's wrath, and immediately hold out their hand for state assistance ..... simple lesson - if you obeyed the law you'd probably have been somewhere else and not be suffering right now. Because you flouted the law, go away and fend for yourself. Why didn't you think ahead?

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

Their hand out ?? Are you serious? They can hold their hand out for as long as they want and their hand will still be empty. Do you actually believe that these poor people get help from the Thai government?

You must have mistaken Thailand with the USA or the UK.

Watch your TV - within 48 hours, there will hundreds of "face-gaining" Thais distributing food and blankets and drinking water etc etc and some TV personality or another will be hosting a telethon to raise funds for them, and some Minister or another will announce X Billion baht is disaster aid for the victims ........ then the work permit and visa and National Park fees will go up again and everyone will be smiling once more.

Every year = same same but very slightly different.

(Farang ATMs to the rescue again?)

[nikster]

Quote

I do get sick and tired of hearing about Thais who flout the law, then suffer from nature's wrath, and immediately hold out their hand for state assistance ..... simple lesson - if you obeyed the law you'd probably have been somewhere else and not be suffering right now. Because you flouted the law, go away and fend for yourself. Why didn't you think ahead?

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

Their hand out ?? Are you serious? They can hold their hand out for as long as they want and their hand will still be empty. Do you actually believe that these poor people get help from the Thai government?

You must have mistaken Thailand with the USA or the UK.

Watch your TV - within 48 hours, there will hundreds of "face-gaining" Thais distributing food and blankets and drinking water etc etc and some TV personality or another will be hosting a telethon to raise funds for them, and some Minister or another will announce X Billion baht is disaster aid for the victims ........ then the work permit and visa and National Park fees will go up again and everyone will be smiling once more.

Every year = same same but very slightly different.

(Farang ATMs to the rescue again?)

I agree with you on almost everything you said with one exception: That this phenomenon is specific to Thailand. I don't think it is.

When I was living in California, there were HUGE fires every year. Or every 2 years. The common sentiment on TV was it was a huge catastrophe. Firefighters were heroic. Politicians "helped" in front of cameras. People were horrified to see their homes go up in smoke, soccer moms were seen hosing the roof and/or running away screaming... etc - drama just made for TV.

Another issue was why these people had built their houses in _known_ fire canyons to begin with. The frequency of large fires wasn't even that long - a few years between them. But there's always somebody who will build there. And then ... drama! Government assistance, asking the government to somehow make the known fire canyon safe with expensive measures, etc....

Others were building on mud slopes- perhaps the only affordable piece of land they could find. Etc etc. Oh and during one El Nino, beachfront houses were also crumbling off the cliffs along highway 1 as the sea just washed away the rock under them.

Not just in Thailand!

Oh and in my home country there's a traffic chaos every winter. First snow. Lots of drama. Even though it snows every single year there, without exception. It's human nature. Therefore, my solution would be somewhat more humanitarian - help, but educate. Enforcing existing laws would help too

Edited December 23, 2006 by nikster

[astral]

How about, "If it has happened before, in say the last 100 years, no help. It is your own fault."

[Martin]

Making 'safety' laws and enforcing them is fine for those who can afford to obey them in the first place.

But economic pressures push many people to accept risk.

There are places where it makes sense to go and live, even though one year in five, or ten, or whatever, you can expect to have your dwelling wiped out. Provided you will have sufficient warning time in which to leave and go to a place of safety, and provided you can rebuild sufficiently cheaply, it makes sense to live close to your livelihood---fishing, rice fields or whatever.

But, nowadays, the media distort the whole picture. "People are just shrugging their shoulders, and saying that this happens and it is not unexpected, and that they'll get on with the time-honoured methods of sorting out the aftermath" doesn't sell the papers or pull in the viewers. Much better to do an "Oh, what a disaster!" piece.

[Galong]

Just back from three wild days of kayaking in Phang Nga Bay. I am a bit surprised to not see stories about ferries capsizing or overloaded speedboats taking a swim... hmmm, perhaps some lessons have been learned from the past?? Naw, just lucky probably. :-)

[TLloyd]

Ladies & gentelman of the forum,

I have been viewing this forum for only a short time, however, I have come to notice how the members/posters of this forum are critical of any & everything that the Thai people and their government do in any & every situation that comes about. Don't get me wrong, I love free speech & when I get a burr under my saddle, I appreciate the freedom to vent my displeasure. That being said, if Thailand is such a poorly administered country & you dislike it soooo much, why not just go home. Last time I was in Suvarnabumi, I did not notice soldiers or police with rifles preventing you from catching the next plane out. True, they don't do things like we do back home, but isn't that why you are here and not there? If the LOS was like my home, I would not be here.

The reaction by the press & government here is exactly the reaction to disasters in the UK, Oz & the US. For the press it is an oppurtunity to fill air time with death & destruction. The news media, no matter where you are from, loves destruction, no matter the type. They love bleeding amd dead bodies even more. A dispicable lot for sure.

The politicians love the mayhem as much as the media. It gives them an opportunity to get their face on TV, free of charge, and buy votes by promising all the displaced people that they will spend our money to rebuild their homes & solve their problems.

As regards the topic at hand, this is not a problem peculiar to Thailand. Americans by the untold thousands buid homes right on the beach on the Atlantic as well as Gulf coasts. Almost every year, hurricanes come through & wreak their havoc. Then all the affected people scream that the government is not doing enough to help. Horse feathers! First of all, no one told them they had to build their home on the beach. Secondly, the homeowner is responsible for his own home, not the government.

In conclusion, I just want to say enjoy the LOS. It is different, that's why you came. When it is no longer enjoyable, just go home. I for one will just enjoy as best I can, When the aggravations of being here become to much to bear, I will go elsewhere. That's our opinion, we welcome yours.

Climbing down off of soapbox....

[Pepe']

Getting behind the wheel of an automobile is far more dangerous than living on the coast or on a canyon.

From my home near the coast on a canyon in sunny San Diego...

"Buckle up"

[Rdrokit]

The weather department urged the public to keep warm and to stay away from the open air.

--TNA 2006-12-23

Give me a break KEEP WARM. Thais do not know what cold really is unless they have spent time in a walk in freezer.

[Martin]

"Thais do not know what cold really is"

Well, I know what cold is, having spent a winter in the Arctic and been outside at 40 below, but I still feel the cold this week.

It will be because my blood has thinned down in a decade here.

My wife is finding it cold, but telling me that they had a lot more of this sort of temperature here when she was a girl.

Her father used to take a buffalo cart into the woods and haul back firewood from dead trees and they used to sleep round the fire that he built on the ground by the house.

She said there was a shortage of blankets and quilts in the village, and I was surprised since they had kapok trees. But she tells me that there was so little cash in the village economy that some people couldn't afford the cloth to make the pillow and quilt cases to stuff with the kapok.

[ThaiGoon]

Their hand out ?? Are you serious? They can hold their hand out for as long as they want and their hand will still be empty. Do you actually believe that these poor people get help from the Thai government?

You must have mistaken Thailand with the USA or the UK.

You are so spot on. Exactly! Just look at how the US gov't has handled the Katrina disaster. Those poor black folks were so lucky that they lived in the US of A. Truly world-class competence if you ask me.

Shame that the Thai gov't doesn't even have an ounce of competence like the Bush administration.

[Martin]

I am not a boater; but, as a radio-communicatios engineer, I am interested to see that the marine people use the word 'frequency' so differently to us.

Our 'frequency' is the number of peaks (or troughs) per second/minute/hour.

What 'gaz' describes as 'frequency' we would call 'wavelength'; that is, the distance between a wave crest and the one following it.

Presumably, in crude outline, the danger to a boat is if the next crest 'dumps' on the boat whilst it is still down from the last one. So on a train of waves, the boats that are small (relative to the distance between crests), can bob up and down on the waves, but the bigger ones get bashed, recover, get bashed, and so on. Is that right?

(Not that I feel like trying it, even if someone says "Yes". Mountaineering does have the advantage that what you are on stays still.)

[ThaiGoon]

Martin, I'm an electrical engineer and I can tell you that your definition of "frequency" is the same as ours. We would call Gaz's "freequency" wavelength too. I thought those defnitions were universal though....

[longway]

As regards the topic at hand, this is not a problem peculiar to Thailand. Americans by the untold thousands buid homes right on the beach on the Atlantic as well as Gulf coasts. Almost every year, hurricanes come through & wreak their havoc. Then all the affected people scream that the government is not doing enough to help. Horse feathers! First of all, no one told them they had to build their home on the beach. Secondly, the homeowner is responsible for his own home, not the government.

the post u were referring to was a very distorted and irritating post. not just homes, entire cities are built on flood plains, slopes of volcanoes and areas prone to fires everywhere in the world including ´the west`

he then tries to link the flooding to farang atms, double pricing and face. jeez

[Martin]

Talking of building where the work was, Seattle is a good example.

The last time that I was there to visit Boeing, I happened to notice an advertisement for "The Underground Tour".

For a few dollars, a knowledgeable undergraduate took us through a lot of cellars beneath the buildings that had been the original 'downtown'. But those cellars (as could still be seen) had been the groundfloor storey of the buildings, until the whole township sank so deep in the mudflats that the city authorities filled in all the streets about ten feet deep to raise them up!!

As the township sank, all the loos connected to the sewage system lost their altitude above the sea into which they were connected to discharge. In one cellar, the owner had compensated by raising the height of the w.c.

I will always remember that loo perched up on a pillar, and the ladder to climb up to it !!

[Jai Dee]

Strong waves to last til New Year

Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation warns the Southern provinces to stay cautious of strong waves which will continue until New Year.

Anucha Moekkhawet (อนุชา โมกขะเวช), the director of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, revealed that the provinces on the Gulf of Thailand that are prone to be pounded by giant waves include Chumporn, Narathiwat, Suratthani, Nakhon Sithammrat, and Songkla. The latter three had been declared as disaster areas. The department has cooperated with the Navy Force and other military units in the areas in providing aids to the affected people.

Mr Anucha says the strong waves are still expected tomorrow before although its forces have slightly weakened and will continue to last until New Year. To prevent possible damages to life, he calls on the residents to follow officials’ evacuation guidelines and keep a close watch on the situation. The director-general also expresses his concern that the residents have not shown much cooperation with the authorities so far.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 25 December 2006

[tracker]

Interesting weather... would be interested seeing some investigation into global warming (e.g. rising sea-levels) and this waves. Also the slow receding floodwater in thailand. Maybe even the big solarflares of this month might be of influence.