Ms Thanchanok Nuntatikul (Thailand)
My name is Thanchanok Nuntatikul or Amp for short. I am a Plan and Policy
Analyst. I have been working for the Research and International Cooperation
Bureau, Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM), Ministry ofInterior, Thailand since 2015. I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in
Developmental Psychology, Laws, and Japanese from Kasetsart University,
Chulalongkorn University, and University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce
respectively and I earned a master’s degree in Public and Private Managementfrom Silpakorn University.
Even though my background has nothing related to disaster fields, I am really aware that disaster andclimate change risks and impacts are real and becoming more and more close to our life. In 2004, Thailandexperienced a Tsunami for the first time this century. There were more than 5,400 dead, 8,000 injured, and3,000 persons missing. As far as I know, Thailand seemed to be located on very peaceful land, where
there were no large-scale natural disasters to harm our life, but Indian Ocean Tsunami incident confirmedthat disasters can happen everywhere if we do not prepare for them. Similarly, northern part of Thailand
got affected from a 6.2 magnitude earthquake in 2014, which was the strongest ever recorded, and it
caused serious cracks on road and building, and old houses collapsed. It was quite shocked that such
earthquake can occur in Thailand. But, well…it is just because we have never noticed that there are somehistorical records about earthquake occurrence in the ancient Thailand, not only this fact, we also have 16
active faults which might cause in-land earthquake in someday. I also got direct impact from the megaflood in 2011, my house was flooded almost one month at that time, I lost many precious things and until
now it still causes some effects to the house’s structures. Although we have known about global warmingand how necessary it is to be careful for our activities that increase risk such as unplanned urbanizationand deforestation, but it is just an inconvenient truth that we still close our eyes and place important at
economic first. During my study period, I learnt about the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy which is one of
the answers to balancing our lives and nature and create resilience. I also like the concept of better,cheaper, faster, and safer which is similar to Build Back Better. Though, I hadn’t imagined myself finallyworking in disaster risk management (DRM) organization.
After I joined DDPM, I have been working for International Cooperation section. Working here brought
good opportunities to me to support various projects related to DRR and collaboration with UN, ASEAN,and international organizations including foreign embassies in Thailand and other member states, as wellas to attend international conferences and workshops. I love learning and self-development. It is reallygreat to learn from many countries’ knowledges and experiences. Japan is, no doubt, the role model ofliving with disaster. People’s discipline, safety awareness, disaster preventive efforts in structural and nonstructural measures, and resilient recovery are keys to success in building resilience in Japan. It is very
important to keep educating people about DRR and preparedness, because in the end, it depends on ourmindset that decides our action that leads to the achievement of becoming resilience to disaster andclimate change.
The ADRC Visiting Researcher Program provided learning opportunity and brought me valuableMs Thanchanok Nuntatikul (Thailand)
experiences, not just visiting many organizations and communities to learn about DRR and DRM, but also
obtaining Japanese culture and living. Furthermore, we had a chance to participate in Town Watchingactivity and Iza! Kaeru Caravan!, the big DRR event in Kobe which were impressive. In this regard, I would
like to express my sincere appreciation to the Government of Japan, Government of Thailand, and all staff
members of ADRC for financial support, warm welcome, and everything.