Key success factors of disaster management policy: A case study of the Asian cities climate change resilience network in Hat Yai city, Thailand

The objective of this research was to study the key success factors of public policy in disaster management in Songkhla province, based on a case study of the Hat Yai Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN) in order to propose guidelines for sustainable disaster management in the area. The methodologies applied in this research were both quantitative and qualitative. In the quantitative approach, the researcher used a questionnaire with 400 samples from three representative communities in Hat Yai city. The qualitative approach used the focus group technique with the stakeholders of policy implementation. The results of the survey regarding the problems within some communities affected by flooding indicated that most of the respondents had faced flooding in their community. Moreover, these respondents had participated in the policy and were aware of information about ACCCRN from different media, as well as having participated disaster management activities and had meetings with the organizations or personnel involved with disaster management. Moreover, the results showed a relationship between the individual factors and the information awareness of ACCCRN at the 95% confidence level. Additionally, the results using the qualitative method showed that the model of disaster management in Hat Yai, Songkhla province, involved three key success factors of disaster management policy: (1) there is a balance between self-interest and the public interest; (2) private participation is required; (3) addressing obstacles to policy implementation and its effective implementation. The benefits from this research are enormous in terms of successfully implementing disaster management policy and this policy can be applied to other contexts in Thailand as well.