Ready for Sundays Evac

[LivinLOS]

If your in town near the beach get ready for a wake up on sunday..

PM to attend evacuation drill in Patong


PHUKET CITY: Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and ambassadors from some 40 nations are expected to be on hand to witness Sunday’s evacuation drill in Patong.

At a meeting held yesterday morning at The Metropole hotel, Pongpow Ketthong, Deputy Director-General of the national Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department (DPMD), said Patong’s evacuation plan was now 95% complete and that it would be fully complete after a review of the April 29 evacuation, which will be videotaped.

The drill, to begin at 10 am on Sunday morning, is intended to ensure that there will never be a repeat of the December 26 tsunami disaster, when thousands of residents and tourists died needlessly because they were unaware of the impending danger.

The Sunday morning drill will cover two of Patong’s seven evacuation zones.

The first zone covers the southern end of P atong Beach, from the bridge crossing Klong Pakbang to Soi Kepsap.

Three evacuation routes have been designated for this zone:

- Over the bridge to safety on the headland near Coral Beach Hotel;

- Via Prachananukro Rd to higher ground near the three-way intersection with Nanai Rd;

- Along Soi Ruam Jai, past the Holiday Inn to the OTOP Shopping Arcade on Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi Rd.

The second zone covers the area from Soi Kebsup to Soi Bangla.

The two evacuation routes in this zone will already be familiar with after-hours revelers and massage buffs:

- Along Soi Bangla to Soi Saensabai.

- Along Soi Patong Tower, then turning right to the Christin Massage Parlor.

The focal point of the evacuation drill will be at the National Disaster Warning Center siren tower, on the beach in front of the Ph uket Cabana Hotel.

An estimated 1,500 volunteers are expected to assist government officials and rescue personnel in conducting the drill, which will include a fly-in by helicopters of Navy rescue teams based in Chalong and at Phuket Airport.

All residents of the area are being asked to participate in the evacuation, though it was not reported what steps, if any, are being taken to prevent looting during the exercise, which aims to have the entire coast cleared in 30 minutes.

K. Pongpow said his agency had already held seminars with local leaders of other communities regarding evacuation plans and survival strategies in the event of another tsunami.

The Phuket Office of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation intends to organize similar evacuation drills and other safety training activities every three to six months, he said.

“Even if we have another tsunami, or even 10 m ore tsunamis, we will be able to prevent the deaths of residents and tourists if we have an efficient warning system and evacuation plan in place – and tourists will then be assured of their safety when visiting Phuket,” he said.

The evacuation plan was drawn up jointly by the DPMD and the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), whose representative Dr Seree Suphatrid co-chaired the meeting with K. Pongpow.



Brought to you by:
The Phuket Gazette
13:57 local time (GMT +7)

[sishow]

Oh bollocks!

Im never going to wake up at 10am! Not after my first night in Patong!

Or i will wake up and think its my alarm clock for work!

[marc26]

sefton,
your saying sunday, but the story says april29, which is tomorrow, friday. i have heard conflicting stories too

[andy50]

this can only have an adverse effect on tourism imo,people/familys, (not mongers) thinking of going to phuket, than see this on tv ,may think that there is still a danger of futher tsunami,so why risk going there?

[LivinLOS]

Originally Posted by marc26

sefton,
your saying sunday, but the story says april29, which is tomorrow, friday. i have heard conflicting stories too

TiT...

Story started off as saying Sunday.. Didnt bother to thiank about the dates..

I could hear them revving up the warning sirens a few times today but its getting so common that they 'test' the siren that hearing it no longer makes you think of an emergency..

hopefully they will get this plan worked out over the weekend.. Declare it a success, and leave it in place for a bit.

[stevem]

Originally Posted by SafeAs

Strange how the use Christins as a focal point.

Well its such a big building most people know where it is, but not necessarily what goes on inside.

[zokok]

I think they did this today -- at least 4 helicopters flying over, mainly near the beach, and 2 different planes flew low over the beach. They kept running the sirens. Couldn't tell what was going on exactly but it was definitely centered along the beach. Some smoke rising at one point that I thought might have been a fire but I don't know. One of the helos looked like it was raising someone up on a line but I am not totally sure, since we are up on the hill and it was a bit far.

[Nicke]

Where we stay we cant hear any warning sirens but the helicopter circling around surely wake people up.

Originally Posted by LivinLOS

TiT...

Story started off as saying Sunday.. Didnt bother to thiank about the dates..

I could hear them revving up the warning sirens a few times today but its getting so common that they 'test' the siren that hearing it no longer makes you think of an emergency..

hopefully they will get this plan worked out over the weekend.. Declare it a success, and leave it in place for a bit.

[senor123]

The exercise today made the news over here. I would say it probably made people more comfortable about the preparedness of the authorities in Phuket however, as one board member pointed out, it also probably made people think about the fact that it did happen and could happen again.
Unfortunately I think the damage as far as tourism is concerned will be hard to overcome. Everyday, news about shocks in Indonesia and most middle aged people I speak to would not consider a holiday to Phuket anymore. Not me of course but it would appear that it is going to take a long time before the memory fades.
I'll be back in July.
Steve.

[dizbuster]

I was staying in a guest house in San Sabai when this practice happened. I woke up when the alarms started and watched from the window as hundreds of people ran down the soi "heading for the hills". Me and the girlfriend had a good laugh and then went back to bed, nudge-nudge-wink-wink !! Sod all that running about in that heat !!

Cheers
Diz

[Werwolf]

I was at the beach, when the “tsunami practice” was.

It was about 10.45. The temperature was nearly 35 degrees. A lot of people where waiting at the beach road for the sirens. The helicopter’s where cruising. 2 Marine Boats are near the beach.
Then: the sirens go. The Thai people run with a smile in the face to the Patong Tower – crying “the Tsunami come” -. The tourists walk slowly behind the crying Thais with bead of perspiration in the face.
The front of Christines looks like a big “meeting”. Then a helicopter cruises over the Christine and the operator order to cross the road.
Now all the people run crying to the other side of the street. There was a first-aid station with some nice nurses.

It all looks more a funny event than a Tsunami practice.

I have some pics and will post it later

[Werwolf]

here are some pics.......

[Nicke]

Not really the same when we had the false warning end of March, it was panic in the air and people was really scared, and thus, many accidents followed.

Your pics look like a funny event.

[aussie dollar]

This site has quite a few photos of the drill

http://www.phuket-photos.com/frameme...tidal-wave.htm

was with nicke when march false warning and yes was a bit of panic.

[Werwolf]

its a little bit late - but some more pics from this event...

[Werwolf]

...the last one