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Thailand is notoriously exposed to several natural disasters, from heavy thunder storms to earthquakes and tsunamis,
since it is located in the tropical area and has tectonic cracks underneath the ground. Besides these hazards flooding,
despite being less severe, occurs frequently, stays longer than the other disasters, and affects a large part of the national
territory. Recently in 2011 have also been recorded the devastating effects of major flooding causing the economic
damages and losses around 50 billion dollars. Since Thailand is particularly exposed to such hazards, research
institutions are involved in campaigns about monitoring, prevention and mitigation of the effects of such phenomena,
with the aim to secure and protect human lives, and secondly, the remarkable cultural heritage. The present paper will
first make a brief excursus on the main Thailand projects aimed at the mitigation of natural disasters, referring to projects
of national and international relevance, being implemented, such as the ESCAP1999 (flow regime regulation and water
conservation). Adaptable devices such as foldable flood barriers and hydrodynamically supported temporary banks have
been utilized when flooding. In the second part of the paper, will be described some new ideas concerning the use of
smart and biomimicking column structures capable of high-velocity water interception and velocity detection in the case
of tsunami. The pole configuration is composite cylindrical shell structure embedded with piezoceramic sensor. The
vortex shedding of the flow around the pole induces the vibration and periodically strains the piezoelectric element,
which in turn generates the electrical sensorial signal. The internal space of the shell is filled with elastic foam to
enhance the load carrying capability due to hydrodynamic application. This more rigid outer shell inserted with soft core
material resemble lotus stem in nature in order to prolong local buckling and ovalization of column cross-section when
subjected to flexural moments. Finally it will be proposed as a warning and mitigation system that can be used on sea
coasts vulnerable to potential tsunamis.
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