Household Preparedness Typology and Coping Capacity: Implications for Building Disaster Resilience in Developing Countries

Abstract

This article examines flood preparedness characteristics and coping capacity of households based on the findings of two research studies conducted in Thailand, and discusses the implications for disaster resilience building. The first study looked at the characteristics of household preparedness. Data were collected using a questionnaire from 1,592 randomly selected households in Thailand's four regions, and descriptive statistics were obtained to analyze household preparedness characteristics. The first study's findings revealed four types of action, which were used to create a typology of household preparedness as a tool for analyzing the cost and amount of effort associated with each specific preparedness action, which, in turn, influences households' decision to adopt. The flood coping capacity of households was investigated in the second study. Data were collected using a survey questionnaire with 300 households in three flood-prone communities of Songkhla Province in Thailand's southern region, using a quota sampling method. Data were then analyzed using multiple regression technique. Both preparedness and human capital increased the level of household coping capacity, according to the findings. Based on the findings of these two studies, recommendations for improving people's resilience in disaster-prone communities in developing countries are proposed.