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Mr Alan
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Quote: from Hermanolobo on 3:22 am on Jan. 4, 2005
It was either Sky or BBC news had an interesting item from Thailand yesterday. They visited the Thai seismographic office (I think it was located in Phuket?).
They asked the young Thai scientists etc did they detect the undersea earthquake. The answer was affirmative.
The Thai said, "we immediately informed Bangkok."
When pressed on what Bangkok would have done the shy Thai did not want to answer. You could see he was embarrassed. A Thai of small or low social status tells Bangkok there is trouble brewing. Probably not believed or ignored?
This is all too common the World over - people cannot differentiate between important information and important people ?
The Nation had a article about this in the paper today. The problem was that there is no designated person in the government to tell about such disasters, and also there is no infrastructure in place to warn the people affected. This is a very complicated subject, especially in rural areas of Thailand and underdeveloped countries such as northern Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
To make matters worse, the scientist says it was Sunday and there was nobody in official government offices at work who he could contact. He said that he called some phone numbers and no one answered.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 7:54 am on Jan. 4, 2005
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Hermanolobo
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There is a cartoon strip called Asterix the Gaul.
In one episode it had the Romans trying to invade Britain and getting a damn good bashing from Asterix and his pals, Obelix etc.
Then the Romans decided to attack Britain after 5:30pm and at weekends. Britain was soon overrun !
Mother Nature does not follow the holiday calendar.
Neither do wars !
Since the last major Tsunami in that area was something like 500 years ago lack of awareness is quite understandable although I expect a few scapegoats will be looked for now ?
"To make matters worse, the scientist says it was Sunday and there was nobody in official government offices at work who he could contact. He said that he called some phone numbers and no one answered."
How about on-duty senior police or military ?
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Bangkok Women : Meet Sensual Bangkok Women
Posted on: 8:20 am on Jan. 4, 2005
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DaffyDuck
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Seems the fingerpointing already started, but apparently not in a bad way:
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/01/04/tsunami.meteorologist.reut/index.html
Thailand fires chief meteorologist
Inquiry launched into why no tsunami warning was issued
Tuesday, January 4, 2005 Posted: 1015 GMT (1815 HKT)
BANGKOK, Thailand (Reuters) -- Thailand has fired its chief meteorologist and opened an investigation into why his department failed to issue a tsunami warning which might have saved thousands of lives, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra announced.
"When a quake measured at 8.9-9.0 on the Richter scale struck in Sumatra, it was widely known tsunami can happen. But why weren't there any alerts? I really want to know the truth," Thaksin told reporters Tuesday.
A day after deadly waves devastated the country's Andaman Sea coast, Meteorological Department chief Suparerk Tansriratanawong had told reporters Thailand had not been hit by a tsunami in more than 300 years and had no reason to expect one.
But the English-language Nation newspaper quoted an unnamed member of the department last week as saying a tsunami alert was not issued for fear of hurting the important tourist industry at the peak season if it turned out to be false.
During the investigation, to be led by Information & Communications Technology Minister Surapong Suebwonglee, Suparerk will help set up a national early warning system for all natural disasters, a government spokesman said.
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 11:32 am on Jan. 4, 2005
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DaffyDuck
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The good news in all of this is that the guy who tried to warn them is now in charge of setting up an early warning system, and the bloke that laughed it off (and was now backpedalling) got fired.
No wonder Thaksin's approval ratings are at a high, again -- good timing for the election, too.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/04Jan2005_news05.php
PM's rating soars after tsunami hit
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's post-tsunami popularity has surged tremendously, an Abac opinion poll says.
In a survey of 1,288 people conducted during Dec 29-Jan 2, 54.1% of the respondents said they admired the prime minister more now than before the tsunami hit; another 23.6% said their satisfaction regarding Mr Thaksin remained the same; 10% said they liked the prime minister even less than before.
The government's popularity on the whole also soared: 44.8% said they were more impressed with the government now, while 31.1% said they were neither more nor less impressed; 10.3% were dissatisfied.
On a scale of 100, Khunying Pornthip Rojanasunant, deputy director of the Central Institute of Forensic Science, topped the list of most admired among those involved in the rescue and relief work, scoring 61.7%.
Trailing behind were rescue personnel in general at 58.4%, and Mr Thaksin at 53.8%.
The survey showed 82.1% wanted the government to install an early-warning system against tsunamis; 5.5% thought it was unnecessary.
When asked what they thought of the government's handling of the disaster, 53.2% said they were pleased, 24.3% were somewhat pleased, 15.6% weren't too happy and 6.9% were outright dissatisfied.
The opinion poll was conducted in Songkhla, Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen and Bangkok and its suburbs
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Sexy Bangkok Girls
Posted on: 11:34 am on Jan. 4, 2005
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MarkC
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Quote: from DaffyDuck on 11:28 pm on Jan. 4, 2005
The good news in all of this is that the guy who tried to warn them is now in charge of setting up an early warning system, and the bloke that laughed it off (and was now backpedalling) got fired...
...and is now his deputy I believe...Ironic in a way, but also quite scary.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 11:42 am on Jan. 4, 2005
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dotcom
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Their early warning system will consist of a guy running out of a grass hut yelling "Tsunami!!!!" at the top of his voice.
Could be 500 years till the next one.
The fact of the matter is that you are never gonna be ready for something like this. All the locals who ran out to pick up flopping fish will be killed next time as well.
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Bangkok Women : Meet Beautiful Thai Girls
Posted on: 12:08 pm on Jan. 4, 2005
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Mark Pressure
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there were 2 tsunami's in Hawaii this century, 1946 and 1960. People ran out to get fish in both. People quickly forget
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 1:22 pm on Jan. 4, 2005
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DaffyDuck
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People are usually not the smartest... or ignorant.
The next Tsunami might not be tomorrow, but working on an early warning system (or just having one phone number to reach the right person, even on weekends) is a good way to possibly prevent loss of life in the future.
Read the story on the Morgan Sea Gypsies. Smart.
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Thai Girls : Meet Active Thai Girls
Posted on: 2:19 pm on Jan. 4, 2005
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Mark Pressure
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agreed, a warning system would be probably a good (and relatively cheap) idea. They have them in the pacific now but didn't in 1946 or 1960
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Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 2:24 pm on Jan. 4, 2005
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MarkC
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Quote: from DaffyDuck on 11:28 pm on Jan. 4, 2005
No wonder Thaksin's approval ratings are at a high, again -- good timing for the election, too.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/04Jan2005_news05.php
PM's rating soars after tsunami hit
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's post-tsunami popularity has surged tremendously, an Abac opinion poll says.
The last polls published (begining of 2002 I think) that criticised Khun Thaksin (suggested his popularity was on the slide) produced an interesting result. Arrests, threatening phone calls, assets grabbed, police and army harassment, etc. You don't really see polls suggesting that people may think he's not doing a good job anymore.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 8:20 pm on Jan. 4, 2005
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