From October 9-15, 2016 Hydro and Agro Informatics Institute (HAII), Bangkok, Thailand was very pleased to welcome Malawian delegates for a field visit in Thailand (Fig 1 HAII). Malawi is currently developing the Operational Decision Support System (ODSS) for the Shire River Basin. With a length of 402 km, the Shire River is the major source for water consumption and irrigation for the country. The ODSS is being developed to provide both short-term and seasonal weather forecasts and other meteorological information to improve water management as well as to reduce losses of lives and property caused by floods.

HAII is a specialist on hydro informatics and water resources management and as a successful developer of Decision Support Systems (DSS), we were very pleased to welcome the Malawian group (Fig 1 HAII). The DSS was first developed for Chao Phraya River Basin in 2012 and expanded to other basins. It is now being developed for the Western and Southern Basins area which is expected to be finished in early 2017. By that time, Thailand will have DSS coverage of all the basins for the whole country. The program was set up for 4 days starting with a seminar followed by a field visit to understand flood management in Ayutthaya city and learn about a successful self-sustained community in Ban Saladin (Fig 2 Ayutthaya) (Fig 3 Ban Saladin). The Malawian delegation also  visited the Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) and the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM).  The program ended with a positive final wrap up by  sharing experiences and exchanging  knowledge.