Complacent Bangkokians Will Have To Suffer In Turn

[WorldFun]

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/Complacent-Bangkokians-will-have-to-suffer-in-turn-30168147.html

 

Complacent Bangkokians will have to suffer in turn

 

Thanong Khanthong

thanong@nationgroup.com October 21, 2011 8:06 am

 

At this point it is not a question of if but when, and to what extent, inner Bangkok will be inundated by floods.

 

We are about to witness the beginning of an end. A massive volume of water from Chai Nat, Nakhon Sawan, Uthai Thani, Sing Buri, Angthong, Ayutthaya, Pathum Thani - accumulated over the past months and flowing to Rangsit in northern Bangkok - is creating tremendous pressure on the key barriers and water gates protecting the capital. The longer the barricades hold, the longer the suffering of the residents and businesses of northern Bangkok, Pathum Thani and Nonthaburi. They will also suffer from rising tides.

 

In densely populated Bangbua Thong, Nonthaburi, the situation is critical, with water rising to two metres. Thousands of people are stuck in their homes.

 

Industrial estates in Ayutthaya and Pathum Thani have been decimated by Thailand's worst floods in 50 years. The damage is enormous to the Thai production hub. About 1,000 manufacturing plants in the industrial estates of central Thailand have been completely inundated, creating immediate unemployment for more than 600,000 workers. Car parts and components production, precision machinery and electronics have been hardest hit by the shutdown.

 

Farmland has been destroyed. Housing estates and villages are under water. More than a million Thais are homeless as their houses are submerged. They have difficulties in access to healthcare and sanctuary centres. Food and water have become scarce.

 

Central Thailand, the rice bowl of Thailand, is devastated. On the western side of the capital, Nakhon Pathom and Samut Sakhon have also received flood warnings. Bangkok, now surrounded by water on all sides, can no longer be saved at all cost. Already, many parts of outer Bangkok have been sparsely flooded. It is a matter of time before the water finds its way into the capital.

 

The government is under pressure to let a tiny portion of the water flow into Bangkok in order to relieve the burden outside the capital. Somehow in this democratic society, the share of suffering from the floods is not equally distributed.

 

Somkiat Prajamwong, an official at the Irrigation Department, has recommended that the government cave in to the water pressure by letting the water pass through Bangkok and into the sea. That would be the quickest way to release it from the north. The situation will be manageable, Somkiat added, if some 23 million cubic metres of water a day is allowed to make its way through Bangkok. Don Muang would have to be sacrificed as another line of defence. The authorities then could concentrate on pumping water out of Don Muang and to slow down the water flow into Bangkok.

 

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has not had enough sleep. At 4am yesterday, she rushed to inspect Bangkok's water works system, flooded by water from Nava Nakorn Industrial Estate, and Thammasat University Rangsit campus. The system, which runs from Pathum Thani to Samsen waterworks canal in Dusit district of Bangkok, is under threat from the floods, which carry toxic materials from factories and households. The authorities have come out to reassure people that tap water still meets health standards and can be consumed.

 

Yingluck admitted yesterday that Bangkok could not be saved, as water would have to be allowed to flow into the capital, through its canals, to reduce pressure on the north. The water from canals would overflow to flood parts of Bangkok.

 

On Wednesday, Yingluck appealed to the media to give her a break. The crisis was beyond anybody's anticipation, she said. Reporters, she added, could not keep asking her whether Bangkok could be saved. The honeymoon period for Yingluck, Thailand's first female prime minister, has been brief and tragic.

 

Meanwhile, the Flood Relief Operation Command (Froc), chaired by Police General Pracha Phromnok, has come under acute criticism over its erratic performance and failure to keep up with the crisis. Pracha and his team have consistently fallen behind the curve in flood prevention, warnings, rescue operations and remedies. The squabbling between Froc and Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhan Paribatra has added salt to the wounds as Thais suffer the most severe disaster in modern history. The crisis management is nothing but a mess.

 

Bangkokians are in panic mode. They are stocking up on food and drinks and moving valuables and property to higher ground. After witnessing the floods in the north over the past three months with a sense of complacency, Bangkokians now realise that it is their turn to face the music. For the massive volume of water, in spite of efforts to divert it to the eastern and western sides of Bangkok, has nowhere else to go but downward to the capital's heartland.

[Coss]

If I were a USA mid western god botherer, I'd say "See! Heathens!" but as a rational bloke I'll say "See!, The reason so many western folk always advise being prepared, like the boy scout, is, that one day the chickens will come home to roost."

 

The Thais (in my humble opinion) have always focussed on the short term gain. And the country, since I've been visiting it, over the last 25 years, has risen to near second world status. Now birds are roosting and short term gain is beginning to be lost.

 

Cossdisclaimer: I know not of which I speak.

[WorldFun]

good observations, but lets see!

[Flashermac]

What is this "complacent" crap? The city isn't flooded. Virtually all of the areas that have flooded are low lying and have flooded in the past. This flood is much worse than usual, but I know that area around Thammasat Rancid and above. Back in my PC days in the 1970s, we had seminars there. All you could see besides the Asian Institute of Technology were ricefields, ricefields and more ricefields. It was a sea of green. So now industrial parks and housing estates have been built on the former rice paddies. What a big surprise that they flood!

 

Will Bangkok flood? Probably the areas along the river, which have in the past. Downtown and the business district? I seriously doubt it. But the folks in the east suburbs are living on land that I remember being farmed. Guess what ... it is low lying once again.

[WorldFun]

well if say victory momument is flooded as per your earlier posting. does that then count as 'bangkok'??

or rachada, ladprao? onnut, srinakarin or any of the king rds (rama 1-9)??

 

certainly no one wishes for bkk to flood, but if major/central parts does - better be prepared!

[Flashermac]

The government keeps saying Bangkok, which is sort of like saying London is going to flood. That is a helluva lot of territory. They need to be specific. I've gone through I don't recall how many floods in Bangkok - knee deep water outside my apartment. But that was only in certain parts of the city.

[Bangkoktraveler]

600.000 people without work - what a strain that will be on the gpvernment.

[Mekong]

600.000 people without work - what a strain that will be on the gpvernment.

 

Why So?

 

There is no welfare state here,

[khunsanuk]

Hi,

 

"The government keeps saying Bangkok, which is sort of like saying London is going to flood. That is a helluva lot of territory. They need to be specific."

 

Exactly. They aren't even clarifying whether they are talking about Bangkok province or 'Greater Bangkok' which includes several other provinces. The lack of proper information is what is pissing me of most.

 

If I am to be flooded then so be it, but at least let me know in advance so I can prepare. And a generic 'Bangkok might flood' is not good enough.

 

Sanuk!

[Flashermac]

PM takes charge of flood crisis

 

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has finally invoked the disaster prevention law to take full control of flood operations as run-off from the North has started surging into Bangkok.

 

Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra yesterday said there were signs the northern run-off has entered the capital.

 

First, the water level in Khlong 2 in Rangsit continued to rise despite the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) opening its floodgate wider.

 

Second, the rising floodwater broke an embankment at Phahon Yothin Road near Khlong Rangsit in Pathum Thani, causing water to spill on to the streets.

 

However, the governor said flood barriers are expected to be put in place in time to ease the impact on central Bangkok.

 

Soldiers have now been deployed in flood-prone areas to watch for any emergencies, the governor said, adding that military trucks are ready to evacuate people.

 

In the face of an increasingly tense battle with the rising water and what appeared to be inter-agency bickering, Prime Minister Yingluck yesterday invoked the disaster prevention law to consolidate power over flood management efforts.

 

Section 31 of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Act (2007) gives the prime minister full control over officials around the country, including in Bangkok.

 

Under the law, all officials must report directly to the prime minister as the director of the relief operation. Those who refuse to follow orders can be prosecuted for malfeasance or serious dereliction of duty.

 

Following the invocation of the law, the premier ordered the BMA to open all sluice gates in Bangkok to allow the overflow from the North to pass through the city and on to the sea. The amount of waterflow will be controlled so the capital is not harmed.

 

The invocation of the law follows a perceived conflict between City Hall and the government's Flood Relief Operations Command (Froc).

 

Despite Froc's request, the BMA has reportedly refused to open all sluice gates in Bangkok to allow floodwater to drain through the city's canal network.

 

"I'm asking the BMA to fully perform its duty," said Ms Yingluck.

 

"I'm pleased the BMA will [manage the overflow], and Froc is ready to give support. But if the BMA can't take care of it, Froc will take over."

 

The premier has also appointed a committee to manage flood drainage in disaster areas chaired by Veera Wongsaengnak, former deputy chief of the Royal Irrigation Department.

 

The committee, made up of former RID chiefs and experts in water management and geoinformatics, will lay down guidelines for Froc to deal with the floods. It will also work with the BMA regarding waterflow management.

 

Ms Yingluck said some agencies were ordered to open all floodgates for full water drainage but later checks found they did not comply. It is understood she was referring to City Hall.

 

In invoking the disaster law, Ms Yingluck also ordered the Defence Ministry and the army to protect key places, including the Grand Palace, other palaces, Siriraj Hospital, flood barrier lines, utilities units and Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang airports.

 

Froc yesterday also set up a forward command, headed by permanent secretary for interior Pranai Suwanrath, to oversee flood operations in east Bangkok.

 

Responding to the invocation of the disaster prevention law, MR Sukhumbhand insisted it does not affect City Hall's powers to manage the flood.

 

He said the law actually enables the BMA to instruct state agencies that do not come under City Hall under normal circumstances to assist in flood relief operations in the capital.

 

MR Sukhumbhand rejected suggestions of a conflict between him and the government on how to deal with floods.

 

"There are just different interpretations," he said, adding that City Hall has cooperated by opening some sluice gates in Bangkok, though not all of them.

 

Meanwhile, some areas of Don Muang and Laksi districts in Bangkok have been inundated by overflow from Khlong Prapa.

 

Metropolitan Waterworks Authority governor Charoen Phassa yesterday said run-off had burst through a flood barrier at Khlong Bang Luang in Bangkok Yai district and swept into Khlong Prapa.

 

The incident caused the canal to overflow into Don Muang and Chaeng Wattana Road in Laksi.

 

The overflow problem has been brought under control and the floods there are expected to recede in the next few days, Mr Charoen said.

 

Don Muang district office chief Phumiphat Damrongkiatisak said Khlong Prapa's rising levels breached a barrier and flooded a 500m section of Song Prapa Road in Don Muang. Efforts were being made to pump the water into Khlong Prem Prachakorn.

 

MR Sukhumbhand, however, expressed concern that if the water in Khlong Prapa continues to rise, then floods will be inevitable on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road.

 

The governor said that more than 1,400 residents in Don Muang affected by floods have been evacuated to two evacuation shelters in the area.

 

Bangkok Post