ISOC leads Phuket fire preparedness training
THE PHUKET BRANCH of the Internal Security Opera
tions Command (Isoc), which serves as the political arm of the Thai military, led a fire preparedness training exercise
at Nai Harn last week attended
by 45 community leaders and local residents
“Communities are the first
line to face disasters,” Rear Admiral Kanokpol Pimthong,
Deputy Chief of the Phuket ISOC branch, said at the event
on Mar 10.
“If the community or locality is prepared to face the situation and can be initially self-reliant to respond to the situation, it will help reduce the loss of both life and property,” he added.
The disaster-preparedness training was held at Nai Harn Lake public area. All participants were trained in fire suppression and water rescue training.
Leading the training were training officers from the Department of Disaster Prevention
and Mitigation (DDPM) Region
18 office, based in Phuket.
The activities aimed to enable community leaders and citizens to learn and understand disaster management practices, explained Capt Ekkomsan Deeprasert, Phuket ISOC’s Head of Policy and Planning.
“So that they are ready to participate in disaster risk reduction and support disaster
prevention and mitigation activities," he added.
“At present, disasters, both natural and human-caused, have tended to become more severe
and unable to be stopped,”
R/Adm Kanokpol said. “Therefore, supporting the
community to have knowledge
and understanding and participating in disaster response and management both before and after disasters is extremely
important," he said.
“By doing so, they will be able to reduce the risks and impacts of disasters and increase safety,” he added.
The training exercise on Mar 10 followed a large wildfire razing some 50 rai of hillside land at Laem Krathing, just north of Nai Harn Beach, last month.
Some 16 tourists stranded on rocks at Laem Krathing were rescued by Navy person
nel after it was realised they had no safe means of escaping
the fire by land.
Fire teams doused the smaller continuing brush fires to contain any further spread, with special attention given to preventing the fire from getting
any closer to a nearby resort. A small fire break was created to protect some local houses.
Firefighters remained on watch throughout the next day
as small wildfires continued to burn through the night as the fire burned itself out.
Dry grass and strong winds
had helped the fire to spread quickly, Rawai Mayor Aroon Soros noted.
“During this period in Phuket, it rarely rains, causing
dry grass to become more fuel
for fire,” Mayor Aroon said.
“As for what started the fire, there are only two possible
causes. One is the hot weather
and dry grass leading to the fire starting naturally. The other is a discarded cigarette butt,” he said.