Stay inside, no selfie with Pabuk : southerners advised
With strong gale conditions and surging seas expected Friday afternoon, the Meteorological Department has warned residents of three southern provinces to stay indoors and away from the coast – and to forget about taking a selfie with Pabuk as a backdrop.
Speaking to reporters on Friday morning, department director-general Phuwieng Prakhammintara said no one should venture near the shore in Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Songkhla.
He said Tropical Storm Pabuk was expected to crash into Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Pak Phanang district at about 4pm.
Phuwieng cautioned that conditions around the centre of the storm would be extremely dangerous, with wind speed and the height of waves steadily increasing as Pabuk approaches.
Everyone in the area should take shelter in a sturdy concrete building until the storm passes, he said.
“And I would ask people – for their own safety – to not go out to take photos with the storm,” he said.
“It will be very dangerous out there. You could be hit by a flying object or pulled into the waves because of the storm surge. Please remain inside at all times.”
Wattana Kanbua, director of the Marine Meteorological Centre, said the wind speed in Pak Phanang could top 90 kilometres per hour between 2 and 4pm, strong enough to destroy a wooden house. He estimated that waves could be as high as three metres along the shore in the district.