THAILAND TRAVEL NEWS: Five years after the devastating 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake that generated a massive tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in eleven countries, Phuket is again protected from a recurrence after a new tsunami detection buoy was placed in the Indian ocean some 1,000km (about 620 miles) off the coast near the Nicobar islands.

Thailand’s National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) and technical experts from the US replaced Thailand’s tsunami direct detection buoy (TDDB) with a new one in the lead-up to Christmas, after the first buoy stopped transmitting in September.

The Dart II (Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis ) TDDB was deployed in December 2006 as a gift from the US government, part of a $US34 million tsunami warning network put in place by the former Bush government following the 2004 devastation.

While the US provided the first buoy, the NDWC was supposed to be responsible for its maintenance, including an annual battery change. However, bureaucratic wrangling meant that the battery was never changed and on September 11 this year the buoy finally stopped transmitting, leaving the island province of Phuket with no early warning detection system.

Rather than carry out repairs at sea, the NWDC purchased a second Dart II TDDB and last week technical and support crew finally completed the swap over of the two buoys.

NDWC director Viriya Mongkolveerapan said the old unit will be sent to the US for maintenance and analysis before being returned to Thailand where the two units will be rotated on an annual basis.

According to Mr Viriya, the NWDC also plans to deploy an additional two tsunami detection buoys closer to the Thai shoreline by the end of 2010, providing even greater protection against being caught by surprise by the destructive giant waves.

By John Le Fevre

Thailand Travel News for December 28, 2009