"EVERYONE LAUGHED AT ME" -THAI EXPERT WHO FOREWARNED OF TSUNAMI
A Thai expert said on Monday he tried to warn the government a deadly tsunami might be sweeping toward tourist-packed beaches, but couldn't find anyone to take his calls.
Samith Dhammasaroj said he was sure a tsunami was coming as soon as he heard about the massive Dec. 26 earthquake off Indonesia's Sumatra island that measured magnitude 9.0 -- the world's biggest in 40 years.
"I tried to call the director-general of the meteorological office, but his phone was always busy," Samith said as he described his desperate attempts to generate an alert which might have saved thousands of lives.
"I tried to phone the office, but it was a Sunday and no-one was there," said the former chief of the meteorological department now charged with setting up an early warning disaster system for Thailand.
"I knew that one day we would have this type of tsunami. I warned that there would be a big disaster," he told reporters.
"Everyone laughed at me and said I was a bad guy who wanted to ruin the tourist industry," he added. More...
Samith Dhammasaroj said he was sure a tsunami was coming as soon as he heard about the massive Dec. 26 earthquake off Indonesia's Sumatra island that measured magnitude 9.0 -- the world's biggest in 40 years.
"I tried to call the director-general of the meteorological office, but his phone was always busy," Samith said as he described his desperate attempts to generate an alert which might have saved thousands of lives.
"I tried to phone the office, but it was a Sunday and no-one was there," said the former chief of the meteorological department now charged with setting up an early warning disaster system for Thailand.
"I knew that one day we would have this type of tsunami. I warned that there would be a big disaster," he told reporters.
"Everyone laughed at me and said I was a bad guy who wanted to ruin the tourist industry," he added. More...
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