Provincial warning systems “to be linked by the end of the year’
PATONG: Suranand Vejjajiva, Minister of the Prime Minister’s office, has inspected the tsunami warning system in Patong and promised to link the systems in the six provinces affected by the tsunami with the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) at Nonthaburi by the end of the year.
K. Suranand visited Phuket before joining a mobile cabinet meeting in Khao Lak.
“The information I have now is that the tsunami-affected Andaman provinces still have a problem linking with the NDWC, and that there are some obstacles with evacuation plans and signage. However, I will work together with Dr Smith Thammasaroj [who was appointed to establish the NDWC], and the relevant authorities,” he said.
“We have plans to install links between all the warning systems in the Andaman provinces, and aim to finish by the end of this year in order to welcome tourists and make them feel more secure. We should also have finished installing sea-level monitoring buoys by the middle of next year,” he added.
K. Suranand said that he would also like to see Royal Thai Navy and local administration warning installations linked in a common system, as they are not yet coordinated.
