Phuket

Tsunami warning buoys to be installed, replacing Thailand’s out-of-action buoys

Published

7 months ago

Monday, November 16, 2020

Caitlin Ashworth

PHOTO: Facebook: กรมป้องกันและบรรเทาสาธารณภัย

Tsunami warning buoys will be re-installed after one buoy got loose and floated off and the other appeared to have been scavenged for parts. The buoys transmit real-time data, allowing officials to detect underwater earthquakes.

30 experts from Thailand’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation departed from the Phuket Deep Sea Port to install the buoys. First, they will replace the buoy located about 600 nautical miles west of Phuket. Authorities say the buoy appears to have been broken into. The battery and other equipment are missing.

Phuket vice governor Wikom Jakthi says the money spent on the tsunami warning system is a worthwhile investment that will reduce the loss of life in the future. He asks that everyone unite and look after the warning systems.

“Please have confidence in the tsunami-monitoring and warning system… I have focused on improving the country’s tsunami analysis and warning system to be more efficient, especially so that the information on which the decision for issuing a warning is provided faster, so that people can receive correct information from government officials and we can prepare to evacuate people in a timely manner.”

SOURCE: Phuket News

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6 Comments

Bengt Alsterlin

Monday, November 16, 2020 at 9:21 pm

Well the tsunami warning system on land here in Phuket are since long time out of order. I can’t see who they still can be operational, sits are neglected overgrown, broken. Escape routes blocked or leading nowhere safe. God forbid that Thailand would be hit by another tsunami.

Reply
preesy chepuce

Monday, November 16, 2020 at 9:34 pm

Experts!

Reply
Issan John

Tuesday, November 17, 2020 at 4:57 am

Are you sure what you’re talking about is part of the current tsunami warning system?

AFAIK, although the only time I’ve been to Phuket was pre-tsunami, the old land-based system was replaced by the buoy-based one this article is about, and the old system you’re referring to isn’t operational any more which would explain why the old sites are neglected, etc.

Reply
Toby Andrews

Tuesday, November 17, 2020 at 8:52 am

Can the Thais run this system? I doubt it.
One buoy has already been looted for parts. All the others will be targeted.
Thais have no guilt for putting a warning system out of action – they are Thais!
The Thais are better off putting a person in an office watching the weather channel.
And that person would be missing half the time.

Reply
- Andreas Petermann
  
  Tuesday, November 17, 2020 at 9:34 am
  
  Oder schläft,oder beim SomTam…
  
  Reply
Issan John

Tuesday, November 17, 2020 at 11:04 am

The buoy was 600 nautical miles offshore, Toby – that’s over 1,100 kms away, in the Andaman Sea, 400 kms past the Andaman and Nicobar islands.

Rather a long way to go to get a battery.

Reply

Caitlin Ashworth

Caitlin Ashworth is a writer from the United States who has lived in Thailand since 2018. She graduated from the University of South Florida St. Petersburg with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and media studies in 2016. She was a reporter for the Daily Hampshire Gazette In Massachusetts. She also interned at the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia and Sarasota Herald-Tribune in Florida.

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