THAILAND: SHARING EXPERIENCE ON DISASTER RESPONSES DURING 2004 TSUNAMIMR.SUPORN RATTANANAKIN

DEPARTMENT OF DISASTER PREVENTION AND MITIGATION, MINISTRY OF INTERIOR

THAILAND

OVERVIEW • Roles and Responsibilities of Disaster Prevention and

Mitigation (DDPM) during 2004 Tsunami

• Thailand’s experience and lessons learned

• Way forward

Country Risk Profile

DEPARTMENT OF DISASTER PREVENTION AND MITIGATION (DDPM)

• Established in October 2002, only 2 and a half year before Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004

• During the Tsunami, DDPM functioned as the secretariat of Minister of Interior (assigned by the Prime Minister):

• to facilitate and coordinate search and rescue operations in all tsunami affected provinces at the Crisis Coordination Center in Phuket

• Main tasks and responsibilities:

• Provide cash compensations (for families, for fatality cases, for injury cases, for funeral expenses, etc.)

• Provide each tsunami effected population with essential tools/ equipment for reclaiming livelihoods

Turning Points of DM in Thailand

2004 Tsunami

• Lack of unified command system• Limited risk knowledge• Limited knowledge and system for

international humanitarian coordination

• Limited capacity of search and rescue

• Etc.

Turning Points of DM in Thailand

2011 Flooding

• The 4th costliest disaster loss in the world

• Tremendous loss of development gains

International Cooperation

Sustainable Development

Strengthen humanitarian coordination

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Upgrading humanitarian coordination standards

Encouraging knowledge sharing

Promoting DRM leadership

THAILAND & ASEAN ON DISASTER MANAGEMENT

• ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response: AADMER

• Policy backbone of ASEAN and ASEAN related bodies on disaster management

• Launched of the new National Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Plan, 2015

• In accordance with the concept of disaster risk reduction (DRR)

• In line with Sendai Framework on DRR• Incorporated AADMER • Main strategies include Promoting international

cooperation on DRR

THAILAND COOPERATION WITH ASEAN

• DDPM as National Focal Point in ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM)

• Minister of Interior is the Minister in charge of disaster management and participated in ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Management (AMMDM)

• Thailand has been actively institutionalize AADMER at the national level:

• National AADMER Implementation Committee (30 line ministries and organizations)

• 3 AADMER Working Groups under National AADMER Implementation Committee

THAILAND ON ASEAN DM & HADR• Actively participated in regional disaster HADR exercises

including ARF DiREx, ADMM and ADMM Plus exercise, and ARDEX

• Providing assistance to ASEAN and AMS when the disasters occurred: Typhoon Haiyan, Myanmar flood, etc.

• Cooperation with ACDM and AHA Centre as well as ARF, ADMM, ADMM Plus, and EAS

• Promoting synergy between all sectors in disaster management and humanitarian assistance through AADMER as the main platform

WAY FORWARD• Enactment of legal mechanism: Disaster Prevention and

Mitigation Act, 2007 (replace National Civil Defence Act, 1979)

• Shift from “Disaster Management” toward “Disaster Risk Management”

• All inclusive policy scheme to corporate all players/ sectors in DRR activities

• Capacity building and enhancement of emergency management system and personnel

• Focus on DRM at the community level as well as public education and awareness building on DRR (development of network of community-based early warning system)

WAY FORWARD• Introduction and application of Incident Command System

(ICS) into Thailand emergency management system

• Initiate the development of a comprehensive and integrated database system: National Clearing House of disaster management information

• Promote and commit to international cooperation on disaster management and DRR

• SAR capacity building through “Capacity Building of Search and Rescue Team” program which expected to submit to INSARAG external classification for medium team qualification in 2017