In a recent article published in the Phuket Gazette it was reported that the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) has finally received the money from central government for 2 more tsunami warning buoys that will protect the towns and villages on the coast of the Andaman Sea. These will add to the 79 warning buoys the six southern provinces already have, with the tourist destination of Patong on the island of Phuket with three towers, although five have been requested.

The following is an edited version (for clarity and size) the original article can been found here.

The NDWC has finally received 165 million baht from the central government to install two more tsunami-warning buoys in the Andaman Sea. They will be installed by the middle of 2008, NDWC Director Dr Smith Dharmasaroja told a conference in Phuket City, held to simultaneously update a total of 77 key figures in the region.

Dr Smith confirmed that the budget was approved only the day before the seminar, on January 20 saying “The two buoys will be about 250 to 300 kilometers from Phuket, much closer to shore than the one already installed, which is about 1,000 kilometers from the coast. They will give us better and faster information than the old buoy; the Meteorological Department will be responsible for making sure they are functioning,”. He added “The buoys will confirm whether or not a tsunami is approaching, and will be critical in making the decision whether or not to issue a tsunami warning,”.

Dr Smith warned the conference though that, “We have to hurry because there have been many earthquakes in the region” and expressed concern about the system of warning towers throughout the six tsunami-affected provinces saying “Many areas still need more warning towers and some islands still do not have any warning towers at all….with Krabi, Phang Nga and Ranong provinces asking for more warning towers”. He went on to say that with only one tsunami shelter on Koh Phi Phi Don the number of tourists there in the high season wont have enough protection, if hit by another tsunami.

Phuket Gazette 23 January 2008

Welcome to Thailand Scuba Tours!

After many years of travelling to Thailand as a tourist on budget trips, me and my wife decided to try living in Thailand for 6 months while she took a sabbatical for her job, I was the house dad then! Our daughter had just turned 3 when we arrived in Ao Nang, Krabi and i started to try and get work in the local Thailand scuba industry as a dive instructor. I had been working part time for a dive shop near Manchester in the UK as an instructor for abut 3years in the rain, snow frozen lakes and biting winds so felt I deserved a break somewhere tropical.

Things went really well for us for us in that 6 months but i will say staying in paradise is not all roses! Our plan was to come back to the UK sell up and move out to Thailand full time but just before we came back my wife found out she was pregnant with our second child, so that puts the brakes on our plans for moving out there full time. I did however go back out for another season but this time as a dive shop manager, this turned out to be a mistake for more reasons than one.

When i arrived back in the UK i decided then that we would wait till our son was 3 before we went back out to Thailand and that is what we have done! He will be 3 in October and we have plans to pick up where we left off a few years and tears ago.

Whether you are a backpack budget traveler looking for a cheap Thailand holiday or a family looking for a fun holiday we hope we can help you find it here or a least some information that will help you choose Thailand as your next holiday destination. Take your time to read some of the postings on this site as many of them will be full of information that you might find useful.

I hope you enjoy this blog and that contact me with anything you want to know or something i may have done or said wrong. I have lots of information i want to get across about living in Thailand but more importantly what Thailand is like as a holiday maker, the problem is I’m not a natural writer and sometimes i feel my style is too clinical. I hope writing in a blog and reading others will help me relax that style.

See you all soon

Brian

What I’m listening to right now ~ Ministry of Sound – Clubbers Guide 2007