The Thai economy has faced serious challenges, but people in 14 southern provinces including Hat Yai have suffered even more. At the end of 2025, they endured a massive flood disaster causing widespread impact. Although nearly two months have passed, the effects remain. Besides requiring huge funds for recovery, what else does Hat Yai need?
Although Hat Yai Hospital has resumed services, damage traces remain throughout, from decayed patient beds and computers coated with dried mud to millions of baht worth of medical equipment severely damaged.
Dr. Phet Chuchai, Assistant Director of Hat Yai Hospital, explained that although outpatient services have returned to normal (3,000 patients daily), the hospital and staff damages are estimated at 1 billion baht. For example, the emergency room on the first floor was flooded up to the ceiling, damaging medical equipment and the emergency room itself, totaling 150 million baht in losses.
"We must adjust future plans, such as relocating the power generators to upper floors. Heavy equipment like MRI machines requires new management strategies to reduce risks."
Meanwhile, Ban Tai School in Khu Tao District, which accommodates about 330 students, suffered overall damages exceeding 2.5 million baht, especially to teaching aids and computers submerged during the six-day closure. During the flood peak, the school also served as a refuge, providing its second floor as temporary shelter for community residents.
Amidst the lingering damage, both the hospital and school still require substantial support to restore normalcy. Thus, Allianz Ayudhya donated 500,000 baht to Hat Yai Hospital and launched the “Repair and Restore Songkhla” campaign, leading on-site repairs at Ban Tai School in cooperation with the Mirror Foundation to renovate the children's learning library for full functional use.
During the CSR activities in the field, Allianz Ayudhya’s top executive, Lars Høibutskjæ, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Allianz Ayudhya Public Company Limited (AAGI), also volunteered to participate.
He reported that total claims in Hat Yai District, Songkhla Province, reached approximately 1 billion baht, mostly non-motor insurance at 65%, and 35% motor insurance. Over 1,200 vehicles were damaged, of which 800 were total losses.
“Regarding the Hat Yai flood in late November 2025, as water levels rose and flood risks increased, our team immediately prepared and analyzed the situation. We began sending SMS alerts to customers before heavy rains, advising them to move vehicles and belongings. When flooding occurred on Sunday, we established a war room and customer service team to monitor the situation and coordinate with local teams. As water receded, teams visited sites to assist customers in fast claim processing.”
Before the flood, the company offered vehicle towing services to customers in need. After the flood, the company collaborated with local vendors to provide services such as house cleaning. These response measures are based on accumulated global Allianz experience in disaster management.
“At Allianz Ayudhya, we do not focus solely on paying claims but emphasize prevention and support when customers face disasters.”
In the long term, Allianz plans to introduce the Climate Risk Solution model from abroad to Thailand, with advisory teams guiding customers in selecting factory locations or building layouts to avoid flood and natural disaster impacts. This aims to prevent creating "no-insurance" zones like California's wildfire areas or Florida's hurricane-prone regions.
However, from an insurance business perspective, disasters such as floods may increase risk profiles, potentially raising premiums due to global insurance market trends. Nonetheless, customers' premiums might not increase if they adopt preventive behaviors or risk mitigation measures, such as the hospital relocating its power generators from the first to the second floor.
Ultimately, disaster damages often amount to enormous sums, and no budget can fully compensate. Therefore, some choose to share risks through insurance, but the urgent priority is to "prevent" damage to reduce potential losses.
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