The Enhancement of Local Disaster Management

to Public Policy Development in Thailand

Mr. Wisut BoonyasopitDirector, National Health Assembly Department

National Health Commission Office of Thailand (NHCO)

Scopes of Presentation• Disaster situation and the 2011

flood situation in Thailand • Roles of civil society organizations

and local communities in disaster management

• Movement of participatory public policy development

• Contents of Thai NHA Resolution on disaster management with local communities as the focal point

Disaster Situations in Thailand (year 1989-2010)

Disasters Numbers(times)

PeopleInjured

Peoplekilled

Cost(million US)

Flood 213 7,896 2,938 3,735.1

Landslide 9 > 500 541 66. 2

Storm 36,024 1,367 842 163.0

Fire 46,986 3,775 1,639 916.7Tsunami 1 11,775 5,401 225.8

83,233 > 25,313

11,361 5,040.8

Department of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, Ministry of Interior

Flood Situation in Thailand, 2011• July 2011- January 2012 • Covered 65 provinces, 684 districts, with

4,086,138 households and 13,595, 192 people affected.

• Houses : whole houses 2,329; partially damaged 96, 833

• Damaged agricultural areas 11.20 million Rais; 13,961 roads; 777 drainage ditches; 724 bridges/bridge-necks; 231,919 fish/shrimp/clam farms.

• 813people were killed and 3 were lost. • The World Bank approximated damage

cost at 45,000 million baht.

Importance Causes• Communities’ lack of disaster

planning• Lack of effective warning

system and lack of accessible communication system

• People’s lack of knowledge about disaster prevention.

Songkla Partner Against Disasters

• Damage (2010) : 16 districts, 12 municipalities, 119 sub-districts, 1,049 villages/communities, 269,233 households, 802,247 people

• Activities: Providing horizontal warning system –

focus on networking Setting up database in both risk and

safe areas Encouraging communities to be alerted

and self-dependent during disasters

Examples of community roles:

Nakhon Sawan Community Network

• Damage : 4 sub-districts, 59 communities, 18, 464 households, 72, 331people

• Activities: – Setting up 11 relief shelters– Sacrificing some houses to safe

the communities – Setting up Disaster Fund

Examples of community roles:

Nakornpathom People Network

• Damage : 7 districts, 102 sub-districts, 905 villages, 85,381 households, 230,165 people

• Activities:Setting up relief shelters in

temples, schools and government offices

Setting up the shared kitchen Recovering the indigenous

orange, Nakornchaisri, orchards

Examples of community roles:

National Health Assemblyin National Health Act, 2007

a process in which the relevant public and State agencies exchange their knowledge and cordially learn from each other through a participatory and systematically organized forum, leading to recommendations on Healthy Public Policies or Public Healthiness.

Timeline- Development of public policies on community-

centered disaster management

The 14-province Southern Health Assembly Network in proposed

to enclose the issue in the agenda of The 4th NHA (May

2011)Songkla Partner Against Disasters

The agenda was announced in The 4th NHA &

academic team working on development of policy recommendation was set

up

Forum on Lessons learned from

flood management(Jan 2012)

The 4th National Health Assembly (NHA) (2-4

Feb 2012)

The Cabinet approved on NHA’s Resolution

and assigned departments to act on

accordingly (May 2012)

Flood Oct-Dec 2011

Resolutions• Revise the Disaster Prevention

and Mitigation Plans• Provide local community

network’s preparation planning• Set up national fund• set up fund and collaborative

mechanism in local level• Support knowledge management

Resolutions• Provide frequency bands for TV,

radio broadcast • Encourage development of diverse

volunteer networks• Set up area based health assembly

to address disasters in the areas. • Prepare learning curriculums in

every class level

Lessons Learn• The power of local communities and civil

society networks is crucial in dealing with disasters in Thailand in 2011

• Working experiences of local communities and civil society networks are important sources for development of the policy recommendation

• the Thai NHA, founded in accordance with the national Health Act, is a tool used for participatory development of healthy public policies, which is recognized by all sectors including the government

http.en.nationalhealth.or.thSawasdee