Evacuation plans under discussion

PHUKET CITY: Plans for evacuating Patong and other parts of Phuket during an emergency are due to be discussed at a workshop on Wednesday.

The event will be overseen by Vice-Governor Niran Kalayanamit and former Vice-Governor Pongpow Ketthong, who is now Deputy Director-General of the national Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department (DPMD). These are the men Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura has put in charge of drawing up the evacuation procedures.

Evacuation plans for each district of Phuket are due to be devised at the workshop, which is expected to last two days.

Gov Udomsak stressed the urgent need to have the plans in place. He said, “Our evacuation plans need to be ready even if the National Disaster Warning Center is not yet established. We have to work with what we have at the moment.”

The Governor added that signs indicating evacuation routes should be in place before the end of the month; these will be temporary posters, and will later be replaced by permanent, fixed signs.

Former V/Gov Pongpow said the evacuation plan for Patong would be drawn up first, as it is a tourist area.