2004 Tsunami remembered amid debate on disasters
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Students to learn to face crises like landslides, forest fires and floods
Thais and foreigners gathered in six tsunami-hit provinces yesterday to commemorate the anniversary of the deadly giant waves that ravaged the Andaman coast on December 26 seven years ago, killing thousands and shocking the world.
Religious rituals were conducted at many sites in dedication to those who lost their lives.
“I miss my dad. I hope such a disaster will never happen again,” nine-year-old Hatchai Noophom said. His father was among at least 8,000 killed or lost in Thailand.
Grief still filled the air as relatives of the victims laid down flowers at the Tsunami Wall of Remembrance in Phuket yesterday.
The anniversary also brought attention to the need for disaster preparedness.
In Phuket’s Kathu, provincial officials and others held activities to raise public awareness about disasters and to push for better preparation.
At a seminar there, Foundation of National Disaster Warning Council chairman Dr Smith Dhammasaroj said curriculum material would ensure that students from upper |primary levels learn about disasters including tsunamis, landslides, forest fires and floods.
“Students should be encouraged to study about disasters that often |hit their area because the knowledge will raise their level of preparedness,” the disaster official said.
But Assoc Prof Dr Seree Supharatid, who heads the Centre on Climate Change and Disaster |at Rangsit University, said curricula so far failed to include disaster content. “This is despite the fact that the tsunami hit hard seven years ago.”
Seree said learning materials should equip children with survival skills, and an awareness that in times of crisis there would be no electricity or cell-phone signals to rely on.
Dr Amornwich Nakornthap, an academic adviser to the Quality Learning Foundation, said teachers and schools could play a role in increasing local communities’ ability to deal with disasters.
In Ranong, provincial disaster prevention and mitigation chief Chasan Kongruang said the early-warning system was comprehensive now following the 2004 tsunami. “If giant waves are to hit again, we should be able to avoid huge losses.”
He added that evacuation drills had also been conducted to ensure locals knew where to run for safety in times of emergency.
