Efficacy of International Standards on Logistics in Disaster Management Case Study: National Crisis Management Center, Thailand

As one of the tsunami affected countries in December 2004, Thailand realized a need for and subsequently established a national crisis management center (NCMC). The key purpose of establishing the NCMC was to streamline logistical issues in disaster management. These logistical issues mainly related to ways in which to bring in and deploy proper resources legally to the affected area and people in a timely manner. Challenges exist due to the fact that more than twenty government and non-government unit functions are involved in disaster management. Each government unit function has different rules and regulations to follow. It is currently even more challenging to bring in the various international standards (ITU, ISO, etc.) to use in disaster management. This research addresses the key findings of the potential effects in adopting international standards in disaster management, especially in the area of command control coordination and communication.