The General Insurance Association stated that climate change has changed the pattern of flood risk. In the future, risk management models and the design of general insurance products must be considered to cope with the damage from disasters that may occur.
The Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) organized a project to raise awareness to cope with disasters in the current climate change era, with Assoc. Prof. Dr. Seri Supratid, an expert from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, giving a lecture on ‘Trends of climate change affecting flooding in Thailand’. He said that the increasing global temperature has caused severe drought in the dry season, while the rainy season has more rain than usual. In addition, the pattern of rainfall has also changed to heavy rainfall in a short period of time, causing flash floods and floods as occurred in 2024.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC-AR6) has produced a report stating that the world will continue to warm without limits. Therefore, many
areas are likely to face threats from climate change such as heat waves, droughts and floods. In the seminar on “The insurance industry and its role in risk management to cope with floods”, Ms. Wasumdee Wasinon
Deputy Secretary-General for the supervision of intermediaries and regional insurance, Office of the Insurance Commission (OIC), said that when severe floods occur, especially in the North, the OIC, together with the Insurance Association, immediately provide assistance to those affected in the area. Initially, it was initial assistance. Later, assistance was raised to be able to survey the damage and pay compensation to those insured in various forms as quickly as possible.
Mr. Pongpanu Damrongsiri, Executive Director of the Thai General Insurance Association, said that risk management in the insurance industry must be adjusted to be consistent with the damage caused by climate change, such as in 2011, when there was a major flood. The areas at high risk were areas along the main rivers and tributar
ies, where the water level gradually rose. However, in 2024, there was a flood in areas with very heavy rain in a short period of time, rapid flooding, and mudslides. Therefore, the insurance industry must adjust its risk management model and insurance products to cover the damages of the insured.
Source: Thai News Agency
