THAILAND, Friday 10 May 2013 – Cha-am City was successfully normalised after an 8.9 magnitude earthquake, resulting in 8 meter-high Tsunami waves hit the Andaman Coast on 7 May 2013 causing damages including sunk fishing boats, hazardous chemical leakage, collapse of building structures, deaths and injuries. 23 ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Countries, the EU and other International Organisation were mobilised to tackle the tragedy, with 18 personnel from Brunei Darussalam out of the 1,362 personnel participating. These were the scenarios roll-played for Field Training Exercise (FTX) other than Table Top Exercise (TTX).
The Closing Ceremony were witnessed by His Excellency Police Lieutenant General Chatt Kudiloke the Deputy Minister of Interior, The Kingdom of Thailand, His Excellency Mr. Jeon Jae-man the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Thailand, Mr. Chatchai Phromlert the Director General of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, Kingdom of Thailand and Mr. Arthayudh Srisamoot the Director General of the Department of ASEAN Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand.
ARF DiREx 2013 was the third of its kind co-hosted by Thailand and Republic of Korea on a 24 months ARF rotational calendar. The first in 2009 and second in 2011 was held in Luzon, Philippines and Manado, Indonesia respectively. The next ARF DiREx will be conducted within April – May 2015.
The Co-Chairs expressed their satisfaction in achieving the exercise prescribed objectives. Particular emphasise were put on testing of Strategic Coordination mechanism, The Policy of National and Regional Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief and the stages for coordination, assistance request, asset contribution and logistical challenges.
Both TTX and FTX exercises could not have been successful without cooperation from all participants and relevant agencies/organisation locally and internationally. An important part of the exercise was the Post ARF DiREx 2013 After Action Review (AAR), which will be a valuable part of the exercise focusing on recommendations and lessons learnt for ARF members to take back in incorporate into their respective lines of work relating to humanitarian Assistance and disaster management. Additionally it is there to better coordinate civilian-military responses in handling natural disasters and its impact.
