Disability inclusion
in Shelter Management
Final Report
ASIAN DISASTER REDUCTION CENTER
Visiting Researcher Programme (FY2023)

ADRC Visiting Researcher
Ms. THANCHANOK NUNTATIKUL
Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM)
Ministry of Interior, Thailand

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Disclaimer

This report was compiled by an ADRC visiting researcher (VR) from ADRC member
countries. The views expressed in the report do not necessarily reflect the views of theADRC. The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on the maps in thereport also do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the ADRC.

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Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Background and Significance1.2 Specific Aims
1.3 Expected Results
1.4 Scope of Study
Chapter 2: Shelter Management in Thailand
2.1 Legal Framework
2.2 National Guidelines
2.3 Training of Trainers course
2.4 Simulation Exercise on Temporary Shelter Management
2.5 Decision Support System
Chapter 3: Shelter Management in Japan
3.1 Legal Framework
3.2 Japan’s initiative on Welfare Shelter
3.3 Implementation of Welfare Shelter in Hyogo Prefecture
3.4 Implementation of Welfare Shelter in Kobe City
3.5 An example of best practices for Disability Inclusion in Shelter
management at Beppu City
3.6 Process of developing Individual Evacuation Plans
Chapter 4: Key findings and Recommendations
Chapter 5: Conclusion
References

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Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Background and SignificanceThe National Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Act B.E. 2550 (2007) and National
Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Plan B.E. 2564 - 2570 (2021 - 2027) assigned all
provinces, districts, and local governments to develop their own Disaster Prevention and
Mitigation Plan which provide baseline data and guidelines for disaster risk management
activities based on each area’s context. One of important activities is shelter management.
The temporary shelter will be a safe place for people, who are forced to leave their house
because of disaster, to live for a while, where evacuees can get basic needs and maintaintheir human’s dignity. Thailand gives priority to enhance capacity of local government inshelter establishment and management that are in line with international standard andconsider different needs of each vulnerable group. Recently, Thailand has published theguidelines on temporary shelter establishment and management which is currently used asnational guideline. However, the guideline only provides a general concept mentioning theconsideration on people with disabilities or people who need special assistance during
disaster but does not have specific details on how to prepare and manage the shelter to beaccessible for these vulnerable people.
As Thailand becomes aged society, it is necessary to consider about challenges ofincreasing of elderly among regular people and people with disabilities. One of the challenges
we are facing is that most of the buildings used as temporary shelter are governmentbuildings such as school and temple, which are not designed or equipped with the facilities
that are accessible for people with disabilities. We have seen that Japan has a lot ofexperiences and lessons learned in establishing and managing shelters during emergencies
and is well-known as a role model on making a city livable for all, therefore, the study fromJapan in this area will bring out valuable information for Thailand to improve its practices on
preparing for inclusive shelter management that is accessible for people with special needsin the future.
1.2 Specific Aims
The objective of the proposed research are as follows:
1) To have an insight about Japanese standard, practices, and challenges on
preparing and managing a disability-inclusive shelter.
2) To have an insight about specific needs of people with disabilities and people whotake care of them.
3) To learn from the good example of accessible shelters.
1.3 Expected Results
The expected results are as follows:
1) Concrete practices of disability-inclusive shelter management in Japan.
2) Experiences of visiting some disability-inclusive shelters in Japan.
3) Recommendation for Thailand on how to prepare for disability-inclusive shelterssuch as design, facilities, and management.
1.4 Scope of Study
The research focuses on the development of practical guidance or recommendations
for temporary shelter establishment and management in Thailand to be more inclusive forpeople with disabilities or special needs in preparation, management, and simulation
exercise, by applying knowledge and experience from Japan.

4Chapter 2: Shelter Management in Thailand
2.1 Legal Framework
According to the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Act B.E. 2550 (2007), when adisaster occurs or is likely to occur, the local government of the affected area is required tosetup emergency operations center (EOC) to direct, control, and coordinate emergency
response operations within its jurisdiction. In case of an actual occurrence or a threat of ahazard within any area and is likely to inflict harm on persons residing in such area, Incident
Commander at each level of disasters has authority to order evacuation of persons from thatarea as necessary to perform disaster prevention and mitigation operations as well as toarrange some temporary shelters for affected people for living or getting first aid, andproperties safeguarding. Therefore, temporary shelter management is one of the crucial
tasks that EOCs must operate in systematic manner to meet with standard and ensure thatthe evacuees are able to receive inclusive and equal assistances during their stay in the
shelter. It is essential to prepare the shelter in appropriate with the number of evacuees tomaintain their safety, healthy and sanitary.
There are suggested guidelines for evacuation and temporary shelter planning andmanagement, as well as relevant activities that will support the shelter management tofunction effectively and can provide services continuously, mentioned in several parts of the
National Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Plan 2021 - 2027 as follows:
Topic
Practice on risk acceptance

Detail
1. Conducting disaster management exercise
The National Disaster Prevention and Mitigation
Plan 2021 - 2027 suggested that every level of theEmergency Operations Center (EOC) as well as each
Emergency Support Functions should conduct a disastermanagement exercise at least once a year. The typeand format of the exercise should be in accordance with
objectives and scopes of the exercise.
2. Developing the evacuation plan
The EOC at all level has a responsibility to develop an
evacuation plan and procedure for citizen andgovernment sector. The plan should contain the following
elements: list of evacuees, government agencies, andnecessary facilities and resources, designat ion ofevacuation areas suitable for accommodating theevacuees, clear-cut assignment of duties to all officers
involved in evacuation, designation of primary andalternative evacuation routes for each type of disasters,
as well as conducting inspection and preparation ofvehicles, fuel supplies, energy sources, andcommunication system to ensure their readiness to
support the evacuation operations.
3. Arranging evacuation areas
The EOC should designate safe and easy to accessareas as well as organize layout and spaces to besuitable for temporary accommodating the evacuees.
4. Preparing and managing temporary shelter
The EOC should prepare action plan for the setup of
temporary shelters for the evacuees by designating theexisting physical facilities to serve as temporary shelters
as well as ensuring the management of temporary
shelt er is in place. An eff icient and app r opriate
5preparation to set up temporary shelter should include
the following actions:
4.1 Designate the location to establish the temporary
shelter sites by consulting with all stakeholders including
vulnerable groups to select appropriate locations in
c o n s i d e r a t i o n o f s a f e t y t o s e c o n d a r y d i s a s t e r,accessibility, readiness of facilities and supplies, as well
as set t ing up m echanism f or t em por ar y shelt er
management: opening, operating, and closing.
4.2 Manage a shelter by following the structure of
temporary shelter management plan.
4.3 Determine minimum requirements for shelters tomeet with the Sphere standard.
4.4 Manage and maintain a database of evacuees
residing in a temporary shelter. The database should
include the following information: demographic data,
personal data, and administrative.
When disaster situation is no longer exist, the shelter
manager will announce the closure of the temporary
shelters and the shelter’s staff will prepare for returning
people to their home.
5. Developing business continuity plan (BCP)The BCP is the action plan for the organization to
perform their duties and deliver continuous services
during crisis situation. Government agencies’ BCP
should focus on how to manage, maintain and protect
their critical resources to ensure that the essent ial
functions and services will stay resilient and keep
benefitting the clients and stakeholders during disruptionin accordance with the cabinet resolution dated 24 April
2012 and 31 March 2020. The government also promoteand encourage the private sector in every businessscale including SMEs to develop BCP.
6. Developing an effective multi-hazard early warning
mechanism
Early warning system (EWS) is a very important function
and one that has been proven to save lives and reduce
loss of disasters. From concept to action, EWS is a
structure of disaster management system andcom m unicat ion syst em f or t im ely and eff ect i v edissemination of warning information to authorities andpeople in potential affected areas through various
designated channels so that they can prepare for thedisaster and evacuate to safe areas in time by taking
into account the End-to-End EWS approach.
7. Preparing for the readiness of disaster management
resources
7.1 Prepare stockpiling for relief items such as food,clothes, blankets, tents, medicines, machineries, tools
and equipment for each type of disasters, as well as
necessary supplies and supporting facilities.
7.2 Prepare other resources at all levels of government
such as human resources, system and technologies,
disaster information and specialists as well as jointly workwith communities, private sector, NGOs and foundations.
67.3 Integrate resources among DRM-related agencies,
estimate resources required for each type of disaster, seta logistics standard for stockpiling including resources
procurement and safety stock, inventory control, stock
management, inventory database, inspection and tracking
system, maintenance system, skill trainings, mobilization
planning, and manual development.
7.4 Prepare budget covering disaster risk
management cycle and for resilient recovery.
Guidelines for Emergency In case of an actual occurrence or a threat of a hazard
Evacuation
within any area and is likely to inflict harm on persons
residing in such area, an authorized person as stipulated
by Article 28 of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Act
B.E. 2550 (2007) has authority to order evacuation of
persons from that area in a systematic and organizedmanner as follows:
1. Emergency evacuation process encompasses
1.1 Prioritization of evacuees by giving the firstpriority of evacuation to vulnerable groups such as
patients with special healthcare needs, person withdisabilities, the elderly, children, and women. The wholefamily which includes parents and their children should
evacuate together in group.
1.2 Arranging safety recipient location and temporary
shelters to accommodate the evacuees and officials
concerned on an appropriate and actual-need basis.
1.3 Systematizing traffic flow in disaster affected area
and the adjacent areas as well as in the evacuatedshelter area.
1.4 Assisting the evacuees in moving their property
from the affected or nearby areas upon their requests.
1.5 Arranging for evacuation reception registration forthe purpose of checking numbers of evacuees and those
who might be possibly left behind.
1.6 Arranging public health and medical care services
for evacuees.
1.7 Assigning security police and volunteers tomaintain peace and order in the evacuated shelter area
as deemed appropriate.
1.8 Designating and assigning liaison officer tocommunicate and coordinate with local police officers to
deploy policemen to periodically patrol the evacuees’
home areas for the purpose of safeguarding theirdeserted houses. In case of inadequacy of police staff,
the liaison officer must request local Civil Defence
Volunteer Unit to deploy its members to assist in
patrolling, or organizing community volunteer to performthe task likewise. The patrolling is absolutely prohibitedin case the situation is extremely dangerous in which thepatrolling personnel might risk their lives. The patrol unit
will once again resume their duties when such situation
subsides.
1.9 Arranging public relation service to disseminate
disaster situation to keep the evacuees informed on acontinuous basis to rid of their anxiety.
72. Termination of disaster declaration
It is imperative to conduct continuous and closemonitoring of the ongoing situation and keep the public
informed on a periodical basis to prevent publicconfusion. Concurrently, the relevant agency is required
to explicitly confirm a termination of disaster declarationand informs the evacuees to prepare for returning totheir residences.
3. Arrangement for returning home
Upon receiving the notice of termination of disasterdeclaration, a community leader or evacuee groupleaders must organize and rank priorities of evacuee
groups before beginning to return them to their originalresidence localities, as well as coordinating the return
movement with the officials responsible for thismovement and standby for further instructions andinformation.
4. Evacuation of affected and disrupted government
entities
The affected and disrupted government entities
including local administrative organization offices need
to be temporarily moved to and relocated to resume their
public service functions. In this connection, the EOC in
locality is responsible for classifying and grouping theentities requiring most urgent evacuation to continue
providing essential services to the public. In addition, therelevant EOC must anticipatedly determine the recipient
locations for evacuated government entities. An
evacuation of affected and disrupted government entities
must be conducted in accordance with the evacuation
plan for government entity.
Guidelines for Setting Up Temporary shelter is the location prepared for recipient
Evacuation Centre (Temporary of evacuees who have forced to leave their residences
Shelter)due to effect of disaster. The evacuees will live in thetemporary shelter until the termination of disastersituation or their houses are restored and able to live
again. To manage temporary shelter in line with thetemporary shelter management plan, the committee
should ensure that appropriate basic needs are provided
to evacuees including nutrition, food and drink, safety,
welfare, utility supplies, as well as hygiene and sanitary.
In this connection, the following action should be taken:
1. Opening the temporary shelter
1.1 Arranging for evacuation reception registration
which includes demographic data, personal data, andrequirement of basic needs and special needs of each
evacuee especially vulnerable groups. The registration
data must be reported to the Local EOC.
1.2 Arranging adequate food and drink as well as
special needs e.g. infant formula.
1.3 Arranging spaces and layout of temporary shelterby prioritizing evacuees’ safety as well as individual
issues such as medical restriction, gender aspect, andvulnerability.
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1.4 Arranging adequate and comprehensive utility
system e.g. water supply and electricity.
1.5 Arranging public health and medical care services
to support evacuees’ physical and mental health.
2. Managing the temporary shelter
2.1 Designating a clear role for the responsible
person based on the temporary shelter management
structure. Also, evacuees’ participation and engagement
in shelter management activities are important.
2.2 Clarifying the basic rules for living in a temporary
shelter to make all evacuees understand and follow
them, as well as foster understanding and cooperation
with the surrounding communities.
2.3 Arranging public relations services to disseminate
and update disaster information for evacuees continually.
2.4 Arranging systems and assigning volunteers tomaintain peace and order in the shelter or asking theevacuees to support this role as deemed appropriate.
3. Closing the temporary shelter
When the termination of disaster declaration isannounced and evacuees are able to return to theirresidences or relocate to other safe areas, the temporary
shelter management committee is required to do as
follows:
3.1 Announcing the closure of the temporary sheltersin advance and organizing registration of returning
evacuees.
3.2 Coordinating with relevant officers to prepare forfacilitation the return process in accordance with theplan.
3.3 Officially announcing of the closure of temporary
shelter and report to the Local EOC.
The National DPM Plan 2021 - 2027 also appointed the Emergency Support
Functions (ESF) as a tool to support the National EOC operations during the incident. Each
ESF is comprised of agencies that perform similar functions to coordinate operations in order
to avoid duplication or overlap of providing assistances. The National EOC might consider toactivate one or more ESF based on the complexity of the situation. In case of fully activation,
there will comprise of 18 ESFs and Legal Affairs. The ESF 6: Social Welfare and Human
Security is responsible for coordinating with and support agencies concerned in setting up
temporary shelters. Ministry of Social Development and Human Security is designated as a
primary agency to coordinate interagency efforts in support of emergency management
operations under responsibility of ESF 6 including developing Social Welfare and Human
Security Support Operational Plan. Ministry of Labour and Thai Red Cross are designated as
support agencies.
Moreover, the local government must set up annual budget needed for supporting the
DRM activities within their respective jurisdictions, especially the annual budget required forproviding immediate and long-term disaster relief and emergency assistances, including
evacuation and temporary shelter management. The plan also defined role andresponsibilities of line ministries and relevant agencies for collaborative and integrated DRM.
In this connection, Ministry of Interior is tasked to support the temporary shelter management
and to support the local government to implement DRM activities. Also, Ministry of Culture,
Ministry of Education, and National Office of Buddhism are assigned to create the databaseof sites, buildings, or areas e.g. archeological sites, schools, and temples that can be used9

as assembly point or for setting up temporary shelters or as a venue to facilitate the Nationaland Local EOC’s efforts in managing the incident.
In addition, apart from the sites designated to be a temporary shelter by the local
government and above agencies. HM The King granted 240 million baht to DDPM, Ministryof Interior for construction of 12 temporary shelters namely “Oon Aai Rak Temporary Shelter”
in the 7 provinces along the coastline which all sectors in these areas can utilize in normal
and emergency situation.

2.2 National Guidelines

DDPM developed guidelines on temporary shelter establishment and management tobe a framework for systematic temporary shelter management which is in line withinternational standards and follows the procedure mentioned in the Disaster Prevention and
Mitigation Act B.E. 2550 (2007) and the National Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Plan
2021 - 2027 in order for ensuring unified coordination among stakeholders at all level inproviding inclusive humanitarian assistance and basic rights protection for evacuees as wellas increasing capacity on shelter management for public sector and civil society.
The scope of this guideline is divided into two parts: Part one focuses on criteria of
temporary shelter area selection, establishment of temporary shelter management
committee, space and layout design, and procedure of opening, operating, and closing
temporary shelter, meanwhile, Part two gives examples of tools and concrete practices forthe staff e.g. check list for temporary shelter establishment and management, basic rules forliving in temporary shelter, related forms, and procedure of managing temporary shelter
during Covid-19 situation.
The conceptual framework of the guideline refers to the Humanitarian Principles,International Humanitarian Law, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, The Sphere
Handbook: Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response ,Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Inclusive Shelter Management andSocial Protection Approaches. The aforementioned concepts are applied to Thailand’scontexts.
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The guideline emphasizes the arrangement of measures to ensure that the vulnerable
population or people requiring special consideration are able to receive inclusive and equal
assistance in accordance with contexts and needs of each vulnerable group, such as
children, women, people with disabilities, the elderly, and migrants. It states about thedifficulties and living conditions required by people with disabilities and the elderly, andsuggests the preparation of suitable physical spaces and environments in a temporary
shelter to ensure the good quality of life for these groups, such as wheelchair ramps,
accessible toilets, space arrangement for wheelchair and changing space for women withdisabilities that need support in dressing, handrails, medical services, and cooperation withspecialist organizations in providing assistances.
Recently, Thailand has experiences in opening temporary shelter as follows: 1) Floodincident in 2022 - there were 331 temporary shelters established in 20 provinces and 2)
Covid-19 situation - the Oon Aai Rak Temporary Shelters were used for local quarantine,
vaccination center and field hospital. Additionally, the Oon Aai Rak Temporary Shelters havebeen used as a venue for CBDRM training program.

2.3 Training of Trainers course
The mega flood in 2011 accelerated the government’s awareness of the need for
temporary shelter establishment and management to effectively accommodate large
amounts of evacuees. After the incident, DDPM and International Organization for Migration(IOM) have collaborated on two Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM)
training projects during 2012 - 2014 for relevant agencies which are responsible fortemporary shelter management namely: Ministry of Interior, Ministry off Social Development
and Human Security, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), and Thai Red Cross. As aresult, 400 trainees have attended the trainings.

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The National Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Plan, which was endorsed in 2015,prioritizes the government providing shelter management in accordance with international
standards. Therefore, DDPM and IOM conducted CCCM Training of Trainers in 2020 aiming
for increasing the skills and extending knowledge of 21 officers from relevant agencies, forwhich they can develop a concrete and update temporary shelter management plan which isin line with international standards and be inclusive on the special needs of vulnerable
groups including migrants.

DDPM by the Human Development Institute of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, is
continually conducting Training of Trainers course on temporary shelter management toincrease capacity for DDPM staff in regional centers and provincial offices so that they can
expand knowledge to local and work with concerned agencies effectively. Temporary shelter
management is also contained in other DRM training course to raise awareness among
government officers. In local level, the disaster volunteers have also been trained on thebasic temporary shelter management.

2.4 Simulation Exercise on Temporary Shelter Management
According to the National Disaster Prevention and Mitigation 2021 - 2027, a disastermanagement exercise should be conducted at least once a year at every level of the EOC,
especially at the local and provincial levels, as they are the primary responsible agencies todeal with disasters that occurs in their jurisdiction.
Temporary shelter management is one of the key elements included in the simulation
exercise. Normally, it is often designated to operate outdoors as a demonstration station
during the full-scale exercise. Below is an example of area division for the Integrated Disaster
Management Exercise 2016 and the exercise in the temporary shelter management station:

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In addition, to strengthen capacity for government officers in charge of temporary
shelter establishment and management, DDPM and IOM conducted two Table-top Simulation
Exercises on Migrant-inclusive Collective Centre Management in Bangkok and Nakhon Sri
Thammarat province. The content of the exercise comprises of key components forestablishing and managing temporary shelter as follows: 1) roles and responsibilities, 2)establishment of temporary shelter 3) coordination mechanism 4) registration and information
management 5) water, hygiene and sanitary system 6) food and relief items distrib ution 7)
engagement and participation of community 8) protection and 9) closure of temporary shelter.

2.5 Decision Support System
DDPM by Disaster Victim Relief Division and Information Technology andCommunication Center have developed the temporary shelter database nationwide.
Currently, the system locates 10,767 shelters with capacity to facilitate 4,816,821 affectedvictims. The database can identify total number of emergency shelters, occupancy andvacancy, facilities, e.g., electricity and water supplies, restrooms, and parking spaces as wellas person in charge and contact number. Moreover, the system is synchronized withnavigator application (Google Maps) therefore can provide shelter direction to the users.
However, the system does not allow public access, it is internal use only.

13Chapter 3: Shelter Management in Japan
3.1 Legal Framework
The Basic Act on Disaster Management (enacted 1961) is a major disaster risk
management legislation in Japan, and the Disaster Relief Act is the main law dealing withemergency relief in the emergency period after a disaster. The Basic Act on Disaster
Management formulates a provision on protection of affected population and their livelihood
which includes the following actions: 1) Prior preparation of the lists of the people requiring
assistance in the case of disaster and Individual Evacuation Plans 2) Stipulation of theframework for wide-scale temporary evacuation stays and goods transportation 3)
Clarification of the standards for evacuation centers and facilities in the case of disaster and4) Improvement and expansion of protection measures for affected people. The Act sets up
the disaster response mechanism in Japan, for which municipalities in affected area will be
primarily responsible for disaster response, and if the disaster level is beyond their capacity,
prefecture and central government will support the disaster response, respectively.
The Act appointed the mayor of a municipality to designate public facilities and otherfacilities that conform to the criteria specified by a Cabinet Order as designated Evacuation
Shelters in order to secure appropriate evacuation shelters in the event of disaste r. The
Cabinet Order defined standards for designated Evacuation Shelters such as size of thebuilding, capacity to accommodate evacuees with promptly appropriate facilities, and locationthat transportation can access easily as well as is less affected by a possible disaster.
Moreover, in case of persons requiring special assistance, the Cabinet Office Ordinance for
Enforcement of the Basic Act on Disaster Countermeasures specified about standards,
measures, and systems that should be taken to ensure the smooth access, good living
environment, and consultation/advice support for these people.
The Basic Disaster Management Plans in each level of disaster management areformulated based on the Basic Act on Disaster Management, comprising of national level,
prefectural level, municipal level, and district community level. The plans stipulate the holistic
activities based on disaster risk management cycle, and each local plan must be developedin accordance with the Basic Disaster Management Plan formulated by the National Disaster
Management Council and has stakeholders participated in developing process. The local
plans should describe about 1) education, training and other disaster management activities
2) disaster response measures including evacuation guidance and action plans for labour,
facilities, resources, funds, stockpiling, transport etc. and 3) recovery from disaster. On theother hand, the district community plan should describe the following contents: 1) Activities innormal time e.g. evacuation drill, evacuation routes/shelters, special planning for vulnerable
population, and stockpiling 2) Activities under warning e.g. evacuation order, informationcollecting and sharing, and civil safety confirmation 3) Activities on emergency e.g.
evacuation guidance and support, shelter management and support for evacuees at homeand 4) Activities on rehabilitation e.g. community-wide support for affected population.
After the occurrence of the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, it was determined
to review the disaster management plan every year, and modify it if deemed necessary.
Additionally, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Disaster Prevention Guide Book
issued in 2020 defined persons requiring special assistance during a disaster including theelderly, persons with disabilities, seriously ill, infants, pregnant women and foreigners among
others.
3.2 Japan’s initiative on Welfare Shelter
In the Great East Japan Earthquake, there were many problems arising during thedisaster: casualties increased significantly with age of the victim, more than half of thecasualties were elderly people aged 60 years or older, while the mortality rate of people withdisabilities was about twice that of the general affected population, leading to the revision of
the Basic Act on Disaster Management to add provisions to oblige administration to makeefforts to secure and improve good-living environment of the evacuees at the evacuation14

center. However, the Kumamoto Earthquake in 2016 emphasized the challenges in ensuring
the quality of evacuation life, especially for those who require special assistance, as 76% of
people died due to the physical burden of living in evacuation shelters after the earthquake.
To this end, the Cabinet Office has been holding the "Study Group on Securing
Shelters and Improving their Quality" since July 2015 in order to study a wide range of issues
related to promoting the designation of shelters and welfare shelters by municipalities,
improvement of toilets in shelters, and development of support systems and consultation
services for people in need of consideration, and to take necessary measures. In 2016, theGuidelines for Securing and Managing Welfare Shelters was formulated as a substantial
revision and amendment of the Guidelines for Welfare Shelters ’ Establishment andManagement released in 2008 which was not fully recognized, considering the lesson
learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake. It recognizes that it is impossible to conduct
emergency response in times of disaster without efforts in normal times, and emphasizes
municipalities to primarily make such efforts regarding welfare shelters as well as preparationof Individual Evacuation Plans based on priorities.

In addition, the Sub-Working Group Concerning Evacuation of the Elderly and people
with special needs Based on Typhoon Hagibis in 2019 suggested the importance of
establishing a system to clarify that each welfare shelter is a facility for evacuation of
accepted recipients and their families, by specifying the target population and publicly
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announcing it at the time of designation. In light of this, the Guidelines was revised again in
2021 considering the lesson learned from 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake, 2018 Heavy rain,
2019 Typhoon Hagibis and 2020 Torrential rain, also, a Public Notification System to Identify
Those Who Will Be Accepted into Welfare Shelters was established to eliminate theunexpected evacuation of affected people and to support logistics planning and arrangement
for the accepted evacuees.
The expense rate for the establishment of a general shelter and a welfare shelter isstipulated in the Disaster Relief Act.
3.3 Implementation of Welfare Shelter in Hyogo Prefecture
The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake brought several key lessons learned to Hyogo
Prefecture to improve its preparedness for future disasters in order for making the prefecture
to become a disaster-mitigation society with resilience and speed to recover first fromdisasters. Hyogo Prefecture is focusing on developing and implementing an action
programme against the Nankai Trough Earthquake and Tsunami for the purpose ofminimizing possible damages and deaths, strengthening safety culture and best use of knowhow/expertise and equipment/facilities, and improving disaster response and livelihood
recovery capacities. Therefore, the action programme is ongoing with key initiatives such as
quakeproofing of public buildings and residences with aiming that 100% of schools and 97%
of residential buildings must be retrofitted and establishing an evacuation system targeting
no one left behind and conducting tsunami evacuation drill in areas with risk of flooding in thewake of earthquake every year. In this connection, Hyogo has developed a tsunami
guidebook and designated emergency shelters, as well as developed a public wirelesssystem for DRR and installed loudspeakers to provide evacuation guidance, etc., besides,
Hyogo Prefecture wrote a song for Tsunami Awareness, “Run to the Higher Ground”, so thatpeople can easily remember the evacuation guidance. Additionally, the prefecture hascreated and encourage people to use “My Evacuation Card” to plan an individual evacuation
process ahead of disaster and promoted the utilization of Hyogo Emergency Net App in orderfor receiving warning messages and instructions timely.

Taking into account those who need special consideration due to difficulties in livingin shelters, the Welfare Evacuation Shelters are established to receive eligible persons who
are transferred from general shelters, along with the preparation of Individual Evacuation
Plans. As of 1 December 2022, there are about 1,100 places in Hyogo Prefecture designatedas Welfare Evacuation Shelter. The prefecture also developed Manual on welfare evacuation
shelter operation and training, which sets up the process of operating welfare evacuation
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shelter divided into 5 phases: 1) Preparation 2) Opening and Acceptance 3) Operation
Establishment 4) Operation Stabilization and 5) Final. When the persons requiring special
care are identified including those who have difficulty living in general shelters, they will betransferred to welfare evacuation shelters and then the government will support personnel toassist the operation in welfare evacuation shelters.

3.4 Implementation of Welfare Shelter in in Kobe City
Kobe City sets up disaster response plans into 2 levels. Level 1 is to respond to oncein 50 - 100 year disaster which structural measures and damage prevention will beconsidered. While, level 2 is to respond to maximum expected size of disaster (once in over
100 - 1,000 year disaster) which structural and non-structural measures must be driven
together and it prioritizes the protection of human lives.
The city has staff deployment plan to ensure the readiness of disaster response in theevent of a disaster. Regarding of the level of emergency alert, Kobe City has followed the fivewarning levels which were modified the warning information to be more easy-to-understandso that residents can intuitively understand what actions to take, and were first put into
operation during the flood season of 2020. After gathering forecasted and relevant
information, Kobe City will determine the specific timing of the announcement of disasterwarning and evacuation information/order. At Level 3, those who take more time to evacuate
e.g. people who needs special assistance should start evacuation, and at Level 4, all those
who are in areas at risk of disaster should evacuate. In case the level of emergency alert is
at Level 5, a disaster has already occurred and it may be dangerous to move outdoors to a
designated emergency evacuation site, therefore the citizens should stay inside the building
and take the best action to protect their life.
With experiences and lessons learned from the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake
which caused a large number of evacuees (maximum 236,899 people), evacuation centerswere set up in 599 locations, and lifeline services were damaged for 7 - 135 days, Kobe City
has implemented disaster countermeasures to secure good living conditions during disastersituations, such as constructing a backup water supply system and the sewer network
system underground in the urban area to ensure all residents can access water supply forthree litters per person for 12 days during an emergency period and to prevent disruption if
any of the four treatment plants stop functioning, improving the evacuation shelter
environment by ensuring emergency stockpiles, and installing air conditioning and external
power supply facilities in school’s gymnasiums and special-needs classrooms.

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The city has also put efforts on raising public awareness about disaster prevention.
The memorial events of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake have been conducted annually,
together with DRR activities such as exhibition, demonstration, and drill. The famous event
initiated by Kobe City, Iza!Kaeru Caravan!, gains a lot of attention and engagement fromschools and communities as well as vulnerable population e.g. elderly person and people
with disabilities to join the DRR activities and it was widespread in many countries as well.
Through several DRR activities, BOKOMI system (DRR Welfare Community) has beenstrengthened and continually active in conducting DRR and Welfare activities since its firstestablishment in 1996. Town Watching is also an attractive activity that leads community
members to survey and collect information about the changing environment in their town aswell as potential risks and vulnerable issues, including those who need special assistanceevacuating. With these efforts, the city can use the collected information to plan to reduce
those risks as well as to develop evacuation maps for vulnerable group s. The citizen cancheck the status of evacuation shelters through application VACAN which provides real-time
information on which shelters are open and how crowned they are.

As of April 2023, 402 sites are designated to be welfare shelters for evacuees whoneed special assistance or have difficulty living in general shelters. The following items areprepared for the welfare shelters: cardboard beds, portable toilets, changing tents,
disposable diapers for adults, stockpiled food (nutritional food for easy swallowing), writing
utensils, and white cane. However, Kobe City also goes further to establish a unique system
to solve the problem of the opening of welfare shelters that r equire an assessment ofevacuees before opening as secondary shelters by designating 21 special nursing homes in
the city to be “Core Welfare Shelters”. These shelters can open promptly at the request fromthe city and immediately accept persons requiring assistance. The Core Welfare Shelters willsecure special supplies for persons requiring assistances which can be used for 3 days.
There are 7 major stockpiles bases for the person requiring assistance. Furthermore, Kobe
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City formed a disaster agreement on procurement and on transport services for persons
requiring assistance. Since the establishment of the Core Welfare Shelters, Shelter-Opening
drills has been conducts every year totally 6 times until now with various kinds of disaster
scenario.

3.5 An example of best practices for Disability Inclusion in Shelter management at Beppu
City
The Beppu City Disability-Inclusive Disaster Prevention project is based on Article 12of the "Beppu City Ordinance for Safe and Secure Living for People with or without
Disabilities" established in Beppu City in 2014. The project was implemented following thegovernment’s direction of measures regarding the registers of those who require assistanceevacuating and Guidelines for Ensuring Satisfactory Living Conditions at Shelters under theamendment of the Basic Act on Disaster Management in 2013, by working together with thelocal government, local residents' associations, and welfare personnel for three years since2016. A key challenge is that the role of welfare professionals in disaster support activities
has not been clearly defined based on laws, contracts, etc., and the information they possess
has not been organized into a shared system based on the Act on the Protection of Personal
Information. The project is considered a case study of silo-breaking practice, which aims tocreate a system to protect lives and livelihoods by preparing individual support plans for
persons requiring special care in times of disaster, sharing information, and conducting
evacuation drills and evacuation shelter management.
There are 6 steps the project used for developing integrated individual evacuationplans as follows: Step 1 - Individual Assessment, Step 2 - Community Assessment, Step 3 Disaster Care Plan Coordination Meeting, Step 4 - Plan Drafting, Step 5 - Confirming Plan
Contents and Individual’s Agreement to Share Personal Information, and Step 6 - Review
and Improving Through Inclusive Bosai Evacuation Drills.
The Make Your Own Disaster Prevention Notebook for Peace of Mind, created by the
Research Institute of the National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, is used
in Beppu City by welfare professionals to work with people with disabilities and their families
to assess the potential damages to their lives and assets and support they need. Based on
this information, the consultation meetings among disaster officers, welfare professionals,
persons with disabilities and/or their family and residents' association were conducted to
draw up and convey agreement on individual support plans and the contents of the support
needed. Various opinions are given as to whether the community can take on this
responsibility and, if so, what kind of support is possible. After that, people with disabilities
participate in actual evacuation drills and evaluate the content of the individual support plan.
There were two example cases of Beppu City. One was Yumi-chan, a child withspecial needs who has social and communication difficulties, cannot walk by herself for along distance, and needs mother to always by her side. Another one was a man with electric
wheelchairs. These two people need different method in evacuating, so the community has
to develop different individual evacuation plan for both of them and conduct the drill to test
the plan. For example, we have to think about how long the battery of the electric wheelchairs
19can work, how many people needed to help the man, which shelter suits the man the most.
We found that the battery is always fully charged and can work for 6 hours but the wheelchaircannot move by it own on the hill, so 3 men have to help him and he can stay in the welfare
space with other people with disabilities. Meanwhile, Yumi-chan case is more challenging todeal with. She has to evacuate while sticking with her mother all the time and easily to scareof unfamiliar environment. So, the community decided to evacuate her and her mother byusing a rear car which requires a lot of manpower but can provide safe feeling to Yumi, andthe private room with family was arranged in shelter for her as well. The project succeeded
because of the engagement of all stakeholders in creating integrated individual evacuationplans.

3.6 Process of developing Individual Evacuation Plans
The amendment of the Basic Act in Disaster Management in 2013 and 2021 gave
direction to municipalities to make effort to create Individual Evacuation Plans in conjunction
with the creation of registers of those who require assistance during an evacuation as
mentioned in the Guidelines for Supporting the Evacuation Behavior of Those Who Require
Assistance Evacuating, and in 5 years, it will be obligated to create Individual Evacuation
Plans in all municipalities in Japan.
There are 7 steps presented in the Action Guidelines as follows:
Step 1 - Development of a promotion system within and outside the city office
Step 2 - Selection of targets based on priority
Step 3 - Explain the significance of creating a plan to social workers/welfare
professionals
Step 4 - Explain the significance of creating a plan to community residents who will
be evacuation supporters
Step 5 - Gathering basic information about the person and Prior Coordination with
relevant parties (ex. welfare professional and families)
Step 6 - Creating Individual Support Plans with city officers, people with disabilities,
families, welfare professionals, and community members
Step 7 - Conducting drills and other activities to confirm the effectiveness of each
Individual Support Plan.

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Chapter 4: Key findings and Recommendations
Based on learning information in Chapter 2 and 3, lectures and participation
in/observation of DRR activities through the ADRC VR programme, I found that there aresimilarities between Thailand and Japan that enable the development of inclusive temporary
shelter management as follows:
1) Legal Framework
The two countries have major laws on disaster risk management that state therole of local authorities in developing a local disaster risk management plan in normal times,
which includes creating a list of vulnerable people or persons requiring special care during
disaster, developing evacuation plans and designating safe areas for establishing anevacuation shelter, as well as assigning responsible staff, preparing resources, supplies, andlogistics in need for temporary shelter management as well as BCP plans, and conducting
simulation exercises for evacuation and temporary shelter management. Meanwhile, during
disaster times, the local government has authorities to order and facilitate evacuation as wellas establish and manage temporary shelters.
2) National Guidelines
The two countries have national guidelines for temporary shelter management,along with the procedures for opening, operating, and closing temporary shelters and theconcept of protection for vulnerable people, including arrangements for special needs,
appropriate spaces and facilities, and public health and medical care services.
However, Japan’s initiatives for supporting those who need special assistance intimes of disaster are more advanced. The initiatives of welfare evacuation shelters havebeen introduced since 2008, and the Guidelines for Securing and Managing Welfare Shelters
was formulated in 2016, emphasizing municipalities to primarily make efforts in preparing
welfare shelters and creating Individual Evacuation Plans based on priorities.
While Thailand is focusing on selecting and designating public buildings/spaces suchas schools, temples, and archeological sites to be evacuation shelters, except the 12 Oon
Aai Rak Temporary Shelters which were constructed to be directly used as temporary
shelters, it is good to learn from Japan's concrete practice to cooperate and designate
welfare/healthcare centers as evacuation shelters for people requiring special care becauseof the readiness of suitable accommodation and facilities. Moreover, some municipalities, like
Kobe City go beyond this by initiating core welfare shelters to reduce the burden of the cityand people requiring assistance in transferring from general shelters to welfare shelters,
together with implementing disaster countermeasures to secure good living conditions for
citizens during disaster situations. Also, the Michi-no-Eki Arai in Myoko City, Niigata
Prefecture, is also a good initiative in the utilization of Michi-no-Eki for DRR purposes and issuitable for serving as an evacuation shelter. It is complex facilities comprised of shops andrestaurants, parking spaces, resting areas, 24-hour accessible toilets, 24-hour childcare
support facilities, communication facilities, cooking buildings, power and water supplies, etc.
Furthermore, alliance forming among local governments is one good method for pre-agreement
to support each other in relief, emergency shelter, and recovery including dispatched staff.
To achieve inclusive temporary shelter management, it is needed to break the silos
and enable a working environment with local government, disaster professionals, welfare
professionals, and local residents' associations. The Beppu City Disability-Inclusive Disaster
Prevention Project is one of the successful case studies in developing comprehensive
community evacuation plans and drills that integrate individual support plans for people
requiring special assistance.
In addition, digital technology such as GIS and satellite data can be applied in risk informed planning, such as developing flood shelter suitability maps to select priority areas
for flood shelter construction as well as to create data insight of and moni tor vulnerable
groups in communities and shelters. Although Thailand and Japan have developed
applications for monitoring the status of evacuation shelters to support decision -making in
opening and managing shelters, Thailand’s application is not for publi c use but only forinternal use and does not have information about the shelter’s capacity to receive people21requiring special assistance. The GIS and satellite data were also mostly used for emergency
response, not DRR. On the other hand, Japan’s application allows citizens to access and use
it for evacuation decisions.
Regarding training, Thailand considered temporary shelter management an important
issue after being triggered by the mega flood in 2011 and started training the officers withtechnical support from the International Organization and Migration (IOM) in 2012 . The
training modules for temporary shelter management have been developing, and have justbecome more concrete and practical with Thailand’s context when the national guidelines
was published and Table-top exercises were conducted in 2022 with support from IOM.
While, it seems the Prefectures and Municipalities in Japan developed their own manual for
shelter operation and training. The Kansai University’s Bosaishi program activities isdeveloping human resources who are capable to work in real situation such as facilitating
evacuation drill and supporting shelter management.
The two countries do not have a general layout standard for every evacuation shelter
but adjust the layout and space arrangement as appropriate for each building, considering
minimum standards such as required spaces for individuals and gender aspects. Below
pictures are examples of a recommended shelter layout that Thailand and Japan use as
reference:

However, Aging and Shrinking Society has become a very serious issue in Japan andit has been affecting government and community’s capacity in responding to disasters. It issaid that one of the reasons why the government began to emphasize “to evacuate or not is
individual’s judgement and you must protect your life by yourself first” after the heavy rain in2018 is that resources to support evacuation are becoming scarce both in the government
22

and in the community. Therefore, we have to consider how to support people who cannot
evacuate and protect their lives by themselves with limited resources.
Moreover, there are also needs for preparation in the case of a massive andprolonged evacuation. The recent earthquake in Noto Peninsula also emphasizes thedifficulties for evacuees and officers to live and work under conditions that are inaccessible
to water supplies, and heavy snow also slows the recovery operations. At least two largescale disasters were anticipated within the next 30 years, for which Japan has to prepare
countermeasure plans. One is Nankai Trough earthquake and another one is Tokyo Inland
Earthquake. It is possible that the Tokyo Inland Earthquake will cause damages to manybuildings and fires might spread for 2 days and the critical capital functions as well as public
utility services might be disrupted for 1 day - over 1 month. Moreover, it is expected thatmaximum 7.2 million of evacuees has to evacuate under the power and water disruption, andapproximately 3.8 - 4.9 million of citizens might be stranded in Tokyo. Currently, The Disaster
Management Bureau of the Cabinet Office of Japan is putting its efforts to develop the planfor countermeasure against Tokyo Inland Earthquake and implement the plan among target
groups and areas. The plan sets goals to reduce the number of deaths, building collapse,
and fire to half from the maximum estimation which need to be achieved in 10 years. At thesame time, the government also encourages people to retrofit seismic-resistance to theirhouse and office buildings should be prepared for being a shelter and stockpile during
emergencies. It is very important that public and private sector as well as the community
should build cooperation on disaster reduction. Handing over the key to open shelters andemergency equipment storage to the BOKOMI communities as well as conducting Iza! Kaeru
Caravan! are good ways to increase communities and local stakeholders’ capacity,
engagement and ownership. Additionally, the Cabinet Office is studying the possibility ofusing subway stations as evacuation shelters.

Japan also has to increase awareness of the roles of welfare shelters amongcommunities and establish a public notification system to identify those who will be accepted
into welfare shelters, as some research has pointed out that people who need support a ndtheir supporters did not know about the welfare shelters and stayed in their damaged houses,
while people who did not need special support evacuated to the welfare shelter because of
their lack of information about the roles of the welfare shelter. Furthermore, there is a need toconsider the manpower needed to support the welfare shelter; the longer it is in operation,
the greater the burden on the staff in the welfare facility. Therefore, the welfare facility
designated as a welfare evacuation shelter needs to add the operation procedure of the
shelter to its BCP and make a mutual support network among the community, company,
welfare association, NGO, including volunteers, etc., inside and outside of the region.

23

Chapter 5: Conclusion
The learning from Japan’s experiences and practices are very valuable and can apply
to improve Thailand’s temporary shelter establishment and management to be more inclusive
for people with disabilities or special needs in preparation, management, and simulation
exercise.
The definition of people requiring special assistance is cover all type of vulnerable
people who are unable to evacuate by themselves or live in shelter without special cares,
including people with disabilities and elderly people.
However, comparing to Japan, Thailand has never experienced large-scale disasters
which cause large-scale disruption in public utility services in long period, and large amountof death, injured and evacuees. Usually, the major of disaster in Thailand is floods whichmight force people in some areas to evacuate and stay in shelters around 1 - 3 months inmaximum.
Unfortunately, the researcher does not have the opportunity to observe the realsituation or the simulation exercise of temporary shelter management when arranging toaccommodate people who require special assistance. Moreover, it is difficult to summarize
all lessons in detail due to time constraint and language barrier.
The following items are key lessons that can improve Thailand’s practices on
preparing for inclusive shelter management that is accessible for people with special needs:
1) Utilizing GIS and satellite data for collecting demographic and risk information tocreate maps and databases of people who need special assistance during disaster and safe
areas for establishing temporary shelters.
2) Developing an application that is accessible for publics and inputting information
about shelter’s capacity to accommodate people requiring special assistance to reduce traffic
in one shelter and support decision-making for evacuation routes that leads to suitabletemporary shelters.
3) Engaging collaboration among local stakeholders, especially disaster officers,
welfare officers, medical officers, volunteers, and community members including vulnerable
people, to discuss and create Individual Evacuation Plans by following 7 steps mentioned in
Guidelines for Supporting the Evacuation Behavior of Those Who Require Assistance
Evacuating, and test the plan during evacuation exercise, if possible, in shelter management
simulation exercise too.
4) Developing BCP for each temporary shelter to ensure its continuity in providing
services during disruption. Meanwhile, the suppliers should also have BCP to ensure theircapacity to deliver supporting services to temporary shelters.
5) Cooperating with welfare or healthcare centers / facilities to be designated and betrained to serve as welfare shelters for people who need special consideration during
disaster.
6) Working with professionals and volunteers to create community-building activities
in temporary shelters to strengthen new community relationships among evacuees in orderto leave no one behind.

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References
Cabinet Office, Government of Japan. (2015). Disaster Management in Japan. Tokyo, Japan:
Director General for Disaster Management of Japan.
Cabinet Office, Government of Japan. (2021). White Paper Disaster Management in Japan.
Available from: https://www.bousai.go.jp/en/documentation/white_paper/pdf/
2021/R3_hakusho_english.pdf
DDPM, Ministry of Interior. The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Act B.E. 2550 (2007) andrelevant supportive legislations. Bangkok: Legal Division, Department of Disaster
Prevention and Mitigation.
DDPM, Ministry of Interior. (2022). Guideline on Temporary Shelter Establishment andManagement. Bangkok: Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.
DDPM, Ministry of Interior. (2022). National Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Plan 2021 2027. Bangkok: Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.
Ikuko KASHIWAZAKI, Akiyo SASAKI-OTOMARU, and Yuka KANOYA. (2019). Issues in theManagement of Welfare Evacuation Shelters in Two Cities Affected by the Great East
Japan Earthquake. Available from: https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/kenkouigaku/
28/4/28_427/_pdf/-char/ja.
Junko MURANO. (2018). A good cooperation practice between the local government and thecommunity. Support for persons with disabilities in the community at the time ofdisasters: Disaster prevention with no one left behind in Beppu city, Oita Prefecture.
Available from: http://www.rehab.go.jp/application/files/1716/2262/4261/7Disabilityinclusive_Disaster_Risk_Reduction_Japanese_Experiences__.pdf
Junko MURANO. (2020). Beppu City Inclusive Disaster Prevention Disaster prevention thatleaves no one behind. Available from: https://www.dinf.ne.jp/d/0/394.html.
Mieko ISHII, Hitoshi OKUDERA, Masahiro WAKASUGI, and Mizuho II. (2018). Managementof welfare evacuation shelter in chronic stage of the Great East Japan Earthquake.
Available from: https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jredmr/17/0/17_3/_pdf/-char/ja.
Tokyo Metropolitan Government. (2020). Tokyo Metropolitan Government Disaster Prevention
Guide Book. Available from: https://www.bousai.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/content/book/guidbook_pocketguide/2020guid_e.pdf.
Learning materials
1. Hyogo Prefecture. Disaster Response Mechanism in Japan and Welfare Evacuation
Shelters. lectured on 30 January 2024
2. ADRC. 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake. lectured on 13 February 2024
3. Kobe City. Kobe City’s Crisis Management System, Evacuation Places in Kobe City, andWelfare Shelter in Kobe City. lectured on 2 February 2024
4. Kobe Fire Department. CBDRR in Kobe City. lectured on 26 February 2024
3. Aya TSUJIOKA. Inclusive DRR. lectured on 27 February 202425