US embassy cable - 05BANGKOK5559

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 005559 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR OES/ETIRPAK AND OES/ASTEWART 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: AORC, EAID, SENV, TPHY, TH, KSCI 
SUBJECT: U.S. ENGAGEMENT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF TSUNAMI 
WARNING SYSTEMS: THAILAND'S VIEWS 
 
REF: A) STATE 152264 B) BANGKOK 870 C) BANGKOK 4796 
 
 1. (SBU) Following receipt of the demarche in Ref A, U.S. 
Trade and Development Agency Officer contacted Deputy 
Director General Kriengkrai of Thailand's Meteorological 
Department (Met Dept) under the Ministry of Information and 
Communication Technology and an official at Thailand's 
National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) who requested not to 
be identified by name.  Both officials were candid in their 
answers to the questions listed in Ref A.  Although Mission 
was aware of Thailand's tendency to "go it alone" with regard 
to Tsunami Warning Systems (TWS), we were surprised at the 
level of misgiving the Thais displayed towards the IOC 
Intergovernmental Coordination Group's coordination of an 
Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System (IOTWS) among Indian 
Ocean countries.  End summary. 
 
2. (SBU) The questions and answers below are keyed to the 
questions listed in para 15 of Ref A: 
 
- (For Indian Ocean countries only) If the Indian Ocean 
Tsunami Warning System (IOTWS) should be managed by a single, 
 
SIPDIS 
regional center in the Indian Ocean region, where should the 
IOTWS center be located and why? 
 
Met Dept: Thailand favors the idea of establishing a national 
center in each Indian Ocean country and encouraging close 
cooperation between those centers.  It appears that many 
countries in the region want to be the regional center, 
starting with Australia, India, Thailand, and Indonesia; more 
recently Malaysia, Pakistan, Iran have shown interest in 
becoming the regional center ) it appears that it will be 
difficult to arrive at consensus for a single country to be 
the center. 
 
We are also concerned that some Indian Ocean countries may 
not be willing to cooperate fully, especially India who did 
not share information on the July 24 earthquake near Nicobar 
Island.  This does not bode well for IOTWS efforts.  (Embassy 
note: We are relaying here what the Thai Meteorological 
Department told us and cannot corroborate its statement about 
India sharing or not sharing information.  End note.) 
 
NDWC: Thailand does not favor the idea of establishing a 
single regional center (as the Thai delegation stated in 
Perth).  One of our main concerns is that unless the regional 
center gets full support and cooperation from the other 
Indian Ocean countries, it will be unable to accomplish its 
tasks. 
 
Embassy comment: Thailand pushed hard its bid to become the 
regional center for an IOTWS at a ministerial meeting it 
hosted in Phuket at the end of January (Ref A).  After it 
failed to win support from India, Australia, and Indonesia at 
that meeting, it has consistently supported the notion of a 
multi-nodal system in which no single country is designated 
the regional center. 
 
 - Is your government committed to purchase TWS equipment or 
has it received assistance for the purchase of TWS equipment? 
 What kind of equipment? Where do you perceive a need for 
additional assistance? 
 
Met Dept: Prime Minister Thaksin wants three DART buoys to be 
completely installed by September 2006 (one buoy installed in 
early 2006 and two more buoys by the end of 2006).  Thailand 
will also buy at least one TWS cable system (Japanese) and 
some tidal gauges.  Thailand is interested in NOAA and 
Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) 
products and services, but needs to assure that: 
1) NOAA can supply buoys in a reasonable time period 
2) SAIC has a local rep who can deal with after-sales-services 
3) Technical assistance can be provided to help Thailand link 
and integrate the data from the various detection devices. 
 
Thailand also urgently needs a quotation from NOAA regarding 
DART buoy and maintenance costs.  Meanwhile, Germany is 
aggressively promoting its Ocean buoy.  Germany recently 
donated two buoys to Indonesia and plans to donate more. 
 
NDWC: The Thai government has allocated a budget of 400 
million baht ($10 million USD) to procure a TWS cable system 
(Japanese) to be installed near Thai islands in the Andaman 
Sea.  The Japanese cable 
System may be able to complement the buoy system.  We also 
have a budget 180 million baht ($4.5 million) for the 
procurement of buoys.  The government would prefer to 
purchase more sophisticated technology such as DART buoys, 
but may have to consider less high-tech options such as the 
lower cost German buoys.  Procurement decisions will be made 
soon. 
 
Embassy comment: During a mid-August visit to Thailand, David 
McKinnie of NOAA and Orestes Anastasia, USAID Program Manager 
for the IOTWS program based in Bangkok, told officials from 
the Meteorological Department and the Seismological Bureau 
that the high-tech DART buoys are not currently available 
(each buoy is fabricated individually by NOAA) and that when 
they do become available, they will not be offered to 
individual governments per se, but to the Indian Ocean Region 
as a whole under the UNESCO/Intergovernmental Oceanographic 
Commission (IOC) framework.  In addition, it is noteworthy 
that Germany's buoys (such as those donated to Indonesia) are 
still in the R&D phase, and do not have the same degree of 
demonstrated reliability as U.S. DART buoys. 
 
 - What is your impression of what the IOC Intergovernmental 
Coordination Group should have in place within the next six 
months?  How do you plan to demonstrate new domestic warning 
capabilities in that timeframe? 
Met Dept: No comment on the IOC Intergovernmental 
Coordination Group.  Thailand cannot possibly demonstrate new 
capabilities within the next six months because the 
procurement and installation of buoys, TWS cable and tidal 
gauges won't be completed until at least September 2007. 
 
NDWC: Thailand has been unimpressed by the IOC.  Thai 
officials who participated in previous IOC meetings commented 
that the meetings were a lot of talk with no action. 
Thailand may reconsider its level of participation in future 
IOC meetings.  The NDWC may delay major decisions on 
investments until early October, pending personnel changes. 
 
Embassy comment: We were surprised at the level of 
frustration our interlocutors voiced with the IOC process. 
Since its own attempt at being designated the regional center 
in January failed, however, Thailand has said all along that 
its first priority is developing a national TWS, coordinating 
with other Indian Ocean countries and the IOC as possible. 
 
Embassy comment continued: The Meteorological Department and 
NDWC interlocutors focused on the high-tech detection 
component of its TWS.  In fact, the other components of its 
TWS ) national communications system and public awareness 
and response ) were tested successfully following the July 
24 earthquake near Nicobar Island.  On July 24, the NDWC 
broadcast a live television alert within 20 minutes of first 
learning of the earthquake (from Malaysia).  Local officials 
evacuated thousands of people from their homes and, except 
for numerous traffic jams, without major incident (Ref B). 
ARVIZU