Two years after giant waves pounded the Andaman coast, Thailand has a building equipped to escape a tsunami.

HRH Princess Somsavali will today open the building, which was built by the Friends in Need of Pa Foundation in Phang Nga's Bang Nieng community.

Dr Vichit Suvanprakorn, vice president of the foundation, said the building was made to assist those who could not run away from a tidal wave.

"Though the best way [to save your life] is to run, but for aged people, children and the disabled it might be too hard for them to run away. So the building will help them escape the wave," he said.

Vichit said the building in Bang Nieng, which was hit hard by the tsunami, was specially designed to resist a wall of waves.

The eight-metre high building has an open first floor and round shaped poles that can accommodate 270 people inside. Water supply equipment and an electric generator were installed inside the building together with basic necessities, he said. The building was the first for people in the region to escape a tsunami, he said.

The foundation also built a tsunami warning tower for the community. All up, the total cost was Bt8 million, Vichit said.

After the formal opening of the building today, a tsunami drill will be held for the villagers.

Buildings capable of surviving a tsunami became necessary for communities hit by the huge

waves. Akkadet na Ranong, a resort owner in Khao Lak, said he had learnt that strong and high buildings would be the best to avoid any further tidal waves.

Akkadet survived the Boxing Day disaster two years ago because he was stuck on the second floor of a building. So, he is making a sanctuary for guests to escape any further tsunami on the second floor of his resort, now under construction.

The Indonesian government also plans to erect buildings that can survive tsunamis. Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik was quoted by the Jakarta Post yesterday as saying that these constructions would be built to accommodate at least 400 people on 500 square metres of land in Bali and West Java.

Pennapa Hongthong

 The Nation