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S E C T I O N

Creating Awareness,

Promoting Resilience

Three

158 VOLUME 16: EXAMPLES OF SUCCESSFUL EXPERIENCES IN COASTAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Promoting CommunityAwareness and Resilience in Disaster Management –Thailand

16

SUMMARY

The project for promoting community awareness and resilience indisaster management was carried out in 24 schools/villages in sixcoastal provinces in the south of Thailand that were affected by the2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The focus was on people’s participationin planning and coordination with regard to disaster warning, preparedness, response, mitigation and recovery. The aim was toincrease awareness and resilience at the community level.

The project promoted a learning process for local disaster-risk management, targeting school children, their teachers, localadministrative organizations, village leaders and governmentofficers from different departments. Ultimately, the communitieswould participate in the decision-making process, leading tomore effective disaster management.

159

IOI Operational Centre Involved: IOI-Thailand, located in the Department of Marine and CoastalResources, Bangkok, Thailand

Project Coordinator: Cherdsak Virapat

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The school was selected as a sustainablegovernment institution at the grass-rootslevel. Using simple visual maps and techni-cal information revolving around the vil-lage, school children and their communi-ties were able to participate in planningand organizing with two objectives inmind: to increase their capacity to learnfrom past disasters for better future protec-tion and to improve measures for thereduction of disaster risk.

The target group for training includedstudents, school administrators, teachers,village leaders, local administrativeorganizations and provincial governmentofficers from various departments. Thetraining activities were undertaken by theNational Disaster Warning Center team,including specialists in rural develop-ment, community disaster managementand extension, and civil engineering,facilitated by a specialist in non-formaleducation. The National DisasterWarning Center, the Department ofDisaster Prevention and Mitigation, theOffice of the Commission for BasicEducation, the Ministry of Education andthe Department of Fisheries collaboratedduring the development of the plans forlearning and disaster preparedness and disaster response, including ways to mitigateimpact. The Department of MineralResources helped to develop risk maps andevacuation maps.

The project was implemented fromJanuary 2007 to December 2008, with atotal budget of $240,000.

BACKGROUND

AND JU S T I F I C AT I ON

On 26 December 2004, there was a hugeearthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 onthe Richter scale in the sea to the north-west of Sumatra Island. The resultingtsunami hit the Andaman coasts ofThailand at Phuket, Pang-Nga, Krabi,Trang, Satun and Ranong, causing nearly5,400 casualties, half of them foreigntourists. About 8,400 people were injured,2,950 went missing and 880 children wereorphaned.

The disaster affected the tourismindustry along the Andaman coasts ofThailand and the resulting losses exceeded30,000 million baht. Thai property andnatural environments suffered extremedestruction. There were also tremendouscalamities in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia,the Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar,Seychelles and Sri Lanka and even inKenya and Somalia. Over 250,000 peopledied in these countries. This was theseverest natural disaster in the history ofthese Indian Ocean countries.

In the wake of the disaster, Thailandmade a commitment to put in place aneffective tsunami early-warning arrange-ment as soon as possible. Thus theNational Disaster Warning Center wasestablished on 30 May 2005. The Center,which operates under the orders of thePrime Minister’s office, functions as anational command centre for early warningof multi-hazard disasters. It uses human

Promoting Community Awareness and Resilience in Disaster Management – Thailand 161

resources from various technical depart-ments, especially from the Department ofMineral Resources.

In August 2005, the Government ofThailand decided that the NationalDisaster Warning Center would act as afocal point in planning, coordinating,monitoring and supervising all relatedagencies in implementing disaster-warning,preparedness, mitigation and recoveryservices. Thus, the Center became theresponsible authority in the wholeprocess of the early-warning system sothat best practices could be carried outfor coordination at the national and locallevels to protect the lives and property ofall people living in Thailand.

There was, however, a need to increaseawareness and resilience at the communitylevel. It was also necessary to promote people’s participation in planning andcoordination with regard to disaster warn-ing, preparedness, response, mitigation andrecovery. This was the motivation for theproject described in this case study.

In order to create a precedent anddemonstrate a successful approach, theproject initially focused on selected areaswhere there was a reasonable degree ofcommunity cooperation and the localgroups (local administrative organizationsand Provincial/District Officers, schools,etc.) had shown interest. These wereidentified at the start of the initiative andwere also monitored for change duringthe project.

CHA L L ENG E S ADDR E S S ED

In September 2005, the IntergovernmentalOceanographic Commission of the UnitedNations Educational, Scientific andCultural Organization (UNESCO) assessed16 National Warning Centres in the IndianOcean and ranked the National DisasterWarning Center, Thailand, in CategoryIV. Even though this was the highestrank, proper communication from theCenter to the communities was not yet inplace. Therefore, there was a need tostrengthen local knowledge and toincrease local community awareness andresilience so as to ensure community preparedness and response in the event offuture disasters.

Apart from such challenges, there wereother issues to be resolved:

• Data on community areas andwater resources were not reliableand necessitated an in-depth survey at the household level.

• In certain areas such as Ban KlongPrasong School in Krabi and PakMeng areas of Trang, there was a need for further exploration todetermine better evacuation routesand safe places.

• The information on mean sea levelobtained through the use of aGlobal Positioning System altimeter by the National DisasterWarning Center team was foundto be erroneous. Therefore, it wasnecessary for the Royal Thai

162 VOLUME 16: EXAMPLES OF SUCCESSFUL EXPERIENCES IN COASTAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Survey Department, Office of theSupreme Commander, Ministry ofDefence, to conduct measurements.

• For effective project management,financial administration needed to be improved. It was suggestedthat the IntergovernmentalOceanographic Commissionarrange an executing agency tohandle the financial administration.This was important to reduce thenumber of steps in the proceduresof both the Commission and theMinistry of Information andCommunication Technology,which in turn would enable theNational Disaster Warning Centerto implement project activities asscheduled.

OB J E C T I V E S

The objectives of the project were to:

• develop and demonstrate a learning mechanism for schoolsand communities for the management of disaster risk;

• strengthen community capacityand participation in the planningand decision-making process forreduction of disaster risk; and

• generate baseline informationthrough a simple village surveyand interviews with villagers andkey informants.

PRO J E C T P L ANN I NG

The planning process involved key stake-holders from inter-agency departments ofthe central government, provincial gov-ernment agencies, districts, subdistrictsand the villages themselves. There wereconsultative meetings at selected schools/villages, leading to the formation of committees on disaster-preparedness anddisaster-response planning in 24 schools/villages. The committees comprisedschool principals, village leaders, reli-gious leaders, local non-governmentalorganizations (NGOs), teachers andschool children.

These committees then organizedmeetings to plan for disaster managementin consultation with experts from theNational Disaster Warning Center andinter-agency departments. The RoyalThai Survey Department conducted fieldsurveys to obtain the mean sea level at 24schools as reference points for more concrete planning. A training-of-trainersprogramme on household data collectionwas conducted for school principals,teachers and local officials. The actualdata collection was carried out by schoolchildren from 24 schools. The data obtainedwere used for finalizing the disaster-preparedness and disaster-response plansat the stakeholder consultation meetings.This was followed by an assessment of thework plans presented by 24 committees.

Promoting Community Awareness and Resilience in Disaster Management – Thailand 163

PRO J E C T AC T I V I T I E S

Strategies that were developed to improvelocal community management includedthe following:

• strengthening of the co-managementmechanism by mean of participatoryrural appraisal and consultation,enhancing the bottom-up decision-making process;

• use of schools as community learningcentres, improving knowledgetransfer through learning mechanisms;

• application of management strategiesfor reduction of disaster risk;

• strengthening of monitoring andevaluation through capacity-building of government staff indisaster management by means of a programme to develop human resources;

• use of local knowledge for expansion of activities;

• promotion of greater capacity for learning from past disasters for better future protection and to improve measures to reduce disaster risk; and

• improved integration involvinggovernment departments.

The following were the main activitiescarried out under the project:

• A kick-off meeting was held inFebruary 2007 with governmentofficers from relevant departmentsto clarify project objectives andproject-cycle management.

• A coordination meeting wasorganized in March 2007 for officials of the Department ofDisaster Prevention andMitigation, the Department of Fisheries, the Office of theCommission for Basic Educationand local administrative organizations as well as schooladministrators of six provinces.

• National consultants and non-formal education specialists in disaster management wereappointed in February-March 2007for the preparation of the following:

– learning modules for school children, teachers and villagers; and

– participatory workshop methodology for teachers and local disaster managers.

• Appropriate communities wereselected using the database on riskareas.

• Community consultation meetingsand training were organized inMarch 2007 for teachers, local disaster managers, school administrators and communityleaders in six provinces to collectbasic information on schools andcommunities.

• A second round of communityconsultation meetings and trainingwas arranged in June 2007 to complete baseline data on schoolsand communities.

• Meetings were facilitated in theperiod March-July 2007 for the

164 VOLUME 16: EXAMPLES OF SUCCESSFUL EXPERIENCES IN COASTAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Working Groups on DisasterPreparedness and Response in 24schools/communities of six coastalprovinces.

• Local plans were developed forlearning, disaster-risk reduction,participation, and early-warningand evacuation exercises.

• Work plans for learning, disasterprevention and risk reduction, and tsunami early-warning andevacuation exercises were presentedby 24 Working Groups in July2007 at each school.

• A full-scale exercise was carried outby 24 Working Groups in July 2007.

• The Royal Thai Survey Departmentconducted a survey of mean sealevels during the periodSeptember-November 2007.

• A Tsunami Curriculum andTeacher Kits for Schools weredeveloped during the periodAugust-December 2007.

• Stakeholder consultation meetingswere held in March 2008 at desig-nated schools in each province.

ACH I E V EMEN T S

AND OUTCOME S

The outcomes were as follows:

• 24 communities with their respective village leaders and localadministrative organizations participated in the planning and

management of their communityfor disaster-risk management.There was an increase in the com-munity capacity for disaster protec-tion and loss reduction.

• 240 teachers along with districtand provincial government officersparticipated in practical activitiesrelating to disaster-risk reduction,knowledge transfer and extension.

• 1,200 school children in six coastalprovinces and 60 government officers from relevant departmentsparticipated in learning about disaster management.

• The school/community activitiesand evacuation exercises wereassessed with respect to knowl-edge, capacity-building, disasterprevention, risk reduction, publicparticipation and early warning.The results were positive.

Baseline information for monitoringpurposes was also generated through asimple village survey and interviews. Theinformation included population profiles,historical accounts, geographic and topographic characteristics, availabilityand safety of water resources, food securityand safety, public and community organ-izations, the impact of the tsunami andcurrent needs. These data are of stronginterest to the National Disaster WarningCenter and the Department of DisasterPrevention and Mitigation, which typically have limited ability to accessinformation on socio-economic conditionsin communities.

Promoting Community Awareness and Resilience in Disaster Management – Thailand 165

MON I TO R I NG

AND EVA LUAT I ON

The school and community activities weremonitored after the first consultationmeetings. The local meetings of schooland community stakeholders that wereheld for completing the questionnairesand planning forms designed by the project experts were also monitored. At thesecond stakeholder consultation meetings,committees from four schools in eachprovince were asked to present their completed questionnaires and planningforms to the committees from the threeother schools of each province. Necessaryclarifications were provided.

The work plans were presented andassessed. They were tested in action, andfull-scale evacuation exercises were conducted. Awards were presented to theschools/communities that passed theexercises.

After the first round of communityparticipation, suggestions were given forimprovement in data collection. Use ofdata on mean sea levels was also explained.

ST R ENG TH SAND WEAKN E S S E S

The strengths of the project included thefollowing:

• the policy direction and support of the national government for theNational Disaster Warning Center;

• effective collaboration amonginter-agency departments;

• the multidisciplinary team ofexperts; and

• good collaboration with all government levels as well asschools and communities.

The weaknesses included the following:

• the complexity of communitylivelihoods that had to be takeninto account in preparing a frame-work for disaster-risk reduction;

• lack of experience among NationalDisaster Warning Center officersin community-based approachesand in dealing with communitiesand media; and

• lack of detailed data on house-holds and the local environment.

PARTN E R SH I P S

IOI-Thailand played an important role inproviding strategic planning and project-cycle management for the NationalDisaster Warning Center and its inter-agency departments such as theDepartment of Disaster Prevention andMitigation, the Department of Fisheries,the Office of the Commission for BasicEducation and provincial governmentagencies. It assisted the National DisasterWarning Center in partnering with international entities such as the UnitedNations Development Programme(UNDP), the UNESCO IntergovernmentalOceanographic Commission, the United

166 VOLUME 15: EXAMPLES OF SUCCESSFUL PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS

Nations International Strategy for DisasterReduction, the United Nations Office forthe Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs,the United States Agency for InternationalDevelopment, the Asian DisasterPreparedness Center, the Asian DisasterReduction Center and the Swiss FederalInstitute of Technology Zurich(Eidgenössische Technische HochschuleZürich).

In dealing with schools and commu-nities, IOI-Thailand introduced a newdimension by obtaining high-level decision-making support, using a multi-disciplinary team of experts organizingNational Disaster Warning Center tsunami working teams as well asschool/community committees for localplanning and management.

I N NOVAT I ON S

Among the project innovations were thefollowing:

• coordination among governmentagencies, the private sector,NGOs, schools, communities andinternational organizations;

• integration of local knowledgewith scientific information foreffective disaster preparedness anddisaster response; and

• establishment of consultativeforums in order for governmentdecision-makers and experts tomeet with disaster managers from

local government, communityleaders, school administrators,school children, women ‘s groups,NGOs and local volunteers.

SUS TA I N A B I L I T Y

IOI-Thailand has proposed a continuingproject, the “Regional Cross SectorProgramme for Sustainable Managementof Natural Hazards Risk in Southeast Asia”.This will be a technical cooperation initia-tive between the Swiss Federal Institute ofTechnology Zurich, IOI (representing thenational Disaster Warning Center) and theMekong Institute for the period 2008-2012. The project will cover India,Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand ontsunamis and five countries – Cambodia,China, Lao People’s Democratic Republic,Myanmar and Viet Nam – on flash floodsand landslides.

REP L I C A B I L I T Y

IOI-Thailand is planning to replicate theproject in six Andaman coastal provincesto the north of Thailand, which are proneto flash floods and landslides. In this pro-ject, the UNESCO IntergovernmentalOceanographic Commission will cooper-ate with the National Disaster WarningCenter by using financial support fromthe United Nations Economic and SocialCommission for Asia and the Pacific(UNESCAP) Voluntary Trust Fund.

Promoting Community Awareness and Resilience in Disaster Management – Thailand 167

DIFF ICULT IES AND LESSONS

The main constraint faced by the project was the financial administrationof the UNESCO IntergovernmentalOceanographic Commission as well asthat of the Government of Thailand:since the processes were slow, projectschedules could not be met.

Lesson learned were as follows:

• Results of the evacuation exerciseindicated that bottom-up management for a community,using schools, was a good choice.

• Strengthening communityresponse necessitates in-depthhousehold surveys as well as anevacuation plan.

• Choosing safe places requires scientific data such as those from a survey of mean sea levels.

• The learning concept calls forlocal knowledge as well as scientificpractices to be integrated intoappropriate solutions.

FUTUR E P L AN S

In the early stage, the National DisasterWarning Center will emphasize earth-quakes and tsunamis. Soon, however, itwill cover all other natural disasters suchas tropical storms, floods, dam breaks,wild fires, landslides and all kinds of

detrimental pollution. It currently takesabout 25 minutes before output notifica-tion for an earthquake is issued. In thenear future, the Center will have certaintypes of devices that can detect earth-quakes and tsunamis on a real-time basis.This will enable it to take decisions with-in 15 to 20 minutes and to issue warningmessages within the world standards fortime frame and accuracy. When there areadequate databases, the Center will havethe capability to obtain the estimatedtime of arrival of a tsunami.

The pilot project was carried out in 24schools/villages impacted by the 2004Indian Ocean tsunami. However, theremaining villages in the tsunami risk areaslisted by the Department of DisasterPrevention and Mitigation number 509 insix Andaman coastal provinces. Accordingto the project vision, all the communitiesshould be able to increase their awarenessand resilience. Thus, a mechanism to pro-mote local competitiveness and initiativein building up community readiness willbe used.

Simple follow-up activities designedto reinforce the learning experience andaimed principally at school children willbe undertaken by the school teachers. Afinal participatory evaluation of the learn-ing experience and impact of the activitieswill also be carried out in order to evaluate the extent to which local man-agement and community participationhave improved.

168 VOLUME 16: EXAMPLES OF SUCCESSFUL EXPERIENCES IN COASTAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

POL I C Y IMP L I C AT I ON S

The Government of Thailand has made acommitment to expand the project toother schools in risk areas very soon. Itwill provide policy support for expandingthe project to cover all 509 villages in thetsunami risk areas. This support will alsobe extended to areas prone to other typesof frequently occurring disasters such asflash floods and landslides.

M A I N P U B L I C AT I O N S

Aliaga, B. et al. (2007). Full scale evacuation exercise of Thailand on July25, 2007: Lessons learned for tsunamiwarning at community level centeringpreparedness and response at school as a community learning center. 9 pp.

National Disaster Warning Center(2007). The Andaman wave, July 25,2007. Full-scale exercise with evacuationin six Andaman coastal provinces ofThailand. 69 pp.

Contact

Cherdsak Virapat(Former Director, IOI-Thailand)Executive Director International Ocean Institute P. O. Box 3, GziraGZR 1000, Malta Tel: +356 21 346 529E-mail: [email protected]: www.ioinst.org