Thailand Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Act

Thailand Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Act
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This is an unofficial translation of the Thailand Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Act

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Unofficial Translation

Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Act
B.E. 2550 (A.D. 2007)

BHUMIPOL ADULYADEJ, REX:

Given on the 28 Day of August, B.E. 2550 [2007]
Being the 62nd Year of the Present Reign.
His Majesty the King Bhumibol Adulyadej is graciously pleased to proclaim that;

Whereas, it is expedient to have the law on Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.

Be it, therefore, enacted by the King, by and with the advice and consent of the National Legislative Assembly as follows;

Section 1: This act is called “Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Act, B.E. 2550 [A.D. 2007]”

Section 2: This act shall come into force as from the day following the date of its publication in the Royal Gazette1.

Section 3: These following acts shall be repealed and replaced by this act;

(1) Civil Defense Act, B.E. 2522 [A.D. 1979]
(2) Fire Defense Act, B.E. 2542 [A.D. 1999]

Section 4: Herein the act;

“Disaster” means any of these disasters; fire, storm, strong wind, flood, drought, epidemic in human, epidemic in animals, epidemic in aquaculture, and epidemic in plants and other public disaster either natural disasters or human-made disasters, accidents or all other incidents that effect to life, body or properties of the people, of the government. And in this regards, air threats and sabotages are also included.

“Air threat” means any disasters affected from strikes or attacks in the air by terrorists or alien nations.

“Sabotage” means any disasters affected from any activities aim to destroy to private or government properties, public utilities, or activities of offensive, deterrence, delay to any operations including of any harmful actions toward persons which will create a political, economical and social disturbance or damage to national security as a whole.

“Government agency” means any government services, state enterprises, national public organizations, or other government units; excludes local administrations ormunicipal governments.

“Local administration” means any Tambon2 administrations, municipalities, Pattaya city government, or other local administrations by law; excludes provincial governments and Bangkok Metropolitan government.

“Province” means any provinces throughout the Kingdom of Thailand; excludes Bangkok.

1 Published in the Royal Gazette Vol. 124, Part 52 A (ก), dated on 7 September B.E. 2550 [A.D. 2007]
2 There is also mentioned as “sub-district”

“District” means any districts and minor districts3 throughout the Kingdom of Thailand; excludes districts in Bangkok.

“District governor” means any district governors and any assistant district governors who are in charge to all minor districts is also included.

“Local governor” mean any governors in Tambons, municipality governors, Governor of Pattaya, and other chiefs or governors of other local administrations.

“Commander in chief” means the chief who is in charge on National Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Operation.

“Director” means any directors in central, provinces, districts, local administrations and Bangkok is also included.

“Officer” mean any designated officials for disaster prevention and mitigation operation in any relevant area of works by this law.

“Volunteer” means any Disaster Prevention and Mitigation volunteers.

“Director-General” means Director-General of Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.

“Minister” means respective minister who has been authorized by this law.

 

Section 5: Minister of Interior shall be having authorities to define relevant ministerial regulations, regulations, and other announcements to be enforced by this law, but not before those regulations or announcements have been published in the Royal Gazette.

CHAPTER 1
General Provisions

Section 6: There shall be a National Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Committee (NDPMC) 4, consisting of Prime Minister or designated Deputy Prime Minister as a chairperson, Ministry of Interior as first vice chairperson, Permanent Secretary for Interior as second vice chairperson, and Permanent Secretary for Defense, Permanent Secretary for Social Development and Human Security, Permanent Secretary for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Permanent Secretary for Transportation and Communications, Permanent Secretary for National Resources and Environment, Permanent Secretary for Information and Communication Technology, Permanent Secretary for Public Health, Direct-General of The Bureau of Budget, Commissioner-General of Royal Thai Police, Supreme Commander, Commandant of Royal Thai Army, Commandant of Royal Thai Navy, Commandant of Royal Thai Air Force, Director-General of National Security Council, and together with others but not more than five intellectuals who are experienced in city planning, and disaster prevention and mitigation shall be appointed by the Cabinet
as members.

Director-General of Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation as the secretariat of the committee, and not more than other two officials in Department Disaster Prevention and Mitigation shall be appointed as an assistant secretary.

Section 7: The committee shall have the powers and duties as follows;

(1) Propose the policy to formulate the National Disaster Prevention and Mitigation plan.

(2) Determine and preapproval the plan under Section 11 (1) before submitting the plan to the Cabinet.

(3) To integrate the development on disaster prevention and mitigation mechanism among Government agencies, Local administrations, and other relevant private sectors effectively.

(4) To recommend, support and promote on any disaster prevention and mitigation activities.

(5) To propose regulations on remuneration, recompenses, and other expenses related to disaster prevention and mitigation operations, and those regulations shall be in accordance to rules and regulations of Ministry of Finance.

(6) To perform other duties according to this and other laws as may be required by the Minister.

Regarding to the operations of the committee in paragraph one, the committee shall have their rights to appoint a sub-committee to perform tasks on their behalf, and the sub-committee shall adapt Section 10 to regulate their meetings.

To have more benefit from the committee according to paragraph one, the committee shall have authority to demand other government services, local administrations, or other private agencies to provide, to illuminate any relevant information to their meetings.

Section 8: The appointed intellectual members of the committee shall be performing their duties for a term of four years. In case of any appointed intellectual members vacate before their term, or a new or an additional
member appointed by the Cabinet, the appointee shall be resumed in their duties not more than the remaining of the term. Any members who vacate office upon termination of the term shallmaintain their duties until the newly appointed members take their office. The appointed intellectual members could be reappointed but they are not allowed to be in their office more than two terms continuously.

Section 9: In addition the vacation of their office upon termination of the term according to Section 8, the appointed members would vacate their office upon;
(1) Death
(2) Resignation by proposing the resignation letter to the chairperson
(3) Being dismissed by the Minister
(4) Being a bankrupt
(5) Being an incompetent or a quasi-incompetent person
(6) Being imprisoned by a final judgment or a lawful order to a term of imprisonment, except for an offence committed through negligence or petty offence.

Section 10: The constituted quorum meeting of the committee shall have not less than one-half of the total members. For any meetings, the chairperson of the committee shall preside over the meeting. If the chairperson absence, or unable to perform his or her duties, the vice chairperson shall be resumed the function as the chairperson respectively. Otherwise, one of the present members shall be selected as the chairperson.

Any decisions of meeting shall be judged by majority of the votes, based on one member one vote basis. In case of equality of votes, the chairperson who is presiding over the meeting shall have an additional vote as a casting vote.

Section 11: Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation shall be the central government unit to operate any related activities on national disaster prevention and mitigation, and shall have powers and authorities as follows;

(1) Formulates the National Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Plan for the committee to seek for an approval by the Cabinet
(2) Organizes and researches on procedures and measures to prevent and mitigate all impacts of disasters effectively
(3) Operates, cooperates, supports and assists other government services, local administrations, and other relevant private sectors on disaster prevention and mitigation. And provides aids to disaster effected people
(4) Guides, and provides consultancy, and train other government services, local administrations and other private sectors on disaster prevention and mitigation
(5) Follow-up, assesses and evaluates all activities related to disaster prevention and mitigation at all levels
(6) Perform other duties in accordance to this and other law or as may required by Commander in Chief, Prime Minister, the Committee or the Cabinet.

After the plan in paragraph one has been approved, other related government services and local administrations shall operate all of their activities according to the plan. During the process of formulating the prevention and mitigation plan in paragraph one, Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation shall confer with relevant government agencies, local administrations.

In this regards, private sectors shall be able to be included into this conferring for their opinions. For benefit of any operations under Section 10 (3), (4), (5) and (6), there shall be Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Center in some provinces. Those centers shall operate in the area of province and neighboring provinces as necessary. And there shall be Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Offices to oversee and support any disaster prevention and mitigation activities at provinces level or as required by the Director.

Section 12: The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Plan under Section 11 (1) shall have substantial parts as follows;

(1) Guide lines, measures and adequate budget to support disaster prevention and mitigation operations systemically and continuously
(2) Guide lines and methods for providing aids and mitigate the impacts of disasters in both short and long term, together with evacuation procedures of effected people, government services, and other local administrations, supports effected people on their public health, public utilities and communication system
(3) Relevant government agencies and local administrations shall proceed all operations under
(1) and (2), and shall seek for availability and mobility of fund
(4) Preparedness perspectives on support personnel, equipments and other materials to deploy upon disaster prevention and mitigation operations, and capacity building of those personnel and other people shall be included
(5) Guide line on fixing, recovery and restoration to community right after disaster

Those activities on paragraph one shall be preceded based on prioritization of hazard risks and vulnerabilities of disasters. And if there is any necessities to update, to correct laws or regulations or propositions of the Cabinet, those necessities shall be included into the National Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Plan.

Section 13: Designated Minister as Commander in Chief shall have power to control and oversee on disaster prevention and mitigation throughout the Kingdom according to this law. And the minister shall have power to command or demand to Directors, Deputy Directors, Assistant Directors, Officers, and Volunteers throughout the Kingdom.

The Permanent Secretary for Interior as Deputy Commander in Chief assists the Commander, shall perform any duties as my required by the Commander. He or she shall have delegated power to command the operations under paragraph one.

Section 14: The Director-General as Central Director, shall have power to control and oversee operations of other Directors, Deputy Directors, Assistant Directors, Officers, and Volunteers on disaster prevention and mitigation throughout the Kingdom.

Section 15: Provincial Governor as Provincial Director shall responsible for disaster prevention and mitigation of their own province. He or she shall have power as follows;

(1) Formulate the Provincial Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Plan in accordance to the national plan
(2) Oversee and train all volunteers of local administration in the province
(3) Oversee and investigate all local administrations on preparing of disaster prevention and mitigation equipments, materials, vehicles and other related hardware for their own use in accordance to Provincial plan
(4) Operate as a government service unit at local administration level to provide basic support to disasters affected people, and other activities related to disaster prevention and mitigation
(5) Support local administrations on any related activities of disaster prevention and mitigation
(6) Perform other duties as may be required by the Commander in Chief or the Central Director

For benefit of operations under Section 15 (3), (4), and (5), Provincial Director shall have power to demand other government agencies and other local administrations in their own province to cooperate to Provincial Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Plan and shall have power to control and oversee activities of Officers and Volunteers in according to this law.

Section 16: Provincial Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Plan under Section 15 (1) shall have substantial parts as follow;
(1) The setting up of Special Command Center when ever disasters strike, that center shall be constructed and has authorities to command and oversee disaster prevention and mitigation operations and activities
(2) Plan and procedures for local administrations for procuring tools, equipments, materials, hardware and vehicles in disaster prevention and mitigation operations
(3) Plan and procedures for local administrations for procuring an early warning system and other equipments to inform people and communities on incoming disasters
(4) Operation plan for disaster prevention and mitigation at local administrations
(5) Cooperation plan to other relevant public charities.

Section 17: For formulating Provincial Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Plan, Provincial Governor shall appoint a committee. That committee shall be consisted of these following members;

(1) Provincial Governor as chairperson
(2) Designated Deputy Provincial Governor as a vice chairperson
(3) Commander of Army Circle, or Commander of Provincial Army base or their representative
as a vice chairperson
(4) Provincial Administrator as a vice chairperson
(5) Othermembers shall be consisted of these following;
(a) Representatives from provincial government services appointed by Provincial Governor at any appropriated numbers as members
(b) Seven representatives from local administrations consisting of two persons from municipalities and other five persons from Tambon Administrations as members
(c) Representatives from public charities shall be appointed by Provincial Governor in any appropriated numbers as member
(6) Chief Officer of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office or representative from Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation as secretary

In case of higher education institutes or universities located in that province, president or rector of each institute shall be appointed by Provincial Governor at any appropriated numbers as members or consultants. The committee under paragraph one shall formulate their Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Plan and propose to their Provincial Governor for executing of the plan. Responsibilities and meeting procedures of committee under paragraph one shall be assigned by the Provincial Governor.

Section 18: Provincial Administrator as Deputy Provincial Director shall assist Provincial Director on disaster prevention and mitigation operations, and shall perform other duties as may be required by Provincial Director.

Section 19: District governor as District Director, shall perform duties on disaster prevention and mitigation in their home-land and shall perform other duties as may be required by Provincial director.

For any operations of District Director under paragraph one, the director shall have power to demand other government agencies, relevant local administrations in their area of works to operate the Provincial Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Plan, and shall have power to command, control and oversee all activities of relevant Officers and Volunteers on their operations in accordance to this law.

Section 20: Local Administration as Local Director shall perform their duties on disaster prevention and mitigation in their areas of works. Local administrators shall perform duties as Local Director, and shall assist Provincial Director and District Director in performing other duties as requested.

For any operations of Local Director under paragraph one, the director shall have power to control, and oversee local Officers, local Volunteers activities according to this law. The Administrative assistants shall perform their duties as Assistant Local Director on disaster prevention and mitigation and other duties as may be required by Local Director.

CHAPTER 2
Disaster Prevention and Mitigation

Section 21: In any occurrence or expected to occur of disasters in local administration area, that Local Director has to proceed the disaster prevention and mitigation operation at once, and he or she shall report to District Director, and Provincial Director immediately. For the operations on paragraph one, the Local Director shall have power to;

(1) Demand any local civil servants, local government employee, local government service servants, local government officers, volunteers, and other relevant personnel to perform any necessity actions for prevention and mitigation of that disasters
(2) Utilize any materials, tools, equipments, and vehicles of the government, or of private sectors in affected areas as necessary to prevent and mitigate that disasters
(3) Utilize communication devices of the government, or of private sectors in affected area or neighboring areas
(4) Request other local administrations to support that disaster prevention and mitigation operation
(5) Order any people to enter or leave the areas, buildings or any specific locations
(6) Provide aid and support to effected people radically and expeditiously

Section 22: If there is an incident or event in paragraph one, District Director and Provincial Director shall have their authorities equal to Local Director. District Directors shall oversee in their district, and Provincial Directors shall function in their provinces respectively.

In case of that Local Director require a support from other government agencies or other government agents outside the areas, he or she has to request to District Director or Provincial Director to demand other relevant agencies to response rapidly.

Section 23: When a disaster occurs in any local administrations, other neighboring Local Directors shall have to support to that Local Director on the prevention and mitigation operations.

Section 24: When a disaster occurs, local Officers in those affected area shall have to deploy the mitigation operation at once, and report to Local Director in their area of works for further operation immediately. And in some unavoidable cases, those Officers shall have power to implement any operations to protect or save life of those effected people.

Section 25: In any occurring disasters or expected to occur, the Director shall have authorities to command other Offices to modify, destroy, move or remove any obstacle, structures, materials of any private properties to mitigate the impacts of disaster. But any actions shall be limited to protect or to resolve any damages from disasters. Any actions in paragraph one shall be allowed to operate upon necessities to community relatively. If there is any modifications, destroying, or talking out of structures, materials or properties that will lead to more disaster dilation to other neighboring areas that Local Director shall not allow operating under paragraph one or two, except that operation is under supervision of Provincial Director.

 

(…Continues…)

 

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