limbo Posted November 15, 2011 Report Share Posted November 15, 2011 PT MPs propose new capital city Published: 15/11/2011 at 05:04 PM Twenty MPs of the ruling Pheu Thai Party have signed a motion for an urgent debate on a proposal that the House of Representatives to set up a committee to study the possible relocation of the capital to another province less prone to flooding. The 20 MPs were led by Sathaporn Maneerat of Lamphun province. Mr Sathaporn said the motion would be submitted to government whips for consideration on Wednesday, Nov 16. The proposed motion says climate change has caused a variety of natural disasters, including flooding, land subsidence, earthquakes and tsunami, resulting in considerable damage requiring huge sums of money for restoration work. Bangkok is sinking about 20cm per year, according to the proposed motion. When this was coupled with global warming, which caused higher sea tides, Bangkok could be submerged. Therefore, the capital should be relocated from Bangkok to a more suitable province, which may be Nakhon Nayok, Phetchabun, or elsewhere. Mr Sathaporn said during the Thaksin Shinawatra government there was a proposal for the capital to be relocated to Nakhon Nayok, where water can be quickly drained because of its sloping terrain, and the National Economic and Social Development Board was instructed to conduct a primary study on doing so. Moreover, a new capital would be more suited for the "New Thailand" concept than Bangkok, where nothing is new, he said. Nakhon Nayok, in particular, was ideal as a new centre of the economy, transport, communications and other sectors, since it as not far from Suvarnabhumi airport. Phetchabun was also a good choice, otherwise former prime minister Plaek Pibulsongkhram would not have floated an idea some time ago to make it the capital, he said. Published by Bangkok Post 15/11/11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted November 15, 2011 Report Share Posted November 15, 2011 Hi, Right, I'm sure that could easily be done in say.. oh, I dunno, 50 years or so. Sounds like another kneejerk reaction. And of course, it won't change anything with current situation. 10M people and 10,000's of businesses don't move because you designate another city as the capital. Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted November 15, 2011 Report Share Posted November 15, 2011 Cambodia has Sihanoukville, why not Thaksinville for LOS? A good spot for a new location would be in Pattani or Yala. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamui Posted November 15, 2011 Report Share Posted November 15, 2011 Hi, Right, I'm sure that could easily be done in say.. oh, I dunno, 50 years or so. Sounds like another kneejerk reaction. And of course, it won't change anything with current situation. 10M people and 10,000's of businesses don't move because you designate another city as the capital. Sanuk! The proposal is complete BS and I think the MP's know that. I guess we will have more stupid proposals by people who have no idea what they are talking about in the upcoming weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted November 15, 2011 Report Share Posted November 15, 2011 Ah, but just think of the money to be made in building a new capital city! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamui Posted November 15, 2011 Report Share Posted November 15, 2011 Ah, but just think of the money to be made in building a new capital city! Of course! In comparison between building Swampy airport and a new capital for 12 mio people, Swampy was like building a Skytrain stop... Many, many would get rich while Thailand almost probably would go bancrupt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WorldFun Posted November 18, 2011 Report Share Posted November 18, 2011 bkk sinking 20cm a year?? definitely not! as to relocating bkk - not a fat chance ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamui Posted November 19, 2011 Report Share Posted November 19, 2011 bkk sinking 20cm a year?? definitely not! as to relocating bkk - not a fat chance ... BKK is sinking 5cm a year. That's a huge amount, combined with rising sea levels this will affect the city tremendously in the next decades. Bangkok gets that sinking feeling ONCE known as the Venice of the East for its multitude of canals, Bangkok may soon resemble another fabled city: Atlantis. According to Thailand’s Department of Mineral Resources, Bangkok is sinking at the rate of up to five centimetres (two inches) a year, and the entire city may be below sea level by 2050. For some 200 years, Bangkok, built over a swamp, has weathered annual floods. Every monsoon season, heavy rains slow traffic to a crawl and flood basements in some areas of the city. But the factories and housing estates that sprang up during Thailand’s economic boom took much of Bangkok’s ground-water, and as water has flowed out of the ground, the soil has sunk in. The government estimates that about 2.5m cubic metres (660m American gallons) of ground-water a day is pumped up in Bangkok, twice as much as can safely be removed. Proposals to end subsidence have been ignored by the government, which is loth to alienate industry and landowners before the general election expected in the autumn. One idea would be to raise the charge for pumped ground-water. At present developers and factories use ground-water because it costs only 3.5 baht (10 cents) per cubic metre, whereas tap water costs at least 7 baht per metre. Banning the use of underground water has been dismissed outright as having too serious an impact on industry. If Bangkok sank below sea level, the city could be swamped by the nearby Chao Praya river during the rainy season, and floods previously limited to low-lying districts might sweep through the capital, paralysing industry and commerce for weeks. Bangkok’s flood-control capabilities are limited, since it long ago paved over most canals to build roads, depriving itself of a traditional means of water disposal. Flood water used to drain into the canals and then out to the Chao Praya and the sea. Ultimately, the sinking city may have to build hundreds of dykes, a project that might even give Dutchmen pause. http://www.economist.com/node/304819 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Munchmaster Posted November 19, 2011 Report Share Posted November 19, 2011 BKK is sinking 5cm a year. That's a huge amount, combined with rising sea levels this will affect the city tremendously in the next decades. Well if it's true then everything must be sinking at exactly the same rate (roads, pavements, parks, piled buildings, unpiled buildings) otherwise gaps would appear where say a pavement was sinking quicker than the piled building next to it? 5cm in one year is a heck of a lot and would be very noticeable. I've been coming to Bkk for over 23 years, so in that time Bkk must have sunk by 23 x 5cm = 115cm which is over a meter, but I can't say I've noticed it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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