AmateurRadio.com

An awesome story over on Southgate’s website shares that Ham Radio operators in Thailand, have helped to save almost 1,000 lives during the course of the floods that have been going on in this unusually heavy monsoon season. RAST, which is Thailand’s Amateur Radio society, held a gathering making this announcement.

Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia/Navy Visual News Service/Petty Officer 1st Class Jennifer Villalovos

RAST Secretary Wacharaphol, HS4DDQ, and his team working with the Public Health Ministry, setup station HS0AC and helped to coordinate rescue communications for medical emergencies. This action made it possible to save those lives. Like here in the US, many of the government agencies have been able to take advantage of the services Amateur Radio operators can offer when their communications networks failed either to overload or from interference from other agencies also trying to help during the emergency.

From the Southgate Story:

The NBTC (National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission) has praised the role that radio amateurs have been playing to help people cope with the disaster by providing communications support and this have been especially helpful in flooded areas where several mobile phone cell sites have failed.

During the meeting, Pranee Netrattana, E21DKD, who is a CQWW VHF Contest winner, was praised for her efforts in the disaster, as a net control operator. This is just another example of how Amateur Radio is still relevant in the 21st century. Even in the information age, there is still room for century old technology.

73.

Rich also writes a Tech blog and posts stories every Tuesday and Thursday on Q103, Albany’s #1 Rock Station website, as well as Amateur Radio stories every Monday thru Friday on AmiZed Studios and hosts a podcast called The Kim & Rich Show with his fiance’ Kim Dunne