Final test of public disaster early warning system today at 1pm

The Department of Public Disaster Prevention and Mitigation will carry out a test of the public disaster warning system, via mobile phone networks, at 1pm on Tuesday in Bangkok, Udon Thani, Ayutthaya, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Chiang Mai.

Cell phone subscribers will receive a voice signal for eight seconds, followed by a warning message in both Thai and English about a simulated public disaster. The message will remain on the phones for ten minutes.

The department said that there will be no link attached to the message and that people living within a 1.5km radius of the five provinces may receive the warning signal too, but there is no need to take any action because this is just a test.

Only subscribers who have smart phones on 4G and 5G networks, using either Android version 11 or higher or iOS version 18 and higher, will receive the alert signal and message.

Those still using the older 2G or 3G networks will be alerted by SMS instead.

This test will be the last, after two limited tests were held on May 2nd and 7th.

The launch of a public disaster early warning system was initiated after the March 28th earthquake in Myanmar, which was widely felt in Thailand, particularly in Bangkok, which is about 1,000km from the epicentre of the quake.

Numerous high rise buildings in Bangkok were shaken, but the State Audit Office in Chatuchak district, which was under construction, collapsed, burying over 100 construction workers.

89 people are confirmed to have died, nine were injured and seven remain unaccounted for.

Four people, who were earlier reported as missing, were later found to be absent from work and were not at the construction site when the building fell.