Thailand no longer among top 10 countries affected by extreme weather, says DCCE
Thailand has been freed from the top 10 countries affected by extreme weather under the Climate Risk Index, the Department of Climate Change and Environment (DCCE) said on Tuesday.
Citing the 2025 edition report published on February 12, DCCE director-general Phirun Saiyasitpanich explained that Thailand was ranked 30th among countries affected by extreme weather in 1993-2022, better than ninth place in 2000-2019.
He said Thailand’s improvement in the Climate Risk Index was all thanks to the country’s efficient climate risk management and assessment, which included an indicator for affected populations and a change in the long-term assessment from 20 years to 30 years.
However, he warned that Thailand is still at risk of climate risks, such as rising temperatures in hot and drought seasons, as well as floods and landslides due to heavy rains.
The most important thing is preparation to boost climate change resilience, such as improving the efficiency of early warning systems, communicating to people promptly, developing water management systems and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, he said.
“These efforts will boost Thailand and Thai people’s resilience against climate change amid severe disasters in the future,” he concluded.
According to the report, storms (35%), heat waves (30%) and floods (27%) caused the most fatalities globally from 1993 to 2022. Floods were responsible for over half of the people affected, while storms caused the most significant economic losses of US$2.33 trillion (78.49 trillion baht).
