The year 2025 saw countless natural disasters affecting many countries worldwide. Empirical data from multiple events labeled them as major incidents, showing severity that shattered previous records across various dimensions—whether in earthquake magnitude, short-term rainfall accumulation, or continuously rising economic damage costs.
In Thailand, severe natural disasters struck both early and late in the year. On 28 March 2025, a major earthquake centered in Mandalay, Myanmar, was reported by the Thai Meteorological Department as measuring 8.2 on the Richter scale. This unleashed massive energy, with tremors felt across 63 provinces.
Although the epicenter was far in Myanmar, Bangkok and central Thailand suffered severe impacts due to the local geology, characterized by soft clay layers. Such soil conditions can amplify earthquake waves by 3 to 4 times compared to areas with hard soil or rock.
This led to shocking events, including the collapse of the Office of the Auditor General building, as well as reported damage to 63 healthcare facilities in 17 provinces. This reflects that past building standards may not have been sufficient to withstand tremors of this intensity.
Later in the year, the recent massive flooding in southern Thailand, especially in Songkhla Province, was described as the largest flood in 300 years. Rainfall exceeded statistical model limits, with measurements in Songkhla and Phatthalung provinces reaching 300–400 millimeters per day—levels that defy all urban drainage models.
Hat Yai District in Songkhla was the hardest hit, with a 100% evacuation order in red zones. High floodwaters and strong currents completely cut off transportation. Train services were suspended on 22 routes. Many residents were stranded on rooftops amid communication breakdowns caused by power station and mobile network failures. Over 3 million people across 12 southern provinces were directly affected.
Economically, Krungsri Research forecasted that this flood could reduce Thailand's GDP growth to just 1.9%, with damages to agriculture and property totaling 23.6 billion baht. Meanwhile, the Chamber of Commerce estimated total damages at 40 billion baht. In the past decade, only the 2024 floods in northern and upper central Thailand caused greater damage—estimated at 46.5 billion baht.
Internationally, countries also faced natural disasters similar in severity and impact to Thailand. For example, in October, Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica with peak winds of 185 mph, ranking as a Category 5 hurricane. It stands among the most powerful storms in Atlantic hurricane history.
A report from World Weather Attribution (WWA) confirmed that the climate crisis has made it four times more likely for storms to intensify compared to pre-industrial times. Ocean heat acts as "premium fuel," enabling storms to maintain Category 5 intensity longer than usual.
The economic damage in Jamaica was valued at up to 9 billion dollars, reflecting the vulnerability of island nations to storms exceeding the capacity of existing infrastructure. Although early warning systems helped reduce fatalities, the material damage remained substantial.
Another comparable event was the flooding in Pakistan. In 2025, Pakistan remained one of the most climate-vulnerable countries, facing extreme monsoon storms and heatwaves accelerating Himalayan glacier melt.
Notably, Pakistan’s catastrophic floods were complex, caused not only by rainfall but also systemic failures in natural resource management. Encroachment on the Ravi River floodplain for real estate development converted natural water retention zones into concrete, severely obstructing drainage. Additionally, deforestation upstream caused sediment buildup in the Indus River, shallowing its bed and reducing water capacity. Combined with a 15–22% increase in rainfall from global warming, these factors caused unusually severe flooding.
Meanwhile, major floods and Cyclone Sener in Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia—occurring alongside the Hat Yai floods in November—were among the region’s most destructive. Environmental experts pointed out that human activities, such as heavy deforestation in Sumatra for palm oil plantations and illegal mining, exacerbated flood and landslide severity.
These examples illustrate that the 2025 disasters confirm the world has entered a new risk frontier where traditional knowledge cannot cope. The Myanmar earthquake’s tremors reaching Bangkok were unprecedented, as were the southern floods and other events that now defy previous metrics.
These occurrences also serve as lessons highlighting the need to assess disaster response tools: their robustness, bureaucratic efficiency or delays, the accuracy of warnings at all levels from national to local, and the capacity of governmental rescue operations to act promptly versus reliance on volunteers.
Moreover, these events are warnings that humanity must choose between remaining trapped in cycles of reactive disaster management or building a resilient future through collaboration from local communities to the global stage.
It is crucial to remember that none of these events result solely from natural changes; humans are key contributors to these transformations, and it is also up to us to initiate new, positive changes.
Understanding nature’s new realities is essential for survival in an era when natural disasters can intensify at any moment.
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Earthquake in Myanmar impacts 63 healthcare facilities across 17 provinces https://www.thaipbs.or.th/news/content/350695
Thailand faces climate crisis, economic drag, and disasters 'weighing down' the nation https://www.bangkokbiznews.com/environment/1209974
Climate change enhanced intensity of Hurricane Melissa, testing limits of adaptation in Jamaica and eastern Cuba https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/climate-change-enhanced-intensity-of-hurricane-melissa-testing-limits-of-adaptation-in-jamaica-and-eastern-cuba/
As Floods Worsen, Pakistan Is the Epicenter of Climate Change https://e360.yale.edu/features/pakistan-climate-floods
Families on rooftops, homes buried by mud: Asia floods show water is overtaking wind as main threat https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/02/global-heating-and-other-human-activity-are-making-asias-floods-more-lethal
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