The Tsunami Warning System in Thailand: A Part of the Reconstruction Process After the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami - Post-Tsunami Hazard: Reconstruction and Restoration - page 111

Table 8.1 Thailand Early Warning Information sources
Domestic sources
Thai Meteorological Department (TMD), Ministry of Information and Communication Technology
Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation of the Ministry of Interior
Department of Mineral Resources of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
Hydrographic Department of the Royal Thai Navy (HRDTN)
Department of Water Resources of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
Royal Irrigation Department (RID) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives
Pollution Control Department of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) of the Ministry of Energy
Royal Forest Department of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation of the Ministry of Natural Resources
and Environment
Foreign/International sources
Pacifi c Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC)
Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA)
United States Geological Survey (USGS)
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
European-Mediterranean and Seismological Center (EMSC)
Malaysian Meteorological Service (MMS)
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC)
German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ)
Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS)
Source: Ekmahachai 2013 ; Thailand National Disaster Warning Center. NDWC

8.3.3 Organizational Management Process

Through our present analysis and that of Leelawat et al. ( 2014 ), the overall process
of the establishment and work of the Early Warning System in Thailand can be better
understood. According to the interview data, there are two key actor roles in the process
i.e. the warning announcer i.e., the NDWC, and the seismic information provider . The
National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) is a centralized offi cial unit that receives,
monitors, processes, and relays critical natural disaster information (Thanawood et al.
2004 ) and was established in May 2005 by the Royal Thai Government.
Four key Natural Disaster Groups of various organizations responsible for
monitoring and data analyses are directly in contact with the National Disaster
Warning Center (NDWC). The existence of these four Groups are due to the fact
that natural disasters in Thailand are classifi ed into four main types: Geological
Disaster, Hydrological Disaster, Meteorological Disaster, and Forest Fire (Table 8.2 ).
As shown in Table 8.2 , tsunamis are also included as a part of the Hydrological
Disaster Group. However, it is also associated with earthquakes, as it has been
shown in the case of the 2004 earthquake-induced tsunami. Thus, monitoring of
tsunamis is often accompanied by the monitoring of earthquakes.