PHUKET: Eternal vigilance is the only way of saving Phuket from future disasters, the man who predicted the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami warned local authorities yesterday.
Dr Smith Dharmasaroja has made a career of preparing for disasters and giving good advice. To Phuketwan, however, it often appears as if many authorities on Phuket ignore the good advice.
With earthquakes continuing to disturb the region's faultlines, and with experts saying another tsunami may not wait 100 years as the optimists hope, who believes Phuket is fully prepared for another disaster?
Dr Smith, the living embodiment of the need to believe in the most positive outcome while preparing for the worst one, wonders whether Phuket can perform the kind of evacuation that could be needed in a disaster. So do we.
With the tsunami evacuation signs falling into disrepair and the 10th anniversary of the big wave that killed 5400 tourists and residents in Thailand coming up, it's about time Phuket authorities proved they can cope.
Fresh in many memories is the April, 2012, alarm that sent people along Phuket's west coast scrambling for safety, then wondering when it might be safe to return.
That fiasco became even more relevant when it was followed within days by an earthquake with its epicentre directly under Phuket. Have both warning events been quickly forgotten?
Dr Smith told his audience at Rajabhat University in Phuket City yesterday that Phuket was still in the same geographical position, with fault lines under the sea and the earth leaving the holiday island and the Andaman coastline as exposed as ever.
What authorities had to do, he said. was learn to cope with nature if necessary by making sure everybody could get out of the way.
''The tsunami buoys are in place so the warning system should be effective,'' he said. ''Whether people can be evacuated successfully remains the responsibility of the local authorities.''
Dr Smith predicted a tsunami would strike Thailand years before one actually arrived, and for his forecasting skills was roundly shunned - until the big wave came, as he had anticipated.
Soon after, his career was resurrected and he now heads the board that oversees the National Disaster Warning Centre.
We won't accept that local Phuket authorities are ready for the next big wave until all those fading tsunami warning signs are replaced with new ones.
Dr Smith Dharmasaroja has made a career of preparing for disasters and giving good advice. To Phuketwan, however, it often appears as if many authorities on Phuket ignore the good advice.
With earthquakes continuing to disturb the region's faultlines, and with experts saying another tsunami may not wait 100 years as the optimists hope, who believes Phuket is fully prepared for another disaster?
Dr Smith, the living embodiment of the need to believe in the most positive outcome while preparing for the worst one, wonders whether Phuket can perform the kind of evacuation that could be needed in a disaster. So do we.
With the tsunami evacuation signs falling into disrepair and the 10th anniversary of the big wave that killed 5400 tourists and residents in Thailand coming up, it's about time Phuket authorities proved they can cope.
Fresh in many memories is the April, 2012, alarm that sent people along Phuket's west coast scrambling for safety, then wondering when it might be safe to return.
That fiasco became even more relevant when it was followed within days by an earthquake with its epicentre directly under Phuket. Have both warning events been quickly forgotten?
Dr Smith told his audience at Rajabhat University in Phuket City yesterday that Phuket was still in the same geographical position, with fault lines under the sea and the earth leaving the holiday island and the Andaman coastline as exposed as ever.
What authorities had to do, he said. was learn to cope with nature if necessary by making sure everybody could get out of the way.
''The tsunami buoys are in place so the warning system should be effective,'' he said. ''Whether people can be evacuated successfully remains the responsibility of the local authorities.''
Dr Smith predicted a tsunami would strike Thailand years before one actually arrived, and for his forecasting skills was roundly shunned - until the big wave came, as he had anticipated.
Soon after, his career was resurrected and he now heads the board that oversees the National Disaster Warning Centre.
We won't accept that local Phuket authorities are ready for the next big wave until all those fading tsunami warning signs are replaced with new ones.
The government is not able to manage contracts with beach-guards, how would one expect them to prepare the island for tsunami-warnings.
Posted by Jakub P. on May 19, 2014 16:21