The capacity building of the community regarding flood and drought disaster management in the provinces of the lower Northeastern region of Thailand

Abstract

This research studies the patterns and methods of community-level disaster management capacity building, analyzes the capacity, problems, and obstacles, and proposes approaches to the development of sustainable flood and drought management capacity building among local communities in Thailand’s lower northeastern provinces. Research data were collected from 10 local communities through interviewing community leaders totaling 10 persons, executives from local administrative organizations totaling 10 persons, and executives of provincial offices of disaster prevention and mitigation totaling 5 persons, including group discussions with community committees and observation of community-level disaster management. The results showed that the selected communities possess disaster management capacity, as can be seen from the development of disaster preparation and the prevention process based on the principle of community-based disaster risk management (CBDRM) with emphasis on the establishment of coordination and cooperation with external agencies during and after natural disaster occurrence. In addition, it was found that the recommended approaches to the development of sustainable disaster management capacity building consisted of structural measures, such as the establishment of reservoirs, building higher homes, and installing village water systems and non-structural measures such as raising awareness and fostering self-reliance, establishing disaster management plans, and transferring related knowledge among younger people. Significant problems and obstacles include the lack of community-level strategic planning for disaster management and insufficient disaster management-related resources. According to this study, it is suggested that strategic plans on community-level disaster prevention should be developed and regularly reviewed by each local community. In addition, a network of cooperation should be established with external agencies, whether it be other communities or the public or private sector, including organizing disaster management knowledge and experience sharing activity among local communities. Meanwhile, local administrative organizations should formulate strategic plans that focus on disaster management capacity building at the community level, particularly regarding non-structural measures, and expanding networks of cooperation with other local administrative organizations in a wider scale. Provincial offices of disaster prevention and mitigation should constantly monitor and evaluate the outcome of community based disaster risk management program, including allocating more disaster management-related resources and budgets among local administrative organizations and high-risk communities. Furthermore, policy on disaster management capacity building should be determined based on the actual problems and needs of the local community and priority should be given to structural and non-structural measures. Meanwhile, disaster management policy should focus on both flood and drought and prioritize every disaster management process, from prevention to mitigation, preparation, response, and recovery.