Thailand: Disaster prevention tops agenda

After the massive floods that affected over three million families and caused losses of around 30 billion baht, Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij has stressed the urgent need for prevention programmes in the country, reports the Bangkok Post.

Mr Chatikavanij was speaking at the regional launch of the report 'Natural Hazards, Unnatural Disasters: The Economics of Prevention', produced with the cooperation of the World Bank, Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC), the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations.

Krasae Chanawongse, chairman of the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center urged the government to invest more on disaster preparedness and prevention "We do still believe in the fact that prevention is better than cure," he said. "The country's economic plans should include disaster prevention plans."