Ever since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami completely levelled Rajaprajanugroh 35 School in Phangnga's Takua Pa district, students and teachers at the school have been preparing themselves for future disasters.
Prach Sawangpong, a teacher at Rajaprajanugroh 35 School who is the boarding school's emergency response coordinator, said the school's staff and students were lucky that the tsunami struck on Dec 26, 2004 -- which happened to be a Sunday -- so the school's grounds were mostly empty.
Located by Bang Sak Beach, the school is only separated from the sea by Highway 4. When the waves struck, the only thing left standing was the flagpole, he said.
"[Because of the tsunami,] we had to transfer not just all 800 students to other schools in Krabi, Surat Thani and Nakhon Si Thammarat, but also our teachers, so studies could continue while the school was rebuilt," he said.
The new school was completed in March 2005. Though it was rebuilt in the same location, a few changes were made to help ensure student and staff safety in case another tsunami strikes.
Students' dorms are now located on the top floor of one school building, while the building which houses classrooms is now located on higher ground -- above the maximum height of the tsunami waves that struck in 2004, he said. The area where the original building stood, meanwhile, has been turned into a football pitch.
Prach: Setting a good example
Rajaprajanugroh 35 School is one of 240 schools which took part in the Strong Schools project. Organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, the Office of Basic Education and the Thai Red Cross, the programme sought to help schools develop their own emergency responses.
In addition to making changes to the school's layout, the school's administrators have also stocked emergency supplies such as food and drinking water. They have also set up a farm to keep livestock, he said.
"We also regularly conduct tsunami evacuation drills. We can adopt the drill for other emergencies, such as floods or even mass shootings," he said, adding that he hoped the school could be a model for disaster preparedness.
The tsunami killed 5,395 people in Phangnga, Krabi, Phuket, Ranong, Trang and Satun.
Tawan Sai-on, 21, a resident of Takua Pa district, said he lost almost all of his family, except his mother, who managed to hold on to him as he climbed a mango tree to escape the giant waves.
As a result of the disaster, he decided to major in Risk and Disaster Management when he enrolled for his undergraduate studies. Now, he is in the final year. "I would like to use my knowledge to help people in my hometown," he said.
Tawan: Better alerts needed
Mr Tawan said that while there are evacuation signs and sirens to warn people in the event of a tsunami, local residents are more likely to survive as they are more likely to be familiar with the area.
"We need to have a system that can promptly warn tourists and guide them to a safe place," he added.
Professor Pennung Warnitchai, the founding director of the Earthquake Research Centre of Thailand, said disaster preparedness must be boosted, as there are active fault lines in the region which may cause another major earthquake in the future.
Pennung: Review govt guidelines
One of them, he said, is the Arakan fault in west Myanmar, which last triggered an earthquake about 260 years ago.
According to the centre, a strong earthquake along the fault may trigger another tsunami of a similar magnitude to the 2004 one. Fortunately, the centre said a major earthquake along the fault isn't likely to take place for another 200-300 years.
"[However,] we still need to keep our guard up," he added.
While Thailand has improved its earthquake and tsunami early warning systems, the number of siren towers remains insufficient, he said. At their current numbers, only those within a 1-kilometre radius will be able to hear the warning signal.
"Thailand should develop text notifications through cellular networks," he said.
The government also needs to routinely review the official evacuation procedure, he said.
When the centre used a computer model to simulate the evacuation of Khao Lak beachfront after a tsunami warning was sounded, it found that over half of the evacuees failed to reach higher ground in time, as most of the designated safe zones were located 3-4km away from the beach.
Since going to the top of high buildings isn't an option in the area, the government should consider setting up safe zones in other buildings which have been deemed tsunami-proof since the 2004 disaster.
"We need to prepare before a disaster happens again," he said.