Thailand Earthquake: Faulty Alert System Failed Residents
Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra sharply criticized the nation’s earthquake alert system following Friday’s 7.7-magnitude tremor in Myanmar. The quake sent tremors across the region, including Bangkok. The Prime Minister stated that the emergency text message alerts, disseminated via the Short Message Service (SMS), were delayed and lacked crucial information. Her remarks, reported by the Bangkok Post on Saturday during a meeting at the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM), highlighted the need for rapid and informative alerts during emergencies.
She emphasized that immediately following the 1:20 p. m. quake, people needed swift confirmation of the event, clear instructions on actions to take, and guidance on safe locations. This reflects a global trend toward recognizing the crucial role of timely and effective communication in disaster management. Japan, for example, has highly sophisticated early warning systems providing detailed information within seconds of seismic activity, allowing citizens valuable time to prepare.
“The problem is that it took far too long for these text messages to reach people, not everyone received them, and the information provided was not particularly useful,” the Prime Minister said.
According to DDPM director-general Passakorn Boonyalak, the first text message was sent to the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) at 2:42 p. m.—over an hour after the quake. This message, indicating it was safe to retrieve belongings from buildings, was broadcast by the NBTC at 2:44 p. m. Trairat Wiriyasirikul, the NBTC’s acting secretary-general, explained that the message reached approximately 10 million mobile numbers across Bangkok and three neighboring provinces, sent in batches of 200,000. It was later resent to all 76 provinces.
Prime Minister Shinawatra identified several critical areas for improvement: the unacceptable speed of dissemination; the limited reach of the messages; and the insufficiently helpful content.
Thailand has historically struggled with disaster communication. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami tragically underscored the devastating consequences of delayed or inadequate warnings. This recent incident demonstrates the ongoing need for a robust and effective system.
The Prime Minister directed both agencies to address the technical limitations restricting broadcasts to 200,000 recipients, urging an increase to 1 million per broadcast as an interim solution while awaiting full implementation of the NBTC’s cell broadcast technology (expected between June and July). She also questioned whether foreign nationals with Thai SIM cards should receive alerts in English.
She expects both agencies to fully explain the delays, emphasizing the public’s right to understand the system’s shortcomings. She contrasted this with the state-run NBT TV channel, which broadcast an emergency update within five minutes of her directive.
Following initial suspensions, all rail services, except the Yellow and Pink monorail lines (which required additional safety inspections), resumed operations on Saturday.
The delay in sending alert messages stemmed from technical limitations within the system, restricting broadcast capacity to 200,000 recipients at a time. The message’s insufficient content—simply indicating it was safe to retrieve belongings—failed to provide crucial information about the event or further safety instructions. The Prime Minister raised the concern of including foreign nationals in future alerts, potentially with messages in English.
The Prime Minister’s critique highlights the urgent need for a comprehensive overhaul of Thailand’s emergency alert system. This incident underscores the vital role of efficient communication in disaster preparedness and response.
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