What would you make of this in a European Newspaper!!?
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2005/03/09/national/index.php?news=national_16666378.html
interestingly cannot mark this!..might disappear....quote in full....
DISASTER PROBE : Tsunami report won?t see light of day: Smith_*
*Published on March 09, 2005*
/Need to protect Kingdom against foreign lawsuits, says investigation
chief; conclusions may never be put on paper/
The public will not hear if the Meteorological Department failed in its
duty to warn people that December?s devastating tsunami was heading
towards Thailand, the chief of the investigation into the disaster said
yesterday.
What?s more, Smith Tham-masaroj said a report into the
incident might never be written. Smith said he would conceal a tsunami
report from the public
out of patriotism in order to protect national interests, as some 60
foreign relatives of Western tourists killed by the massive waves in
southern Thailand might use the information in their lawsuit against the
government.
?I will not and I cannot reveal it - and the report may never be
published... No way, because it has become a lawsuit issue and could
cause much damage,? he said.
He added that billions of baht could be lost if the Meteorological
Department was found guilty of failing to warn the public and tourists
in Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi.
Last month, 19 relatives from Austria and Germany filed a lawsuit in New
York against the government for failing to provide a timely tsunami
warning. ?They won?t have the information to sue us,? Smith said.
Earlier yesterday, he told an audience of about 1,000 in a speech on
lessons from the tsunami that he believed many lives would have been
spared by the Meteorological Department listening to only 10 per cent of
his suggestions concerning the possibility of a tsunami hitting the
Andaman coast in southern Thailand.
By heeding his advice, he said the department would have had one hour
and 15 minutes to act before the tsunami hit. ?I don?t know how to
punish him,?
said Smith, referring to the then director-general of the Meteorological
Department, Suparerk Tansriratwong.
?Did he know about [the impending tsunami]? I can?t tell you the result,
because 60 foreigners are eyeing to sue [the government].
?That?s why I can?t close the case, and I don?t know when I can close
it.? Smith acknowledged that the government might be in a Catch-22
situation, because if it claimed the department did not know the tsunami
was headed for Thailand, it could be grounds for a dereliction-of-duty
lawsuit.
If it were found that officials
knew the tsuna-mi was on its way but did not warn the public, it would
also lead to a lawsuit, he said.
?Either way, they can sue us. And these farangs [Westerners] love to
sue,? he said.
One day after the tsunami struck, one of the four officers in charged of
the Meteorological Department told The Nation that senior officials had toyed with
the idea of issuing a warning the morning of the tsunami.
They decided not to because they feared such a warning would have
negative repercussions on the tourism industry in the event a tsunami
did not occur, the official said.
Pravit Rojanaphruk
The Nation
