"How Ready Are We When Disaster Strikes?" Assessing Resilience in Model Communities Prepared for Every Crisis

In a world increasingly confronted by severe climate variability — from floods and droughts to pandemics and heatwaves — developing communities that are merely "beautiful" may no longer be enough. What every area must also have is "resilience": the capacity of a community to prepare for, respond to, and recover from crises in a strong and sustainable manner.

Community resilience assessment is a vital tool for identifying strengths, weaknesses, and strategies for managing future risks. It requires consideration across multiple dimensions, including natural resources, public utility systems, local economies, community cooperation, and the capacity of government agencies to manage disasters.

One particularly noteworthy model community is Thung Rangsit in Pathum Thani Province — an agricultural area on the urban fringe that has faced challenges including water pollution, waste management issues, and the impacts of COVID-19. The community applied the Community-Based Resilience Analysis (CoBRA) tool to assess its resilience potential, with results indicating a moderate level of resilience. Key strengths include occupational diversity and access to information, though vulnerabilities remain due to rapid urban expansion, which has placed pressure on agricultural land and traditional ways of life.

Another example is Ko Klang in Krabi Province — a Muslim community rich in cultural charm and natural beauty — which has had to contend with rising sea levels. The community has adopted an Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) approach through the conservation of mangrove forests as a natural protective barrier, alongside switching to faster-maturing rice varieties to reduce damage from saltwater intrusion. This approach has not only helped the community survive, but has also preserved its traditional way of life and the area's natural beauty, while laying the groundwork for sustainable tourism development.

At the municipal level, several local governments — including Hat Yai, Udon Thani, and Phuket — have adopted the Local Government Self-Assessment Tool (LGSAT) to evaluate their disaster management capacity. This has enabled them to identify gaps in budgets, technology, and infrastructure, leading to the development of green cities and sponge cities as systematic approaches to reducing the risks of flooding and heatwaves.

Taken together, these examples reflect that resilience is not the responsibility of any single individual, but rather the product of collaboration among community members, government agencies, and all sectors working together to design a safe and sustainable future. Continuous monitoring, evaluation, and learning are therefore essential — because the goal of building a sustainable community is not merely to have beautiful surroundings, but to have a foundation strong enough to withstand and overcome whatever crises the future may bring.

References

1. Disaster Resilience Framework, National Institute of Standards and Technology.
2. Community-Based Resilience Analysis (CoBRA) to Hazard Disruption: Case Study of a Peri-Urban Agricultural Community in Thailand.
3. Building and Measuring Community Resilience: Actions for Communities and the Gulf Research Program.

Source: Department of Climate Change and Environment