PHUKET: The National Disaster Warning Centre in Bangkok is planning to release a new app for smartphones and other devices on December 26, the eighth anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami.

One of the hazards of living or holidaying in a tsunami zone is the ever-present danger of another undersea earthquake triggering a big wave, as occurred in 2004.

Over the space of a week in April, Phuket's west coast had two tsunami alerts, the second caused by a magnitude 5.3 quake actually centred beneath Phuket.

The week of evacuations and confusion was a shakeup call to authorities to improve their capacity to warn people of possible disasters, and to let them know when alerts are over.

Phuket's appeal as one of South East Asia's top holiday destinations wasn't diminished by the week of earthquakes and false alarms.

But the tourists who come to Phuket need to know as much as possible about the potential for further alerts.

In daytime and early evening, radio and television usually inform people in advance of whether they're at risk - although it was noticeable during the alerts in April that only some stations were capable of acting responsibly.

In the 12 months after the 2004 tsunami, officials and the managers at many Andaman resorts tried to ensure that proper planning for future alerts was introduced.

As time passed, many of those officials were transferred off Phuket to posts in other parts of Thailand. Resort managers and staff moved on, too.

There's something in human nature that accentuates the positive and resists the temptation to dwell on the negative.

So it was that Phuket's tsunami preparation was relegated to an annual siren-sounding that produced predictable results.

The real alerts this year gave people cause to think again about what was really needed.

Phuketwan has constantly urged tourists visiting Phuket to seek the answer to one key question: If a tsunami comes at 3am, who will wake me up and tell me what to do?

Eight years on from Thailand's most tragic natural disaster and eight months on from the last real tsunami alerts, the National Disaster Warning Centre may have an answer to that question.

However, as Phuket knows only too well, technology has its limitations. Details about the app will be revealed on December 26.