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Published on July 26, 2007

Information and Commu-nications Technology Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom expressed his appreciation for the overall drill, including the warning system at Nonthaburi's National Disaster Warning Centre and the evacuation plan conducted at Phuket's Patong Beach, which he monitored on television.

The drill was undertaken assuming an 8.2 magnitude earthquake had occurred near the Nicobar Islands, posing an immediate tsunami threat to Thai coastal provinces.

The minister said he would wait for the conclusions of observers from various international organisations to be released today.

Other drills in Krabi, Satun, Trang, Ranong, Phang-nga and Phuket took place under the supervision of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, which would collect information on the results before evaluating them today, Sitthichai added.

Smith Thammasaroj, adviser to the ICT minister, said the exercises went according to plan and all 79 warning towers were found to be working well.

He said international experts who observed the drills expressed their confidence and satisfaction and some even wanted to use the system as a model for other countries.

However, Smith said more improvements were needed to perfect the system. Data analysis should be shortened from 20 minutes to 10 minutes, two more buoys should be placed in the Andaman Sea and the network of warning towers should be expanded.

Evacuation towers should be built to provide shelter to residents and tourists in case they had no time to reach higher ground, and officials should further educate villagers about the dangers and warning signs of a tsunami, he added.

Director of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, Charles McCreery, said the drills were performed effectively and could be a model for other countries.

Pointing out that no major flaws were found during the exercises, he said he was impressed that the Thai government saw the importance of tsunami warning measures.

The challenge now would

be to maintain the high

standard in the face of a real disaster, he added.

While most participants in the drills did not panic due to previous public announcements of the events, four Singaporean tourists at Phang Nga's Ban Bang Nian Beach ran for their lives along with drill participants as they thought a real tsunami was approaching.

However, residents at Ban Bang Niang Market, about 600 metres from the warning tower, complained they heard nothing and only found out about the drills afterwards.

Villagers at Ban Nam Khem in Phang Nga said their local siren was too soft, thus if a tsunami hit during heavy rain or high winds, they would not hear the warning.

Residents of Ranong's Kapur district also complained about their siren's low volume and the path to safe grounds being too steep.