Still not learning

The Anutin government recently launched a national committee to investigate mistakes made during Hat Yai flood management.

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The goal of the committee, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Borwornsak Uwanno and flood experts, is to “draw lessons” from the Hat Yai flood disaster, with the hope that such lessons will improve future disaster preparedness.

While the intention is good, the broader question is what precisely the country needs to know.

Another lesson?

Thailand should have a library of lessons in flood management and disaster preparedness.

To begin with, the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004 gave us many lessons on the importance of disaster warning systems, the need for local communities to have evacuation plans, and the need for land-use planning in risky coastal areas.

The epic flood in 2011 offered lessons on the importance of collaboration in flood drainage management and in more precise flood drainage and prediction.