General News - Wednesday December 19, 2007
RACE TO PARLIAMENT
Tsunami prediction spooks island voters
Phangnga _ A Brazilian fortune teller's prediction of a tsunami-inducing earthquake this coming Sunday has got locals so spooked that a seafront polling station in Takua Pa district has been forced to be relocated to higher ground. Somkiat Sungkaosuttirak, who heads the constituency 1 Election Commission, yesterday said they had moved the polling booth from a public hall in Ban Sak further inland to Ratchaprachanukroh 35 school because locals said they would not vote if it was by the sea.
Village headman Waro Ho-sagul said leaflets were distributed about news coverage of a foreign fortune teller predicting a tsunami in the Andaman Sea on Sunday, the day of the election.
He said the rumours had terrified voters, especially local Moken sea gypsies.
A massive tidal wave triggered by an earthquake in the Indian Ocean slammed into the six Andaman coastal provinces on Boxing Day three years ago killing well over 5,000 people in Thailand.
One tsunami survivor said a Brazilian fortune teller alerted the Indonesian government and news agencies of a forthcoming major earthquake on Sunday. He said many locals had already cancelled their plans along the seashore and were preparing for a possible evacuation.
About 800 people are eligible to vote at the polling station that has been moved. The Election Commission's decision has put them at ease, though the commission has said it needs to quickly inform voters about the change.
Mineral Resources Department director-general Apichai Chvajarernpun dismissed the rumours however, saying that scientists could not predict earthquakes. He asked the public to trust in the tsunami early warning system put in place in the six provinces along the Andaman coastline.
Meanwhile, plastic bags made by tsunami victims on the resort island of Phuket are selling like hot cakes in the Otop City fair, which runs at Muang Thong Thani until Friday. Sales of the bags over the first three days brought in over 700,000 baht. The group now exports its products to 40 countries.
Bangkok Post
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