Kingdom ill prepared for natural disasters, experts warn

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Kingdom ill prepared for natural disasters, experts warn
By Pongphon Sarnsamak
The Nation
2011-06-24

Thailand is not ready to cope with severe damage from extreme natural disasters, a seminar was told yesterday.

Earthquakeresistant construction and a preparedness plan to tackle severe flooding need to be put on the national agenda.

The northern parts of Thailand are "locations of concern", as moderate quakes measuring 56 in magnitude still strike provinces there, especially Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Mae Hong Son and Phayao.

The lower North, Northeast and South, provinces including Chumphon, Ranong, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Phatthalung, are at risk of severe drought and flooding.

Professor Thanawat Jarupongsakul, a Chulalongkorn University geologist, said quakes in these provinces had increased slightly in frequency, from six times a year to 10, since the earthquake off Sumatra generated a deadly tsunami on December 26, 2004.

The Srisawat fault line, near Kanchanaburi's Srinakarin Dam, is still active.

"Even thought the dam's structure could prevent damage from earthquakes up to 7 magnitude, what are we going to do if the dams break and release huge volumes of water?" he asked the seminar organised by the Krungthep Turakij newspaper.

Over the years, Thailand has experienced a lot of extreme events caused by natural disasters such as droughts, floods and tsunamis, but it seems that the government and society did not learn lessons from the past.

"We have built a lot of buildings, especially in Bangkok, but they can't resist earthquakes. We have not paid any attention to how to prepare ourselves for earthquakes," said Penneung Wanichchai, an Asian Institute of Technology seismologist.

Buildings in Bangkok would collapse because of poor construction, as many of them are supported by narrow columns, he said.

His institute has estimated that if Thailand did nothing to protect itself against earthquakes, more than 8,000 people in Chiang Mai would be killed by a quake and the damage would be high in monetary terms. exceed Bt1 million. Must be more than that The fault near Chiang Mai is still active, and no one can predict when a massive quake will take place.

Royol Chitradon, director of the Hydro and Agro Informatics Institute, said Thailand needed to reorganise its watermanagement system and focus on water security.

Local authorities should play a crucial role in managing water resources for people in their areas such as by constructing small reservoirs surrounding villages to store water for droughts and during the flood season.