Death toll in tsunami disaster reaches 1,516 in Thailand

Asian Economic News, Jan 10, 2005

BANGKOK, Dec. 28 Kyodo

The death toll from the huge tsunamis that hit South Asia and Southeast Asia on Sunday has reached 1,516 in Thailand and the figure is expected to exceed 2,000, government officials said Tuesday.

Phangnga Province is hit hardest with 950 people dead and more than 1,100 missing, mostly from the popular beach of Khao Lak, the officials said. Eighty percent of the beach and nearly all of its 50 hotels were destroyed.

Of six southwestern provinces hit hard by tsunamis, Phuket counted 203 deaths, Krabi 138 and Ranong 138, according to an ad hoc disaster relief center set up by the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.

The Cabinet has approved in principle a budget of 28 billion baht ($717.69 million) to help tsunami victims.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra ordered government agencies to fly flags at half-mast while refraining from holding parties or celebrations and to have government officials wear black for the next three days.

Thaksin criticized the Meteorological Department for the inefficiency of its warning system as tsunamis hit Thai coastlines about two hours after the 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck off Indonesia's Sumatra Island on Sunday.

''The warning system is very important...I wonder how they could not estimate the effects after such a strong earthquake,'' he said.

But he vowed to develop such a system in Thailand and to host a seminar of international experts on warning systems for natural disasters.