Thailand urges households to prepare 72-hour emergency bags: full checklist

Nobody wants ‘emergency bag’ sitting between ‘buy oat milk’ and ‘reply to Mum’ on their to-do list. But we are here: Thailand's Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) is urging households to prepare a 72-hour emergency bag, with drinking water, ready-to-eat food, medicines, cash and documents among the essentials.

The advice, issued on November 2 2026, covers the first three days after a disaster, when help may take time to reach everyone. DDPM director-general Nirat Pongsitthaworn linked renewed interest in emergency supplies to overseas advice amid the Middle East conflict, while stressing that household preparedness is a longstanding precaution. Cue the group-chat spiral: wait, should we be doing this too?

The official message is to stay aware without panicking. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has reassured the public about Thailand’s food and energy security. DDPM’s advice covers flash floods, landslides, earthquakes and disease outbreaks, as well as fires, riots and sabotage. Bangkok rainy season, we see you.

Pack the six groups of essentials

DDPM’s checklist breaks down into six categories. Adapt the contents to the people in your household and what you can carry.

• Medicine and health: Pack a first-aid kit, basic household  medicines, personal prescriptions and medical history records.
• Food and water: DDPM recommends three litres of drinking water per person per day, plus ready-to-eat food and energy snacks. Include suitable food for babies, older people or anyone with specific medical needs. That adds up to nine litres per person for 72 hours – roughly nine kilograms of water alone. Plan how to store and move it rather than assuming the whole household’s supply will fit in one light bag; keep a manageable grab bag alongside your home supplies.
• Communications and tools: Bring a phone, power bank, torch, spare batteries and a battery-powered radio for news if the internet goes down. The list also includes a whistle, notebook and pen, pocket knife, scissors, rope and tape. DDPM includes candles and a lighter too, but a torch or battery lantern is the safer first choice for lighting because it avoids an open flame.
• Documents and cash: Keep important documents and copies in a waterproof pouch, including your ID card, house registration, health insurance card, driving licence, bank passbook and land title deed, as applicable. Add spare house or car keys and cash in case online payments fail. For readers using a passport as ID, include a copy of that too.
• Hygiene: Pack tissues, a toothbrush, toothpaste, bathing essentials and rubbish bags. Add any personal items you use daily, such as period products.
• Clothing: Include spare clothes, a raincoat, a hat and a blanket or sleeping bag

Keep it ready to grab

Choose a light, water-resistant bag, protect vulnerable contents in waterproof pouches and keep it somewhere you can reach quickly. Check supplies regularly for damage and expiry dates, and keep batteries charged. DDPM’s warning channels include Cell Broadcast, so keep your phone charged and follow official alerts and instructions. A 72-hour kit is a starting point, not a promise that help will arrive precisely three days later.

Add a few Time Out extras – because survival can still have taste

Some of these overlap with the official checklist. Consider them the Bangkok fine-tuning, once the essentials are covered.

• A fully charged power bank: a phone on 4% is a crisis all by itself. Check yours still holds a charge.
• Small notes: ‘no change’ energy does not disappear in an emergency.
• A paper list of key numbers: nobody remembers phone numbers any more.
• A hand fan: Bangkok heat doesn't pause for disasters.
• A lightweight poncho: the 7-Eleven special takes up next to no room and earns its place when the rain starts.
• A ya dom inhaler: a familiar comfort in a stuffy room, if you normally use one.
• Dried mango or your go-to snack: morale counts as a supply.
• Earplugs and an eye mask: useful for trying to sleep in a shared shelter, once it’s safe to settle down.
• Spare charging cables: because there's always one that's ‘somewhere’.

Tailor the bag before adding more treats: glasses, baby supplies and pet food and water may matter far more to your household than an eye mask.