Economist Setha Thavisit argues that Thailand's approach to flood management and compensation is fundamentally flawed. Communities that bear the burden of being designated flood-absorption zones (like Bangbala in Ayutthaya) are treated as disaster victims receiving discretionary aid, rather than as public service providers protecting the nation's economy. The piece proposes a systemic shift to "rights-based compensation"—establishing clear pre-flood agreements specifying which areas will flood, when, for how long, and guaranteed compensation timelines, backed by dedicated funding and real-time data systems rather than ad-hoc disaster budgets. This reform would require coordination across multiple agencies but is essential for breaking Thailand's cycle of repeated flooding and unequal burden-sharing.