Tsunami responses in Phuket Island, Thailand: Land uses/land covers and facilities in 2010

The study on tsunami responses was conducted in order to present the activities of land uses/land covers after the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and to prepare tsunami related facilities in Phuket Island, Thailand. Multi-temporal analysis on ASTER scenes acquired pre tsunami (Mar, 2004) and post tsunami (2005 and 2010) were classified into 6 main land uses/land covers; Agriculture, Beach, Built-up, Forest, Miscellaneous and Water body. It was observed that the tourist facilities infamous tourist beaches, such as Patong andKamala, recovered by about 80% at the end of 2005. Most of the increased built-up areas in 2010 were located outside the tsunami inundated zone. Following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the tsunami warning system and related facilities, such as the Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART), broadcasting towers, wave protection barriers and tsunami shelter or evacuation sites have been set up. In addition, bi-lingual (Thai-English) tsunami related notice boards and maps were placed since 2005. After the disaster, the tsunami awareness and evacuation procedures have annually trained and practiced with local residents, tourists and disaster related agencies in Phuket.