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Thailand, criticised over Bangkok building collapse, to test mobile alerts

The system will use three mobile networks to send warning messages in Thai and English, accompanied by a siren

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Rescuers search for survivors under the rubble of a collapsed building in Bangkok, Thailand, on April, 12 2025. Photo: EPA-EFE
Thailand will conduct tests of a cellphone disaster alert system, senior officials said on Wednesday, after criticism that no alarm was sent after last month’s deadly Myanmar earthquake caused damage in Bangkok.

Director General of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) Phasakorn Boonyalak said the Cell Broadcast System (CBS) will undergo a test run next month in localised areas including the sprawling capital, which was badly shaken by the 7.7-magnitude quake in neighbouring Myanmar.

The system will use three mobile networks to send warning messages “quickly and with wide coverage, both on natural disaster and security threats”, he told a news conference.

Starting on May 2 with the smallest target area – four city hall buildings – there will be three test runs, with the third and largest drill covering the whole of Bangkok and Chiang Mai provinces on May 13.

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Powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake strikes Myanmar, buildings sway and fall in Bangkok

Powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake strikes Myanmar, buildings sway and fall in Bangkok

Residents’ cellphones will get a pop-up message on their screens in Thai and English, accompanied by a siren, Phasakorn said.

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