Phuket tsunami sirens fail to sound in test

Three tsunami warning towers set up at Patong beach in Thailand's famous southern resort province of Phuket have undergone initial tests, but their sirens failed to activate properly.

The trial run was carried out Friday morning in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister Suwat Liptapanlop, who visited the province to inspect the progress of preparations for the first tsunami remembrance ceremony to be held from Dec. 25-27, reported the Thai News Agency Saturday.

Showcasing the tsunami alert towers along the Andaman coast will be part of the event, which will be attended by an expected total of over 10,000 Thai and foreign guests.

Friday's tests failed to impress spectators since the towers did not receive and transmit the warning signals from the National Disaster Warning Center as it should.

Attributing this to technical difficulties, the deputy premier ordered an urgent improvement of coordination between the provincial alert tower management and the National Disaster Warning Center.

According to the government plan, a total of 62 tsunami alert towers will be established along the Andaman coast, all the country's disaster early warning systems will each send a loud alarm within a radius of 1.5 kilometers when there is any tsunami in the areas in the future.

An overall budget of 38 million baht (950,000 US dollars) has been set for the installation of the warning system along beaches in the country's six southern Andaman provinces of Phuket, Phang- nga, Krabi, Trang, Ranong, and Satun, which were devastated by the tsunami on Dec. 26, 2004.

Source: Xinhua