Asian Transformations in Action - Api-fellowships.org

PERSISTENT PROBLEMS, PROMISING SOLUTIONS AND BENEFICENCE49widely accepted that Thailand government agencies ledeffective relief efforts and responded immediately onthe day the tsunami struck. As a consequence, Thailandachieved rapid success in its relief operation within afew months. The key factors in the effectiveness of therelief response can be delineated as follows: (i) synergy ofThai people from all walks of life in providing all kindsof assistance to their suffering fellow residents; (ii) closeand integrated collaboration and cooperation amongcivilians, the military, the police, NGOs, charitablefoundations and civil defence volunteers, among others;and (iii) an influx of endless support and humanitarianassistance from the international community throughvarious organizations (DDPM 2005; WCDR Report2006).The Royal Thai Government, the private sector andNGOs have continuously launched activities to enhancelivelihoods and rebuild the environments of the affectedpeople and areas following the initial phase of rescue andhumanitarian relief. The Thai Red Cross was consideredthe most important non-governmental agency thatprovided emergency assistance to the victims shortlyafter the tsunami took place. 8Other measures taken by the government and NGOsincluded providing a compensation scheme for theaffected communities and conducting Disaster VictimsIdentification (DVI). These measures were quiteimportant since many of the victims could not easilybe identifed (for instance, undocumented Burmesemigrant workers). 9 Another important measure was thebuilding of temporary housing for internally displacedpersons in Phang Nga and Phuket, the two most affectedareas of the 2004 tsunami, which was managed by thegovernment as well as NGOs. 10The victim services provided in Phang Nga and Phuketprovinces also embraced legal assistance. The tsunamitook land and houses as well as lives and, in some cases,made land ownership unclear. The borders between onepiece of land and another were blurred, and this ledto disputes among villagers as well as disputes betweenvillagers and new investors 11 . Fortunately, a couple ofhuman rights NGOs (e.g., Thai Lawyers Association,TACDB) worked to help local people resolve theirland problems. The NGOs facilitated local people toorganize and defend themselves before a Thai districtcourt. 12Besides emergency response programs, many agencies inThailand have also introduced and conducted disasterpreparedness activities so as to reduce vulnerability andincrease resilience in the tsunami-hit communities.The international community, NGOs and the UnitedNations mechanisms also continue to endlessly supportThailand in these humanitarian assistance activities.Disaster preparedness activities include the following:(1) introduction of community-based disaster riskmanagement; (2) establishment of a National DisasterWarning Center (including an early warning systemand a tsunami early warning tower); and (3) raising ofpublic awareness through disaster prevention educationand a Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Academy(DPMA), organized by the Thailand Department ofDisaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) (DDPM2006) 13 .The Civil Defence Act of 1997 classifies disastersinto three categories: (1) human-made and naturaldisasters; (2) disasters resulting from air raids duringwartime; and (3) disasters resulting from sabotage orterrorist attacks. The disaster management system inThailand is mainly based on the Civil Defence Actof 1979 and the Civil Defence Plan of 2002. TheNational Civil Defence Committee (NCDC) is themain policy making body. On 2 October 2002, theThai government enacted the Bureaucrat Reform Act of2002, whereby the Department of Disaster Preventionand Mitigation (DDPM) came into existence under theumbrella of the Ministry of Interior. This departmentwas also designated to shoulder the responsibility forthe country’s disaster management and thus replacedthe former Civil Defence Division as the NationalCivil Defence Committee Secretariat (WCDR Report2006).Among the tasks of the DDPM are the following: (1)formulate policies and guidelines and set up criteria fordisaster management; (2) study, analyze, research anddevelop prevention, warning and disaster mitigationsystems; (3) develop an information technology systemfor disaster prevention, warning and mitigation; (4)mobilize people’s participation in establishing disasterprevention and mitigation; (5) create people’s awarenessand preparedness in disaster prevention and mitigation;(6) arrange trainings and exercises in disaster preventionand mitigation, the rehabilitation of devastated areasand providing assistance to victims as stated by law; (7)promote, support and carry out disaster prevention andmitigation activities, provide assistance to victims andrehabilitate devastated areas; (8) direct and coordinatethe operation of assisting victims and rehabilitatingthe areas devastated by large-scale or high magnitudedisasters; (9) coordinate assistance with both internaland international organizations in disaster prevention,mitigation and rehabilitation; and (10) perform anyother functions stated in law as the Department’sAsian Transformations in ActionThe Work of the 2006/2007 API Fellows