Bangkok 'safe' From River Flooding

[cavanami]

The TV News said they have 1000 boats pushing the water down the river. The big Thai cheese said the boats were moving like 50M liters of water down the river...but he also said they opened two klongs and there would be no more flooding in Nava Nakorn...next day, they called for a mass evacuation!

 

Now there are rumblings; why the Thai gov didn't dredge out the klongs? why they built highways in such a manner that the water gets trapped and can't exit to the river(s)? why didn't they consult the experts, like the Dutch?

[Flashermac]

Do you or don't you get it, Ma'am?

 

 

I don't think the Japanese will get it, Madam Prime Minister.

 

The Japanese who bore the devastating effects of the tsunami and the nuclear leak earlier this year with fortitude and soldiered on to solve whatever problems were thrown at them, with quiet efficiency and perseverance. They won't understand why has there been so much confusion and lack of coherence in our battling the floods.

 

In case you were too busy to notice, the Japanese prime minister at the time, Naoto Kan, later offered his resignation because people perceived his government as lacking in leadership and too slow in coordinating recovery response.

 

In case you haven't noticed, Madam Prime Minister, Mr Kan was relatively new in his job, too: he was in office only nine months before the tsunami struck.

 

Just like you, Mr Kan could have said it was not his fault that the earthquake occurred under his watch. But of course, everybody knew that it was not the natural diaster itself that mattered. It was how the leadership responded to it that was the issue.

 

And Ma'am, if Mr Kan's government was seen as failing the Japanese because it took too long to secure the nuclear plant and to give help to people affected by the tsunami, I cannot say yours has fared better. At least the previous Japanese government did not issue a wrong diaster warning that sent people across the capital into a panic, or dispatch conflicting messages about the situation every other day - as your Don Muang flood relief operations centre has been doing. I am not trying to place all the flood blame on you, Madame Prime Minister. I know it's not your fault. I am only trying to point out a crisis of leadership: the question - whether you and your team are capable of getting even basic national administration done - that will haunt you once this flood crisis is over.Bangkok Post

 

Again, it's not entirely your fault that our country cannot effectively handle this once-in-several-decades inundation. The devastating deluge has exposed not only cracks in government but also some worrying weaknesses in the national psyche and communal sense of duty.

 

Again, the Japanese, who have had to cope with disasters of a much larger scale, probably won't understand it.

 

What happened to the image of people lining up to buy food or to get on public transportation no matter how long the queues were? Of convenience stores that were left open yet stayed free from looting? Of a district official who kept on announcing the tsunami warning until the water drowned away his voice?

 

There has been a dearth of such inspiring tales in Thailand. Here, we have a flood of stories about how the crisis has brought out the dark side of human beings. We read about villagers quarrelling because a dyke prevented water from flowing into one area while flooding another. We had district officials issuing a warning for citizens not to steal the sandbags being used to secure public spaces for their own personal use. We had people spreading false information which intensified fear and panic.

 

Where the Japanese put their efforts into doing their duty with forbearance in the face of hardship, we Thais have a noisy blame game going on and on among officials from different affiliations: Listen to me and not to him! The flood is that agency's fault, not ours. It's us who keep you dry, not them.

 

It has become so obvious that our national leaders are not working together.

 

One of the most moving tales to have come out of the Japanese tsunami experience concerns a Vietnamese policeman who was helping to distribute food at a charity organisation. There he saw a boy aged about nine, standing at the end of a very long line. It was cold and the boy was shivering. The boy had seen his father's car being swept away and believed his mother and little sister had probably not survived because the family lived right by the beach.

 

The policeman walked over and gave a ration of food to the boy because he was afraid they would run out of supplies by the time the boy's turn came. Instead of taking the bag of food for himself, the boy walked to the head of the line and added it to the pile that was being distributed. When the policeman asked why, the boy said: "Because I see a lot more people hungrier than I am. If I put it there, then they will distribute the food equally."

 

Do you get it, Madam Prime Minister?

[gobbledonk]

This is getting a lot more coverage in Oz now - the footage of the swollen Chao Phrya near the 'temple district' is very sobering, to say the least.

[waerth]

Now there are rumblings; why the Thai gov didn't dredge out the klongs? why they built highways in such a manner that the water gets trapped and can't exit to the river(s)? why didn't they consult the experts, like the Dutch?

 

Because the wifes want to go shopping in New York or London. In my 12,5 years here, every time they talk about getting flood expertise, they go to London or New York ..... . The Dutch government has publicly offered help over the years. Every time the Thais do not take them up on it!

 

The whole world acknowledges we have been been fighting water for a 1000 years. Bangkok is just like the Dutch delta. A big swamp with a river in it! Same soil etc. Yet the Thais ask for expertise in London and Ne York, which have bedrock as underground!

[WorldFun]

yes i also see cnn & others also take pleasure in covering the thai floods by now.

 

however something is working in bkk coz large inner parts are still dry & functioning unlike other provincial cities like ayuthaya, nakon sawan etc.

 

so if bkk dont need help why dont upcountry folks consult with the dutch & avoid flooding & draught next year?

[Guest lazyphil]

the english employed the dutch man cornelius vermuyden in the 1600's to build the dykes (no silly jokes please) and drains that criss cross parts of cambridgeshire norfolk and lincolnshire-even today they still stand and serve the purpose to kep 'the fens' free from flooding when once it was marshlands. when heavy rains occur here they do controlled flooding that when cold enough people take advantage of to skate on.

in fairness to this crisis, its all to easy to finger wag and berate thais but this has ben a massive deluge of rain for months