Vice Governor Chokdee Amornwat together with Phuket DDPM Office chief Sirisak Sakulsoratja presided over the drill which was held with the aim of increasing rescue worker’s skills and provide them with up-to-date training.
V/Gov Chokdee said, “The island is growing rapidly in terms of economy and transportation both on land and at sea. Now more items such as chemicals, other hazardous materials and oil are being transported by sea more frequently and if such materials leak into the sea it will damage the environment.
“The exercise held today is part of rescue workers annual training which usually focus on incidents such as earthquakes, landslides or floods,” he said.
“This year, Phuket DDPM worked together with Wichit Municipality and local officials to conducted a sea drill to rescue victims from the water at Phuket’s deep sea port. The mission of the exercise was to test our emergency equipment and train rescue workers to be quick when saving lives,” added V/Gov Chokdee.
Mr Sirisak said, “The Ministry of Interior ordered Phuket Governor to have an emergency drill according to the island’s environment and demographics because Phuket is considered to be a high risk area for natural disaster.
“Phuket deep sea port is the best place to set up such a drill, and we want our rescue team to be provided with more knowledge and to gain more experience,” he said.
“Emergency responders must understand about natural disasters and they must act quickly to prevent loss of lives and damage to property,” he added.