The goverment of thailand has selected a site in Khao Lak-Lamru National Park in Phangnga Province, on the hardest hit area in Thailand, to build a Tsunami Memorial as a permanent tribute to those who lost their lives.
This was published in the Bangkok Post on October 12th:
PREEYANAT PHANAYANGGOOR
A new site may need to be found for the planned tsunami memorial and museum in Phangnga province, Deputy Prime Minister Suwat Liptapanlop said yesterday. The memorial was originally to be built on a 20-rai block of land which is part of an abandoned rubber plantation in Khao Lak Lam Lu National Park.
However, the site is next to a 30-rai block of private land which could be commercially developed in the future. If that happened, it would go against the purpose of the memorial.
Therefore, a new site may need to be found for the tsunami memorial project, Mr Suwat said, adding that it would still be located inside the national park.
A 17-rai plot had already been offered for the project by the Marine Police, he said.
''I will visit the site on Sunday before deciding where the memorial is to be located. It is important that we know the location as soon as possible since the ceremony to lay its foundation stone, to be presided over by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, has already been scheduled for Dec 26,'' Mr Suwat said.
On that day, commemorative events would be held at six locations to mark the first anniversary of the tsunami that ravaged the Andaman Sea and Indian Ocean coast.
More than 10,000 guests would be invited to take part in the events.
They would include about 50 VIP guests including former US presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Britain's Prince Andrew.
Also, about 10,000 people injured in the tsunami disaster in Thailand and relatives of the dead would be flown in as guests of the government, which would offer them free return air tickets and two nights accommodation.
It would cost the government about 40,000 baht per guest, or a total of 400 million baht, he said.
Mr Suwat expressed concern that there might be a shortage of hotel rooms during the tsunami commemorative events, as the period would coincide with the peak tourism season.
There are now about 5,000 rooms available for foreign guests.
He said home-stay accommodation would be an option if there were not enough hotel rooms during that period.
Tomorrow, the Foreign Ministry will post on its website an official invitation for those injured in the tsunami and relatives of the dead victims to register as guests before the end of October.
PM's Office Minister Suranand Vejjajiva said a budget of about 38 million baht has been set aside for construction of 24 disaster-alert towers at key tourist and populous areas in the six Andaman coastal provinces before the first tsunami anniversary arrives.
The remaining towers would be in place by March next year, making a total of 60, he said.
Maps and signs showing evacuation routes would be completed by Nov 15, and bidding for a contract to lay tsunami detection buoys in the Andaman Sea could start next month.
The country's comprehensive tsunami-warning system would be completed by the middle of next year, Mr Suranand said.
I thought that 'Lighting the Void' was had the most powerful concept. Beautiful, Powerful and poetic.
They should have just put in that circle of light with a pedestrian path to the beach.
Had they scaled back (significantly) on the building and its program, and refrained from bringing the cars down to the beach, one may assume that they would have won it.
Even the selected design to a degree is unrestrained and bold, and it will definitely overpower the natural setting and impact the environment...
It will be interesting where this will all go...we all know that there is always a huge gap between what is selected and what gets built
we do we feel the need to memorialize everything right now?
i feel that it is a strange disorder that afflicts our current society.
how about this, rather than funnel incredible amounts of money to a pathetic tourist attraction, let's funnel that money to something useful that can actually aid in rebuilding or reconstructing lives after the fact. how about the memorial market or memorial housing or something useful...or memorial potable water plant.
considering that the area's economy is tourism-based, it makes sense strategically to build a memorial/tourist attraction to stimulate that economy. as for artistic merit, well....
May 22, 06 5:20 pm ·
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Tsunami Memorial Design Competition
The goverment of thailand has selected a site in Khao Lak-Lamru National Park in Phangnga Province, on the hardest hit area in Thailand, to build a Tsunami Memorial as a permanent tribute to those who lost their lives.
Seems things are quite chaotic at the moment...
This was published in the Bangkok Post on October 12th:
PREEYANAT PHANAYANGGOOR
A new site may need to be found for the planned tsunami memorial and museum in Phangnga province, Deputy Prime Minister Suwat Liptapanlop said yesterday. The memorial was originally to be built on a 20-rai block of land which is part of an abandoned rubber plantation in Khao Lak Lam Lu National Park.
However, the site is next to a 30-rai block of private land which could be commercially developed in the future. If that happened, it would go against the purpose of the memorial.
Therefore, a new site may need to be found for the tsunami memorial project, Mr Suwat said, adding that it would still be located inside the national park.
A 17-rai plot had already been offered for the project by the Marine Police, he said.
''I will visit the site on Sunday before deciding where the memorial is to be located. It is important that we know the location as soon as possible since the ceremony to lay its foundation stone, to be presided over by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, has already been scheduled for Dec 26,'' Mr Suwat said.
On that day, commemorative events would be held at six locations to mark the first anniversary of the tsunami that ravaged the Andaman Sea and Indian Ocean coast.
More than 10,000 guests would be invited to take part in the events.
They would include about 50 VIP guests including former US presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Britain's Prince Andrew.
Also, about 10,000 people injured in the tsunami disaster in Thailand and relatives of the dead would be flown in as guests of the government, which would offer them free return air tickets and two nights accommodation.
It would cost the government about 40,000 baht per guest, or a total of 400 million baht, he said.
Mr Suwat expressed concern that there might be a shortage of hotel rooms during the tsunami commemorative events, as the period would coincide with the peak tourism season.
There are now about 5,000 rooms available for foreign guests.
He said home-stay accommodation would be an option if there were not enough hotel rooms during that period.
Tomorrow, the Foreign Ministry will post on its website an official invitation for those injured in the tsunami and relatives of the dead victims to register as guests before the end of October.
PM's Office Minister Suranand Vejjajiva said a budget of about 38 million baht has been set aside for construction of 24 disaster-alert towers at key tourist and populous areas in the six Andaman coastal provinces before the first tsunami anniversary arrives.
The remaining towers would be in place by March next year, making a total of 60, he said.
Maps and signs showing evacuation routes would be completed by Nov 15, and bidding for a contract to lay tsunami detection buoys in the Andaman Sea could start next month.
The country's comprehensive tsunami-warning system would be completed by the middle of next year, Mr Suranand said.
lk
whoa
don't like the wnning scheme. i guess they wanted a monument/tourist attraction.
I thought that 'Lighting the Void' was had the most powerful concept. Beautiful, Powerful and poetic.
They should have just put in that circle of light with a pedestrian path to the beach.
Had they scaled back (significantly) on the building and its program, and refrained from bringing the cars down to the beach, one may assume that they would have won it.
Even the selected design to a degree is unrestrained and bold, and it will definitely overpower the natural setting and impact the environment...
It will be interesting where this will all go...we all know that there is always a huge gap between what is selected and what gets built
we do we feel the need to memorialize everything right now?
i feel that it is a strange disorder that afflicts our current society.
how about this, rather than funnel incredible amounts of money to a pathetic tourist attraction, let's funnel that money to something useful that can actually aid in rebuilding or reconstructing lives after the fact. how about the memorial market or memorial housing or something useful...or memorial potable water plant.
considering that the area's economy is tourism-based, it makes sense strategically to build a memorial/tourist attraction to stimulate that economy. as for artistic merit, well....
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