Tsunami report kept secret

2005-03-09 11:01

Bangkok - The head of a Thai investigation into the Asian tsunami disaster will not make his findings public, in an effort to stymie a lawsuit launched by foreign victims of the tragedy, a report said on Wednesday.

Former Meteorological Department director Smith Thammasaroj said he would seal conclusions of the probe because European victims have filed a lawsuit demanding that Thai and other authorities prove they reacted adequately.

"I will not and I cannot reveal it - and the report may never be published," he was quoted by the Nation newspaper as saying. "No way, because it has become a lawsuit issue and could cause much damage."

Smith could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

More than 60 victims of the tsunami disaster filed suit last week against the Thai government, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its Tsunami Warning Centre, and the French hotel chain Sofitel, which is part of the Accor group, the plaintiffs' lawyers said.

The suit on behalf of plaintiffs from Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and France is believed to be the first worldwide tsunami claim.

The lawyers said the suit was not, at present, designed to demand compensation but to uncover evidence that would prove negligence.

But Smith reportedly warned that Thailand stood to lose billions of baht if it was found guilty, and said he would not provide details from his probe.

"They won't have the information to sue us," he was quoted as saying.

At least 5 395 people died in Thailand, an estimated half of them foreign holidaymakers, when giant waves triggered by an undersea earthquake lashed the kingdom's southwest coast on December 26.

The disaster killed more than 273 000 people in countries around the Indian Ocean.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra transferred the Meteorology Department head and quickly launched an inquiry into why there was no advance warning of the deadly tsunamis, despite the department recording the huge earthquake.

In 1998 Smith issued 10 recommendations for Thailand to improve its tsunami preparedness including a public education campaign, but they were largely ignored.

- AFP