Published on January 01, 2005
A team of Japanese seismologists is surveying Phuket and the Andaman coastline before issuing recommendations on the advance warning system for earthquakes and tsunami, vice minister for PM’s office Smith Tumsaroch said yesterday.
The Japanese survey report, expected to be complete on Monday, would form the basis for the design of the country’s warning centre for tsunamis and other natural calamities, Smith said.
He will also consult experts from the United States Tsunami Warning Centre in Honolulu. “The government will put the utmost effort into preventing a repeat of the catastrophe from killer waves on Sunday”, he said. In setting up the warning system, he will also be assisted by a panel of local experts, including seismologists who graduated in Japan and the United States. – The Nation. ----------- Visitors turn to Koh Samui Tourists who planned holidays in Phang Nga and Krabi have turned to Koh Samui to celebrate the New Year’s festivities, quickly filling all 12,000 hotel rooms on the island. Koh Samui’s tourist arrivals during the holiday season this year are up 20 per cent, and all 400 hotels have no vacancies, said Ruangnam Chaikwang, president of the Koh Samui Tourism Promotion Association. To accommodate the stampede, Bangkok Airway has added seven more daily flights to Samui, bringing to 20 the number of times it flies to the island. Racha Ferry and Sea Trans Ferry, both of which operate ferry services to Koh Samui and Pha-ngan six times a day, on Thursday started sailing on the hour. Each boat is packed with at least 300 to 400 tourists, mostly Europeans and Americans. Most Thai tourists in Samui are from the northern provinces. – The Nation. ----------- Cavers warned to stay away The Mineral Resources Department yesterday issued a second warning of possible subsidence in the six southern provinces hit by quake-spawned killer waves on Sunday. “Residents, particularly those in Phang Nga, Krabi, Trang and Satun, should take extra precautions against sinkholes and must not open up new wells for underground water,” department director-general Somsak Potisat said. – The Nation.
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