Bangkok Post / 15 december 2005
**TSUNAMI ALERT SYSTEM / BIG SCARE ON ANDAMAN COAST **
**False alarm panics six provinces **
A false alarm caused by tsunami sirens being activated by mistake jolted the nerves of the six Andaman coastal provinces yesterday, sending panic-stricken residents running for higher ground.
Local people and tourists in parts of Krabi, Phangnga, Phuket, Ranong, Satun and Trang ran for their lives when they heard the sirens go off around midday. Panicking motorists collided with other cars and some people were injured.
Boonchai Somjai, head of Phuket’s Disaster Prevention and Mitigation office, said the alarm was sounded without any notification from the National Disaster Warning Centre’s Control and Transmission unit in Nonthaburi.
The Nonthaburi unit said a technician had accidentally pressed an alarm button, setting off sirens in the six provinces.
Plodprasop Suraswadi, the centre director, offered his apology and admitted a technician had wrongly pressed the warning button instead of the system-test button.
Jim Hanas, chief engineer at Raydant International Company contracted to provide tsunami warning solutions, promised compensation in cases where the false alarm had caused car accidents.
Local authorities told angry residents the siren was a test-run ahead of an actual drill tomorrow in the six provinces.
The sirens are fitted to warning towers built in tsunami-risk locations, mostly near popular beaches.
In Krabi, throngs of people in tambon Ao Nang, Muang district, were caught in disarray as they raced to higher ground.
Similar scenes were also observed on Phi Phi island. Many foreign tourists were sunbathing when the siren sounded, causing a commotion. The sound was accompanied by evacuation instructions in different languages.
Kawee Sukanthamet, head of Krabi’s Disaster Prevention and Mitigation office, said local radio stations helped calm people by telling them it was a false alarm.