56.97% of the respondents to a Suan Dusit Poll are concerned for their safety and that of their families when they learned that citizens of several countries have been advised by their governments to store food and other necessities sufficient for a 72-hour emergency.
62.55% of these people feel that Thailand may be at risk of cyber attacks, affecting bank digital payment systems and confidential information leakage.
62.05% of them are worried about public health system disruption.
Suan Dusit Poll of Suan Dusit University surveyed the opinions of Thai people regarding “Thai people’s preparedness for emergencies.”
The findings show that 29.16% of the respondents are most worried about power outages and tap water disruptions. 57.14% are confident that they can cope with a 72-hour emergency and 62.47% want the state to prepare backup plans for communication and internet systems.
Dr. Pornpun Buathong, chair of Suan Dusit Poll, said that, even though the prime minister offered an assurance that people need not panic about emergency preparedness, they are still concerned and they want the government to provide them with accurate information and clear guidelines as to how to cope with an emergency.
The government, she said, should communicate with the people about the risks and for what they should be prepared, rather than merely telling them not to panic.
Dr. Montol Suwanprapha, of the Faculty of Science and Technology at Suan Dusit University, said the findings reflect the people’s awareness of the need to store food and necessities sufficient for 72 hours, but they don’t know how to translate preparedness into practical actions.
She said that the state should improve people’s ability to distinguish between fake and factual news and that the cyber attack threat may be an international effort to influence public perception.
Concern over power outages, tap water and internet disruptions reflect the public’s recognition of the importance of infrastructure, although most of them believe that they could cope with such an emergency, she said.
