This paper aims to identify the root causes that exacerbated the economic damage from the 2011 Chao Phraya river flood disaster in central Thailand industrial complex area. Finding root causes is crucial for learning from disasters; however, there has not been much investigation of the economic damage root causes with regard to the 2011 Chao Phraya river flood disaster. This paper seeks to investigate the root causes of the economic damage by organizing the existing analytical frameworks, tools and approaches to clarify why industrial parks and estates experienced such substantial economic devastation that resonated worldwide. The study’s research design includes a social background survey, in-depth interview surveys and an investigation of the disaster’s root causes. Through the research, inadequate urban and land use planning facilitated by a decentralization policy, foreign companies settlement in the country, which involved urbanization and relocation without proper risk assessment, information, and knowledge, and supplier’s responsibility based on the supply chain’s structure, are detected as root causes for the high economic damage in the industrial complex area. This study also provides key lessons essential to building regional resilience in industrial complex areas: 1) considering the potential risks of regional planning, which include both socio-economic and climate changes; 2) clarifying the roles of companies, regions, and nations in sharing risk information with related stakeholders before, during, and after a disaster; and 3) building horizontal and vertical collaborations among all related stakeholders.

This study aims at clarifying households’ responses to the flood in Thailand. The result of this study helps fill the gap in literature about the factor affecting a household’s decision to evacuate in response to the flood, as such a decision varies with the type of natural disaster. The result of the study confirms that more vulnerable people are less likely to evacuate. However, they are more likely to evacuate, if at least one of their household members has reduced mobility. People in flood-prone areas exhibited moral hazards. Furthermore, people with relatively secured employment statuses are more likely to stay in the flood-prone area, to minimize their losses from the flood. If households with management-level employees received real-time and accurate updates about the flood, the decision to evacuate would be freely decided by such households, which can minimize their losses. Similarly, real-time and accurate data about potential damages and losses can reduce moral hazards. Thus, it is necessary for national and local governments to understand area-specific characteristics of people and linkages between societal vulnerability and economic resilience. The study’s implications highlight the importance of developing disaster management strategies in an integrated area-based approach.

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Literature exists on business continuity; however, little exists on the complied experience, especially flood risk. The research also does not cover industrial complex areas using integrated perspectives. Most studies on major business continuity disasters focus on event impacts and the short-term responses and recovery process of enterprises. Some evaluate the underlying causes of vulnerability, but few follow up to evaluate the consequences of the business continuity process because of restrictions on information disclosure regarding these activities. The objective of this study is to improve understanding of the influence that business continuity narratives have had on how decisions and actions are undertaken to continue business after a flood disaster, and what long-term influence this has had, in turn, on the industrial complex area from integrated perspectives, especially applying the lessons learned. This research drew on insights from in-depth studies of Japanese enterprises to maximize the findings based on abundant field data: (1) disaster responses in the flood risk situation; (2) the challenges faced by enterprises in the area before, during and following the 2011 floods; and (3) lessons that led to new consideration for the flood risk in the areas following the 2011 flood. This study identified alternative narratives on the purpose and means of business continuity with implications for flood risk by constructing scenarios for practical use. The findings of this study provide new insights and will improve the performance of business continuity management, both existing and planned, and, ultimately, support more climate-resilient development in this area.