The 2004 Thailand tsunami and the April 2012 tsunami warning

This chapter reviews the events leading up to and immediately following the December 2004 tsunami that occurred in Southeast Asia; and the lessons that were learned from a logistical persective are highlighted. It is clear that countries in the region lacked the communication infrastructure and logistics capacity and capability to deal with the aftermath of such an event. In the context of the 2004 tsunami, the effectiveness and speed of response, the significance of the cost element and the fragility of emergency supply chains in extreme conditions are highlighted. The tsunami raised many issues relating to large-scale humanitarian disasters, including the level of preparedness for such events and how best to manage logistics and supply chain activities in volatile conditions such as those immediately following the tsunami strikes. The discussion then summarizes, by means of a first-hand account, the response to a fresh, real-time tsunami warning issues by Thai government.