Thai officials say the country plans to install the first tsunami warning system in the Indian Ocean this month, nearly two years after a series of massive waves killed some 250,000 people around the region.
Thailand's National Disaster Warning Center and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are to install the first offshore devices on November 28.
A network of sensors and buoys called the Deep Sea Tsunami Detection Equipment-2 will be installed about 1,100 kilometers off Thailand's Andaman coast near the Nicobar Islands.
The head of Thailand's disaster center, Smith Thammararoj, said Thursday that the system could save billions of lives.
About 5,300 people died in Thailand when the tsunami struck in December 2004. Eleven countries were affected by the killer waves.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.