ENHANCEMENT OF DISASTER PREPAREDNESS AMONG ELDERLY PEOPLE BY STRENGTHENING ENVIRONMENTAL RISK COMMUNICATION

Disasters potentially generate devastating consequences to our society, particularly in communities contained with various elements at risk such as poorly constructed buildings as well as poverty. Since most of disaster victims were old people, it has been pointed that an increase in elderly population has also enhanced levels of vulnerabilities in potentially impacted areas. This study attempts to enhance old people's capacity to tackle with fire disaster by strengthening environmental risk communication. Three objectives are contained in this study. The first objective is to analyze elderly people's risk perception and motivation to perform self-preventative measures. The second is to describe how old people are educated with risk information and to reveal a wide range of elderly people's awareness and protective motivation influenced by each information source. The last objective is to identify factors associated with an effective risk communication. Regarding the last objective, based on the concept of environmental risk communication and disaster preparedness, influence of socioeconomic factors of elderly people and particular roles of risk communicators were analyzed on elderly people's motivation to perform risk reduction measures. The validity of the proposed model was explored by means of representative quantitative surveys in three vulnerable communities in Bangkok metropolitan region. The results demonstrated that elderly people living in the city tend to have much awareness than others living in rural and dense communities. In addition, there are significant factors relatively influencing on an effective risk communication such as disaster experiences, conflicts and relationship among community members as well as educational background of elderly people

Effectiveness of warning graphic labels on cigarette packs in enhancing late-teenagers’ perceived fear of smoking-related harms in Bangkok, Thailand

Background: This study investigated the level of fear of smoking-related harms for teenagers of different gender, different levels of smoking behaviour, and difference in smoking levels of friends and family members, as influenced by warning graphic images on cigarette packs. The study also compared levels of this fear in categories based on participants’ perception (e.g., scarier or less scary images).Design and Methods: The sample group was 353 undergraduate students at King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi in Bangkok, Thailand. Questionnaires containing 21 warning graphic images, aimed at measuring levels of fear of smoking-related harms, were conducted. Both descriptive statistics and inferential statistics, such as independent and dependent t-test, were used to analyse the data.Results: The results showed that warning graphic images exhibiting patients suffering from cancers (e.g., lung cancer or laryngeal cancer) and images of damaged body parts were perceived as the scariest warning images. In contrast, images that did not illustrate serious disease suffered by smokers were perceived as the least scary images. The scariest images generated a significant higher level of fear of smoking-related harms than the least scary images. In addition, non-smoking participants were more sensitive to scary warning images than smoking participants. It was also found that the level of fear of smoking-related harms was significantly based on individual cognitive judgment, and it was not affected by the influence of social groups such as friends and family members.Conclusions: Developing effective warning graphic images could directly contribute to individuals’ perceived health risks and danger associated with smoking

The Establishment of a Community-based Mangrove Forest Management Plan: Lessons Learned from Mangrove Forest Conservation in the Nernkhor Sub-district, Rayong Province, Thailand

This study aims to investigate key elements of community-based ecological management (CBEM) in a rural area with plentiful mangrove resources. The investigated elements of CBEM include stakeholders’ benefits from sharing ecosystems services provided by the mangrove forests, stakeholders’ roles in ecological conservation, and their participation in decision-making processes at each stage of the ecological management process. Additionally, the study intends to reveal factors that determine the success of CBEM creation processes, including agenda setting, matching, restructuring, clarifying, and the routinizing stage. Semi-structured interviews and group discussions were conducted with relevant stakeholders, such as community leaders, typical villagers, fishermen, and local businessmen residing in the Nernkhor Sub-district of the Rayong Province, Thailand. The results of content analyses demonstrated that the success of CBEM creation processes in the Nernkhor Sub-district was related, to a great extent, to stakeholders’ awareness of ecological values, the perceived legitimacy of ecological resource management efforts, and active communication among stakeholders. In addition, it was found that CBEM was successfully implemented due to stakeholders’ perceptions of political equity, cost-sharing for conservation activities and the socioeconomic benefits of sharing the ecosystem services provided by the mangrove forest

Application of Protection Motivation Theory to Investigate Sustainable Waste Management Behaviors

The aim of this study is to explain individuals’ engagement in sustainable waste management behaviors (SWMBs) based on the application of protection motivation theory (PMT). SWMBs include waste avoidance, green purchasing, reuse and recycle, and waste disposal behaviors. Considering the amount of solid waste generation per capita per day during the past 10 years, the statistical records from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) illustrate the increasing trend of solid waste generation from 1.18 kg per capita per day in 2005 to 1.28 kg per capita per day 2015. Many scholars have asserted that human beings should alter their behaviors to successfully reduce their environmental impact. Several environmental problems (e.g., air pollution, water pollution, and odors) caused by waste disposal are consequences of human behaviors; therefore, citizens’ engagement in SWMBs should be widely promoted. This study applies PMT to explore how individuals’ SWMBs are influenced by their perceived threats caused by environmental contamination from waste disposal and their perceived coping capability. The Bangkok metropolitan area was selected as a case study because it has faced serious waste management problems, caused by increasing amounts of solid waste over the last ten years. Questionnaire surveys were administered to 193 public and private office workers residing in the city of Bangkok. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to justify the effects of individual threat appraisal and coping appraisal on SWMB engagement. The results illustrated that respondents’ self-efficacy could explain all types of SWMBs. On the contrary, response efficacy was not a significant predictor of all behaviors. People’s perceived severity of adverse consequences caused by pollutants could significantly explain their waste disposal and reuse and recycle behaviors, and the perceived probability of being impacted by pollutants could explain only reuse and recycling behaviors. Thus, PMT may be well suited for explaining low-cost and simple SWMBs that require less effort. To promote people’s engagement in each type of SWMB, different communication campaigns should be established

Roles of Environmental System Knowledge in Promoting University Students’ Environmental Attitudes and Pro-Environmental Behaviors

This study aims to investigate the role of environmental system knowledge in promoting pro-environmental behaviors. Relationships between environmental knowledge and environmental attitudes as well as environmental knowledge and pro-environmental behaviors were analyzed. Environmental system knowledge includes knowledge of political ecology, sustainable development, environment and ecology, and environmental situations. This study included 128 students enrolling in the elective course entitled “Environment and Development” provided by the King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi in Bangkok city of Thailand and 150 students who were not participating in this course. The results revealed that environmental attitudes of students participating in the course was significantly higher than that of students not attending the course. Only knowledge of the environment and ecology highly correlated with environmental attitudes; on the other hand, diverse environmental knowledge significantly correlated with pro-environmental behaviors. The result also demonstrated that indirect impact environmental behaviors reported by both groups were statistically different, but there was no significant difference in direct impact environmental behaviors. This study suggested that environmental knowledge provided through a formal education could promote environmental attitudes, but it may not contribute to students’ engagement in direct impact environmental behaviors

Effect of Domestic and Global Environmental Events on Environmental Concern and Environmental Responsibility among University Students

Recently, both global and domestic environmental events have been occurring more frequently, bringing catastrophic consequences to humans and the environment. These adverse events have caused widespread concern among the general public. In positive terms, these devastating events could potentially enhance people’s environmental concern, which, in turn, could instill a greater sense of environmental responsibility. This study aims to examine how global and domestic environmental concerns mediate the effect of environmental knowledge and attitudes on environmental responsibility. Students of King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi in Bangkok, Thailand, were selected as the participants. A simple random technique was applied for selecting the participants. Questionnaire surveys with 863 students were carried out during September–October 2019. A path analysis was performed to test relationships among environmental knowledge, environmental attitudes, global and domestic environmental concerns, and environmental responsibility. The results demonstrated that domestic environmental concerns, taken alone, contributed less to the students’ sense of environmental responsibility. Domestic environmental concerns had a stronger effect on environmental responsibility when taken together with global environmental concerns. In addition, both domestic and global environmental concerns could help transform environmental knowledge and attitudes into environmental responsibility. Only environmental attitudes had no direct effect on responsibility. These results show that domestic and global catastrophic environmental events could raise students’ levels of concern for the environment, and, ultimately, enhance their sense of moral responsibility to protect the environment

Do University Students Base Decisions to Engage in Sustainable Energy Behaviors on Affective or Cognitive Attitudes?

It is essential to understand the determinants of university students’ decisions to engage in sustainable energy behaviors, as this understanding has implications for the development of communication and education strategies to promote sustainable energy behaviors. The present study aims to investigate the impacts of affective and cognitive factors on sustainable energy behaviors among university students. It will explore the affective factors of self-responsibility and social norms and the cognitive factors of environmental concerns, perceived self-efficacy, perceived self-benefits, and action knowledge about sustainable energy behaviors. A simple random technique was used to select participants from undergraduate students at King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT) in Bangkok, Thailand. Questionnaire surveys were completed by 426 participants in May and June 2020. Multiple regression analyses were used to test the ability of affective and cognitive variables to predict university students’ participation in sustainable energy behaviors. The results revealed that participation in sustainable energy behaviors was significantly impacted by the perceived benefit of sustainable energy behaviors, students’ concerns about climate change, perceived self-efficacy, and social norms; self-responsibility and action knowledge had no significant impact. These findings indicate that communication that focuses on climate change and approaches that enhance students’ self-efficacy and the perceived benefits of sustainable energy behaviors could help promote such behaviors among university students. The sustainable energy behaviors of other social groups, including students’ family members and colleagues and the general public, are also influential as they can motivate students to change their behavior