THE 5 PILLARS OF RESILIENCE: STRATEGIES FOR DRIVING HATYAI CITY TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE MODEL OF A DISASTER-LITERATE AGING SOCIETY

Abstract

The flood disaster in Hat Yai City highlights the structural limitations of top-down, reactive disaster management, which fails to adequately address crisis situations within the context of an ageing society-particularly regarding the care of older adults and vulnerable populations. This article proposes a paradigm shift from traditional rescue operations to community-driven collaboration by integrating Thailand's 5-Dimensional Health Pillar System, Japan's "Kyo-jo" (mutual assistance) concept, and Singapore's "Whole-of-Society" framework. This model operates through five key strategies: 1) Deploying a proactive smart health registry to prioritize evacuations; 2) Establishing neighborhood resilience funds to mitigate economic impacts; 3) Upgrading temporary shelters based on Universal Design principles to accommodate vulnerable groups; 4) Developing hybrid alert systems to bridge the digital divide and maintain functionality during power outages; and 5) Creating a "Guardian Buddy" network that transforms older adults from passive care recipients into proactive agents of community safety. By leveraging the capacity of physically active seniors (approximately 97% of the older population) to assist homebound and bedridden peers, this approach transitions disaster management from a reactive framework to a proactive, flexible, and adaptive operation. Policy recommendations urge Hat Yai Municipality to drive the strategy "Hat Yai Model: A Digital City with a Caring Heart" by integrating health data, technology, and age-friendly urban planning to build a sustainable safety ecosystem. Elevating the role of  communities and older adults toward proactive measures during the critical "Golden Hour" will reduce the grass-roots "survival gap," restore the dignity of older adults, and establish a foundational model for urban centers prepared to withstand future disaster crises.