The powerful earthquake that struck Myanmar, with strong tremors felt across Thailand, has raised widespread public concern about this country's disaster alert system.
Following the quake, social media platforms were flooded with questions about the effectiveness of Thailand's disaster warnings.
While major earthquakes are rare in the country, this event served as a wake-up call, exposing shortcomings in early warning measures.
"This shows the government was completely unprepared. There wasn't even an early warning," one user posted on the Facebook page of renowned news anchor Sorayuth Suthassanachinda.
"Even if earthquake alerts are delayed or slightly inaccurate, they should still be issued," another user commented.
One commenter noted, "No one can predict an earthquake, but if the government is to be criticised, it should be for failing to send SMS alerts afterwards -- at least providing instructions on what to do or how to stay safe. But there was nothing."
Many users questioned why Thailand had previously allocated funds to develop a disaster warning system, yet no SMS alerts were issued.
Last September, Minister of Digital Economy and Society Prasert Jantararuangtong announced the launch of Thailand's SMS-based disaster alert system.
The system was designed to integrate data from agencies like the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation and the National Water Resources Office to keep the public notified.
