COMPLETION REPORT
Disaster Education and Community Development: A case Study of Japan and Thailand
Waricha Wongphyat
Assistant Professor
Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture
Chulalongkorn University
The research, entitled “Disaster Education and Community Development: A Case Study of Japan andThailand,” sought to examine the Japanese informal form of learning on the disaster preparedness andresponse together with the disaster experience and attitude towards disaster education of the Thai case study.
It aimed to analyze the prospect of disaster education and community development at the Hua Takhecommunity, or the HTK community for short, situated in eastern Bangkok and to propose the programappropriate to the Thai context. To begin with, the research expounded on the program and participation as
well as the meaning and implication of the Japanese disaster education activities, i.e. Water God festival anddisaster prevention camp, in Gunma prefecture. There are two disaster education-related activities in theWater God festival at Goryo village. While the play session of storytelling and local card game, organizedby Tanaka Laboratory in July 28th 2019, conveys the information of past flood disaster, localasset andwisdom, and the meaning of the festival, the production of these educational tools contribute to disastereducation both as an end product and a learning process. Organized by Kanai Laboratory in July 27th-28th,
2019, the disaster prevention camp in Tamamura town consists of eight activities. Focusing on local school
children, the program includes (1) learning the flood risk along with the evacuation sites and methods by thehazard maps; (2) understanding the condition of refugee’s life and the rules at evacuation shelters; (3) building
the cardboard partitions for private sleeping units at the shelters; (4) experiencing the emergency food andlearning the adaptive use of daily items for emergency situations; (5) speculating the possible troubles at theshelters; (6) considering the daily preparation and evacuation items; (7) summarizing he information andexperience learnt at the camp; (8) and cleaning the camp venue. Through exchange of opinions and hands on
experience, the participants gain not only the knowledge on disaster prevention, but also the wisdom thatallows them to realize the importance of life, cooperation, and preparedness and response to the situations
proactively. Next, the research discussed the result of the questionnaire survey on disaster experience andcommunity development. Collected from 37 respondents at the HTK community during May-June 2019, thequestionnaire comprises five main parts, i.e. the respondents’ information, past disaster experience, opinion
towards future disasters, disaster preparedness, and attitude towards disaster education. Accordingly, theresearch analyzed the prospect of disaster education and community development at the HTK community.
Based on the SWOT analysis, the solidarity, the human and cultural assets, and the prime setting constitutethe strengths of this waterfront community. Although the limitation of disaster prevention resources is boththe national and local problems, the gaps in interaction between the old and the young, the lack of systematic
disaster management, and the low participation in disaster trainings are significant problems that canpotentially weaken the community. While the collaboration with local schools, the inclusive and innovative
learning, the enhanced quality of living environment and inhabitants’ life, together with being the example
for other communities can be regarded 2/2 as its opportunities, the changing ownership and usage of dwellings
and the unbalanced growth between commercial and communal purposes may put enormous challenges tothe sustainable development of the community. Given the difference in the disaster preparedness between
two countries vis-à-vis the shared essence of the disaster education, this study proposed the disaster educationand community development program, which includes two phases; for the local students and for all theresidents. In addition to sharing the result of questionnaire surveys, the introduction to disaster education
workshop will focus on the surveying of living environment and the making of the local hazard map, which
is a crucial tool for disaster prevention and management. The exchanging of ideas and sharing of experiencesamong the adults, the youths, and the kids will bring about a deeper understanding of condition andconsequence of disasters at the community. This motivates discussions on how each household and the entire
community react to disasters proactively. Besides the end products, through discussion and hands on
experience, these activities can be deemed as the learning processes that allow the participants to reacknowledge and re-evaluate their physical and cultural environment that is key to disaster education. It isanticipated that the proposed program will contribute to the integration, the learning community, and thedisaster resilience of the Thai communities, which help fulfill the country’s challenges and limitation ofdisaster prevention education. The introduction to disaster education workshop was held at a local school in
the HTK community in the beginning of February, 2020. Participants included a Thai instructor (the author),a Japanese professor, three workshop cooperators, a school director, a teacher, and 24 students

Publication of the Results of Research Project:
Verbal Presentation (Date, Venue, Name of Conference, Title of Presentation, Presenter, etc.)

Thesis (Name of Journal and its Date, Title and Author of Thesis, etc.)
Wonghyat,W. and Tanaka,M A Prospect of Disaster Education in Thailand: Learned from Japan.
Nakhara: Jornal of Environment Design and Planning ( in reviewing process)Book (Publisher and Date of the Book, Title and Author of the Book, etc.)