The Economic Impact of the 26 December 2004 Earthquake and Indian Ocean Tsunami in Thailand

A powerful earthquake of magnitude 9.5 in the Richter scale, with epicenter located just off the Northern part of the island of Sumatra, occurred in the early hours of 26 December 2004. It created a tsunami that expanded over the Indian Ocean and affected the coastal areas of many countries in Asia and Africa. Estimates of the economic and social impact of the disaster were undertaken under the leadership of the World Bank in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Maldive Islands, and India. In Thailand, however, only individual sector assessments as well as preliminary global assessments of the macroeconomic impact were carried out by different government institutions, in some cases with assistance from international organizations. Thus, no comprehensive assessment is available for the entire Thailand nation. The Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) undertook a comparative study of the economic impact of the tsunami in the entire region, with a view to identifying common vulnerabilities and risks whose solution may be best approached in a cooperative fashion and thus generating significant economies of scale for the countries. As part of the regional study, ADPC first undertook the estimation of the total amount of damage and losses sustained by Thailand. This report describes the methodology, assumptions and results of such estimation.