Looking through Disaster
Management of Thailand:
A Focus on Earthquake and Tsunami
Dr. Natt Leelawat
Department of Industrial Engineering
Faculty of Engineering
Chulalongkorn UniversityThailand

natt.l@chula.ac.th
http://natt.leelawat.com

Assoc.Prof. Anawat Suppasri (Tohoku)
Dr. Mongkonkorn Srivichai (RMUTL)
Dr. Titaya Sararit (Chiang Mai)
Dr. Jing Tang (Thammasat)
Dr. Panon Latcharote (Tohoku)
Ms. Wisaruta Veerasai (DDPM)
Rear Admiral Thaworn Charoendee (DDPM)
Prof. Fumihiko Imamura (Tohoku)

UNESCO-JASTIP Joint Symposium on Intra-Regional Water Security and Disaster ManagementJASTIP-WP4 Symposium, Manila :: November 15-16, 20171

Contents•

2004 Indian Ocean Earthquakeand Tsunami•Tsunami Warning•

Housing Reconstruction•Tsunami Memorial•

Disaster Education•

Conclusions22004 Indian Ocean Tsunami

Source: NOAA Tsunami Event Database

Contributed by Assoc.Prof. Anawat Suppasri3

Early-warning System in Thailand•

The system has been establishedfollowing the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami•The most destructive natural disasterin the country’s history (Guha-sapir et al.,2014)•Two key actors: National Disaster
Warning Center (NDWC) and ThaiMeteorological Department (TMD)•

Data Collection (Aug-Dec 2013)•

Face-to-face interviews with officers
from NDWC and TMD

OCD of Early-warning System in Thailand•

Two actor roles: disaster monitoring manager (Seismic Station, etc.) and warningannouncer (NDWC)•

Human-based decision making[published] Leelawat, N., Suppasri, A., & Imamura, F. (2015). The tsunami warning system in Thailand: A part of the reconstruction
process after the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. In V. Santiago-Fandiño, Y. A. Kontar, & Y. Kaneda (Eds.), Advances in Natural andTechnological Hazards Research: Vol. 44. Post-Tsunami Hazard: Reconstruction and Restoration (pp. 111-119), Cham: Springer
International Publishing. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-10202-3_8

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Source: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-319-10202-3_8

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Tsunami Early-warning
Systems in two regions
Indian Ocean•

One key actor:
Regional Integrated
Multi-Hazard Early
Warning System for
Africa and Asia
(RIMES)•Data Collection(Aug 2014)•

Face-to-faceinterview with an
officer from RIMES

Pacific Ocean•

One key actor: PacificTsunami Warning
Center (PTWC)•Data Collection(Aug 2014)•Face-to-faceinterview with anofficer from PTWC

OCD of Tsunami Regional
Warning Systems•

Two actor roles: disaster monitoring manager and regional warningannouncer•

Same OCD regardless different location•Similar OCD as the national level

Image source: http://stateoftheocean.osmc.noaa.gov/sur/

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Traffic Jam after Warning

Patong Beach, Phuket
Contributed by Assoc.Prof. Anawat Suppasri7

Lessons from the 2004 IOT
Rebuilding of the School•

At the time of the 2004 tsunami, the school had only two stories and thetsunami was higher than the school.
• The school was then rebuilt with three stories. In case of earthquake andtsunami, they will gather at the third floor.
• In case the school got some damages or the estimated tsunami is higher than
the third floor, we organized a drill so that they can evacuate to the hillbehind.
Contributed by Assoc.Prof. Anawat Suppasri8

Others
Disaster Education Programs•

Satit Bilingual School of Rangsit University•

Samsenwittayalai School•

San Joaquin Central School•

Bislig Elementary School•

Bacagay Elementary School•

Cabuynan Elementary School

SBS of Rangsit UniversitySamsenwittayalai School•

Royal Thai Embassy, Tokyo

San Joaquin Central School

Bislig Elementary School

Bacagay Elementary School Cabuynan Elementary School9Others
Social Contributions in 2016•

National Science and Technology Development Agency•

National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC)•

Ministry of Education•

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)•

Kesennuma City•

Thai Students’ Association in Japan under the Royal Patronage(TSAJ)•

Indonesian Student Association in Sendai (PPIS)TSAJMinistry of EducationJICA

NSTDAKesennuma City10

isaster Managementmco.
tawaeellt.
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isaster Management•

2-year Master’s program @ Chulalongkorn University•

Multidisciplinary program = Including experts fromEngineering, Science, Communication Arts, Medicine,Economics, Law, Social Science, Nursing, etc.

•Start in August 2018!!

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Image source: http://www.unisdr.org/2017/tsunamiday/

13•“A Global Assessment of Historical and Future Tsunami Hazards
Based on Seismic Records Over the Last 400 Years and EstimatedSeismic Gaps” was produced by Fumihiko Imamura, Anawat
Suppasri, Panon Latcharote, Takuro Otake, Natt Leelawat, andDavid N. Nguyen for this year’s World Tsunami Awareness Day onNovember 5Source: https://www.unisdr.org/archive/55710

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Conclusions•Tsunami Warning••

Tsunami Memorial••

Need great effort of maintenance and attraction

Housing Reconstruction••

Greatly improvement

A challenge in applying the lessons to reconstruction of future
eventsDisaster Education•

Importance of media for warning dissemination and basic
knowledge on faulty mechanisms/tsunami characteristics
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THANK YOU
Acknowledgments
JASTIP
Kyoto University
Tohoku University
Chulalongkorn University
Thammasat University
Chiang Mai University
National Disaster Warning Center,
Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department

Natt Leelawat, D.Eng.
natt.l@chula.ac.th
http://natt.leelawat.com@evonova

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