A Model of Public Policy for Flood Management of Hatyai City, Songkhla Province, Thailand

Abstract

Climate change is currently occurring around the world both in local and global levels and tends to increase the occurrence and severity of natural disasters, especially flooding which is the most severe natural disaster. This researchaimed to develop a model of public participatory policy for flood management in Hatyai District, Songkhla Province by applying the case study of Hatyai ACCCRN (Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Networks) and to present an appropriate approach for sustainable flood management in that area. This research applied both quantitative and qualitative methods. The theoretical concepts from literature review influenced the formation of the research conceptual framework. In this present research, the data were drawn from two major sources. The questionnaire was used to elicit perceptions about the ACCCRN programme from 400 samples, who had been affected by the flood in target areas. The in-depth interviews with 4 public policy makers for flood management and the focus group discussion also used to collect data from 9 representatives of relavants stakeholder groups including; government, private sector, academic medias and community. The results from case study and in-depth interview methods were used to support the quantitative findings. The quantitative findings indicated that the target samples had high level of perceptions about the ACCCRN programme. They recoginzed the efficiency of the programme as it could create positive awareness to the public such as good policy for mation, planning, coordination, and delegation. There was an advisory commitee to provide the knowledge on how to manage the natural diaster. The coordination among the authorities and relevant organizations was promoted. The flood management particpation was enhanced. The hypothesis testing revealed that the relationship between some personal factors and the community problems in affected areas was statistically significant at the 0.05 level. The Chi-Square test also indicated that characteristics of flooding, duration of flooding, warning system development, and particpation in ACCCRN programme had a relationship with the levels of programme perceptions. The results from qualitaive study suggested that the factors affecting the policy formulation could be used to establish the following missions of flood prevention policy of Hatyai District, Songkhla Province: (1) to integrate the action plan with other associates in Songkhla Lake Basin and gear towards water management mechanisms at the national level; (2) to develop water resource management system in order to cope with/ adapt to climate change situation in U-Tapao Canal Basin; (3) to improve the quality of life of vulnerable groups, affected by climate change in terms of water resource; (4) to develop Hatyai into a healthy city according to the development approach of natural resource and environmental conservation; and (5) to create the mechanisms supporting and driving climate change management in Hatyai and Songkhla Lake Basin. In addition, it was found that the efficient disaster management model for Hatyai District, Songkhla Province, consisted of two major components: the first one was the main factors including; (1) Focal point that was the main agency taking care of overall operations and possessed both administrative powers and resources, (2) Cooperation between policy agencies and operational team, (3) Collaboration between the central government and the local government with consistent and compliant local, provincial, and national development plans, and (4) Willingness of all relevant parties; the second factor was the proactive organization management, which integrated and allowed all sectors to participate in every phase of community-based disaster management. The results suggested that proactive organization management consisted of the following 8 dimensions, which were social involvement, systematic organization, management procedures, participatory, political relationship management, public policy unity, result-orientation, and networking. Furthermore, it was found that the key success factors for sustainable flood management policy implementation included the policy that matched the context of each area, the effective communication suitable for the target groups and the public, the cooperation among relevant agencies, and the information and knowledge development for the right decision making. This study integrated and linked knowledge from relevant parties together. The impacts and adaptation measures for all sectors were taken into account in order to drive the developed model into the public policy for sustainable disaster management. The effective model should consist of 3 key success factors, including; 1) Balance between personal gain and public interest, 2) Private Participation, and 3) Going beyond boundary. This is considered an important principle, concept, and knowledge, which can be further studied and applied to different contexts in the future.