International Recovery Platform

This Rapid Assessment for Resilient Recovery and Reconstruction Planning report is the result of an exercise initiated by the Royal Thai Government to assess the economic and social impact of the 2011 floods and prepare recovery and reconstruction plans. Twenty-six of the country’s 66 affected provinces were included in the assessment, which examines 18 main sectors and used a comprehensive and internationally established methodology looking at damage and losses caused by the disaster. The report determines the country’s needs for post-disaster recovery and reconstruction and proposes short-, medium-, and long-term measures in each of the 18 sectors for a sustainable post-disaster reconstruction program. Drawing on global good practices for disaster risk management and building-back-better strategies, the report also gives suggestions on how to improve the resilience of the country’s infrastructure and its communities to the impacts of disasters.

This article addresses the sustainability implications of post-disaster measures in the context of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami by presenting an analysis of the current situations and changes in some of the affected regions. Sustainability implications of measures are captured by investigating the persistence of the social and economic living conditions in relation to post-disaster measures, and the alignment of the measures with basic environmental aspects.

To better define, measure and improve resilience to flooding, and demonstrate that preventative measures taken to address underlying problems before a flood are more effective at stemming losses at the community level, this publication describes the