Disaster Risk Reduction Is All About Choices: Thai Opinion

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STREET WISE

Disaster risk reduction is all about choices

Achara Deboonme

The Nation

Last week, I was stunned by a phone call. "When will Ms Messy resign?" Yes, you know whom the caller referred to. Deep down, you can also guess that the caller is not totally a fan of the Pheu Thai Party or its leader, Yingluck Shinawatra, since the caller's house is not flooded and the caller is working at an office in a dry zone.

It puzzled me why many people in Bangkok put the blame solely on Yingluck. The heavy rain started in April and when she took office in mid-August, the water was already halfway to the capital.

Few look at the fact that Thailand has for decades neglected any improvement in its water management system. Of the tens of billions of baht in the annual budget for the Irrigation Department, most goes to maintaining the existing irrigation system. Besides Pasak Cholasit Dam, no big reservoir has been built.

In the capital, hyacinths are growing everywhere in canals, which have rarely been dredged to cope with massive water like this.

We now have big tunnels to divert water to the Chao Phraya River, but few know that they were planned years ago but just appeared recently, due to financial constraints.

Indeed, this is the effect of activities all over the globe. We need to admit that this is a "natural disaster", which constitutes a "natural hazard". As evidence of global warming shows, we need to admit that many natural disasters are the result of human activities. La Nina and El Nino are natural phenomena, but human activities are increasing their frequency.

Knowing that, will we do anything to turn things around? As over 2 million people are affected by the floods, our focus is on relief measures. But what's next?

We know that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions increase global temperatures and this increases the frequency of La Nina and El Nino. This has been confirmed by research. If the problem is to be addressed at its root, then we must cut GHG emissions.

It’s encouraging to know that the Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency Department sees this disaster as an opportunity. After the floods, it will seriously promote the use of energy-saving light bulbs among small and medium-sized enterprises, with financial and non-financial supporting measures.

I was also encouraged by the fact that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is aware of global warming and the necessity to take initial action to be part of the global effort in mitigating the problem.

In its Action Plan on Global Warming Mitigation 2007-12, it aims to reduce GHG emissions by at least 15 per cent. One of the initiatives is to improve the efficiency of solid waste treatment.

A study found that in 2009, Bangkok generated over 8,000 tonnes of daily waste. This would only increase with the consumption of more canned food and bottled water.

The Loy Krathong festival only worsened the situation with non-disposable floats. Revellers also tended to generate more garbage by purchasing food and drinks that usually come in plastic containers.

If I were the Bangkok governor and knew that garbage trucks would be deployed to remove the hyacinths during the floods, I would have launched a campaign to cut rubbish as much as possible. This could be adopted permanently, if Bangkok wants to be a leader among global metropolises. Alas, I'm not the governor.

I totally agree with the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, which says disaster risk reduction is everyone’s business, from governments and businesses to even individuals like us.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said, "the more governments, UN agencies, organisations, businesses and civil society understand risk and vulnerability, the better equipped they will be to mitigate disasters when they strike and save more lives."

The current disaster saddens people. Most of the media's efforts are channelled to portraying the suffering and finding out who should be blamed.

However, we should focus on looking for the structural problems and fixing them. Then, let's do what we can to ease the problems if we agree that disaster reduction is everyone's business. Yes, it is easier to blame someone else.

-- The Nation 2011-11-15

[stfranalum]

this is a reflection of thai society in many ways. some people here do in fact, want a solutions based approach to life. they see problems and solutions intertwined, and look for ways to change life as to fix problems.

sadly, many thai people dont think like this. they are reflexive and simply like the drama of a pointing the finger first approach. politicians dont help mitigate this, as this mentality can be easily manipulated for their own gain.

the cultural trait of thais, to not speak up, to have sacred taboos, is one that clashes directly against solution-based thinking. it challenges the status quo, and thats disturbing for those who hold onto beliefs that themselves, clash with reality.

[MEL1]

Who's choices?

Sorry, Achara, but I've seen better reports from Grade 4 science students that are more maturely googled, and with points to "answers".

What exactly are you trying to say, purely than you support YoungUnlucky?

What is all this differing information that you write about, but point in no direction?

Everybody can quote figures and ideas, and relate them to absolutely nothing near a simile or to a non-applicable alien comparison.

In fact, that's what most Thai politicians do in their annual reports....

Which Thai opinion is this report aimed at? The 'educated' ( ) lot at the top, or the average dim-wit ( ) Thai who doesn't get much of a choice?

-m.

[puntmeister]

Although global warming will certainly exacerbate the flooding problems in Thailand progressively in the future, to suggest Thailand can counteract this by promoting alternative energy within its borders is a bit naive, at best.

I'm all for all countries making an effort to curb GHG's, but Thailand's contribution to this effort won't have much impact, one way or another.

Rather, Thailand needs to accept that global warming is real, its going to get worse, and the flooding will get worse - so they need to find direct solutions to the problem of flooding.

I'm no expert on the subject, so I won't offer definitive solutions - but, they need to focus on where they build, and how they manage the inevitably heavy rains.

#1: Reforestation of key areas. Trees absorb massive amounts of water.

#2 Curb development in natural wetlands/floodzones (largely too late, but, via tax policy, can actually enourage relocation out of floodplanes).

#3 Design and build a system of flood water management (retention and flow).

#4 Educate and equip the most vulnerable people in the event of floods (disease prevention, water filtration systems, swimming lessons....).

[whybother]

It puzzled me why many people in Bangkok put the blame solely on Yingluck. The heavy rain started in April and when she took office in mid-August, the water was already halfway to the capital.

Nothing is Yingluck's fault because the rain started before she was PM. Simple.

Ofcourse, the flooding started in late July, just in time for Yingluck to use her extensive management experience ("looking after 20 mil customers") to deal with the communication (her specialty) and organisation of flood relief.

The fact that she has failed miserably at that just goes to show her that "looking after 20 million customers" is not the same as "looking after 65 million citizens" (or 20 million people affected by floods).

It appears that she just isn't up to the job.

[metisdead]

A post containing libellous/defamatory content has been removed:

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[DeepInTheForest]

A well-written and thoughtful piece. Although I too despise much of what transpires in Thai politics, and decry the criminality of the senior Shinawatra, I too, have wondered why Yingluck has taken the abuse she has (particularly among posters in this forum, whose level of vituperation seems to rise as time goes on). The author's suggestion regarding cutting down on garbage and packaging is a great one. As are the comments about the undredged canals that are choked with hyacinths.

Thailand is in need of fixing in many areas. What Western posters here often fail to acknowledge is the failure of other countries in many areas as well. I would like to point out that after 1000 years of flood management, the Netherlands experienced a massive dyke failure in 1953 that killed 1800 people. Britain endured widespread flooding in 2007, only to be flooded again in 2009. The US lost a major city in 2005-- and remediation of crucial wetlands has only just begun after an unconscionable delay of five and a half years. And has anyone considered the financial health of their home country vs. Thailand? Thailand's national debt is currently a few percent of GDP, something that few of us can say of our home countries, for better or for worse.

Obviously, sometimes it is not just the natural disaster itself, but our social systems which need remediation. Political squabbles, capitalism and the profit motive can divert our attention from what we need to focus on.

If we are to move forward (and somehow we will collectively stumble forward), we will be forced to re-evaluate our priorities. We can start by acknowledging that our natural systems are severely degraded. The country has been deforested and paved to an extraordinary extent. This has contributed greatly to the current disaster.

One more thought: a poster above mentioned that settlement in floodplains should be discouraged. I feel constrained to point out that the City of Angels is sited in possibly the worst possible location. Historically, Bangkok was underwater. To pretend otherwise seems folly. In my view, the posters who complain that locals who open sluice gates should move to another location are missing the point. It is Bangkok's location that is the problem, not a few people pulling down sandbags. Putting a modern city in Bangkok's location is asking for trouble. Trouble has arrived. Now, what will we do about it? An engineered solution will be costly and perhaps, in the long term, unsustainable.