Govt 'slow to react' to tremors

The Senate yesterday took the government to task for what it said was a slow response to Friday's earthquake in Myanmar that saw strong tremors sweep across Thailand.

- CHAIRITH YONPIAM

Senator Romsit Wiriyasan tabled an urgent motion calling for an Upper House debate on the issue, after which they would present their suggestions to the government and relevant agencies.

He said that hectic evacuations from several buildings, traffic chaos which hindered rescue workers' access to areas affected by the tremors, and text messages warning people about events that took too long to reach people reflected poorly on the government's ability to manage emergency situations.

"Immediately after Friday's earthquake, no one saw the government leader step up and take command of crisis management," Pol Gen Maj Romsit said.

Lt Cdr Wutthipong Pongsuwan, another senator, said that emergency planning has improved little since the tsunami struck in 2004 and called on authorities to make emergency disaster drills a regular practice to prevent massive casualties in the future.

He also called on the government to speed up the implementation of the so-called "cell broadcast service (CBS) system", which allows emergency weather and natural disaster warnings to be disseminated via mobile phone messages.