Lessons learned: Flooding with lots of mud in Mae Sai, Thailand

Abstract

This research is a qualitative research. The purpose of this research is to extract lessons from the flood with a large amount of mudslides in Mae Sai District, Thailand. The sample group or the recipients of lessons learned consisted of those responsible for meteorology, those responsible for forestry, those responsible for flooding, those involved in geographic information, and those involved in emergency management in Mae Sai District, Chiang Rai Province, totaling 30 key informants. The selection of key informants was done using the snowball technique. The researcher collected data on-site using the methods of participant observation, non-participant observation, and in-depth interviews with the sample group. The results were then analyzed using the content analysis technique. The results of the study found that 1) the main factor causing floods was heavy rain in the area continuously for a long time, both in Mae Sai District, Thailand, and Tachileik District, Myanmar. 2) the main factor of a large amount of mudslides flowing with water was found to have large landslides in many areas in areas with rainfall in both countries. 3) the lesson learned is that the Sai River is a river that separates Thailand and Myanmar. While each country has its own specific data for decision-making, such as rainfall data and water volume flowing into the Sai River Information on forest areas at risk of landslides/soil collapse/landslides, etc., which resulted in a greater amount of muddy water flowing into the community than expected.