Learning from Thailand’s Disaster Expert
03 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Thailand Tags: thailand flood
When panic conquers during a disaster and government agencies cannot make the public to trust them because of their (the government’s) failure to provide reliable information, the public need a savior and will keep searching until they find one. During the recent, heavy flood disaster in northern and central Thailand, Dr. Seree Supharatid, became the savior who won public’s trust and who could convey clear, reliable information daily to many ordinary Thais regarding how the flood would affect them.
Dr. Seree is the Director of Centre of Climate Change and Disaster at Rangsit University, one of the universities that were affected heavily by the flood. As part of a university that “fell victim” of the flood and as the victim himself (his house was also submerged by the water), he had every reason to analyse the disaster carefully, to estimate the risk and predict what would happen and find the best way to minimise the risk of more loss if the inundation kept rising. He was not the only Academics who gave their analysis during the disaster, because other universities were also flooded and each of them has their own “expert”, who also gave their opinion to the public through the press. Dr. Seree, however, is different.
So, how is Dr. Seree Supharatid different from his colleagues? The Nation (one of Thailand’s english newspaper) reported that Dr. Seree, who received his Ph.D from Tohoku University of Japan, has, at least, the following qualities that made him win over the public:
1. He knows his science and he backed up his words with data and facts. It’s not all theories and quotes after quotes.
2. He and his team ran 5 models to predict natural disaster, far more than the number of model used by the government’s meteorological agency, therefore his prediction has better accuracy. People acknowledged that his prediction was accurate.
3. He visitted affected area, to cross check his prediction and fine tune his models. His calculation was not just made on paper but he cross checked it against the reality.
4. He’s communicative, he used easy to understand maps and graphics. Most ordinary public are not scientists after all, so communication skill is an important part of conveying clear, succint and reliable message to them.
5. Dr. Seree was not part of government nor any political parties and he didn’t have any commercial interest either, therefore people trust his honesty. He didn’t tell a lie to ease people’s worry, he was direct in telling people where the water would go and how to prepare. His accurate predictions and instructions of how to cope with the flood have given people time to prepare properly and minimise losses.
During the Thailand Flood, Dr. Seree gave his predictions and advices on national television on daily basis. His work was eventually acknowledged by the government and he was later appointed by the Cabinet to serve as member and assistant to the Secretary of the Strategic Committee for Water Resources Management. Interestingly, in December 2010, he had actually warned that Bangkok would be submerged under water in less than a decade.
Speaking about Dr. Seree makes me remember our own “experts” who often view their opinion on nearly everything in our beloved country, including when a disaster strikes. It would certainly help us, the public, if our own “commentators” can give us accurate and reliable information so that we can save our lives and minimise our losses during difficult time such as during a disaster.
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