Is Bangkok Flooded?

[Bower]

Sounds just perfect for my arrival on the 20th, i am known for my timing !

[klong toey]

Sounds just perfect for my arrival on the 20th, i am known for my timing !

Lets hope Swampy doesn't live up to its name.
I am due in on the 25th.

[armstrong]

on nut is OK. there is one soi and a shop that's flooded near me. everywhere else is like normal. not sure why just that soi but it was wet (imagine that) so didn't bother going to investigate.

[chitown]

Updates?

[Chairman Mao]

[Bangyai]

The last of which items reminds me of Money Cheeks ( post 22 )

I had to look that up, and now that I know what they are I can't help feeling the term is a wasted opportunity for something more droll. If they are not going to call them storage reservoirs like everyone else , they could have been named
' goolies ' which are also excellent storage recepticals.

Then we could have seen Yingluk on t.v. announcing :

' Bangkoks goolies are now full to the brim and I hope to see them discharged later this week.....ka. We advise everyone to get some wellies ...ka '

Out and about today, I dropped Ms Bangyai off at our old village , the sois of which are already under 6 inches of water. All the canals hereabout are on or over the brim. If any more water heads to this part of the burbs from oop north then it has nowhere to go and a lot more flooding there will be for sure. I've got a load of grub and beers in and reckon I will soon be leading the island life.

[BillyBobThai]

In the late afternoon, the governor organised a religious ceremony and asked holy beings to push water into other areas.
"No matter if people believe in these things or not, I do not care. If it makes everything better, I will do it," he said.

Bangkok Gov. Sukhumbhand Paripatra said the situation in the capital — where authorities have piled thousands of sandbags along the banks of rising rivers — is currently under control.

Between the Gov. using boats to push the water down to the sea and calling on
holy beings to also push the water out, he thinks everything is currently under control. If it was me, I would be getting the hell out of Dodge. But that's just me.

[kingwilly]

I can remember the Soi Asoke/ Sukhumvit intersection being under about 20 inches of water but that was a long time ago.

They say it is going to be a lot worse this year.

me too.

[Albert Shagnasty]

"Bangkok - Venice of the East"

There's meaning in them there words

[blue]

yes perhaps filling in many canals over the years was not such a good idea after all

[BillyBobThai]

My thoughts after Katrina hit New Orleans, was that the parts of the city that are below sea level should be rebuilt as an area with canals like Venice and sold at a premium as home with water front lots. That would kill two birds with one stone. It would get rid of the scum that was living there and solve the flooding problem.

[dirtydog]

In the late afternoon, the governor organised a religious ceremony and asked holy beings to push water into other areas.

What other areas? Poor peoples areas I assume, wonder how the holy beings feel about this.....

[BillyBobThai]

Eight 400-horsepower tugboats tied to the pillars of Seekul Bridge across the Noi River in Bang Ban district of Ayutthaya accelerate to speed up the flow of the river as part of an effort to relieve flooding. The boat operation is scheduled from 8am to midnight and has been found to speed up flows in the river by 20%, but it costs 1,000 baht per boat per hour for fuel.

A 1000 boats tied up to some bridge will truly be a sight to behold. I hope somebody gets some pictures.

[ENT]

Eight 400-horsepower tugboats tied to the pillars of Seekul Bridge across the Noi River in Bang Ban district of Ayutthaya accelerate to speed up the flow of the river as part of an effort to relieve flooding. The boat operation is scheduled from 8am to midnight and has been found to speed up flows in the river by 20%, but it costs 1,000 baht per boat per hour for fuel.

A 1000 boats tied up to some bridge will truly be a sight to behold. I hope somebody gets some pictures.

This has to be the joke of the year!!

Thai flood abatement.

Unbelievable!

[ENT]

yes perhaps filling in many canals over the years was not such a good idea after all

When cars arrived.

[BillyBobThai]

Somebody using Photoshop could make a nice picture of what a 1,000 boat parade would look like.

[Gerbil]

The boat operation is scheduled from 8am to midnight and has been found to speed up flows in the river by 20%

Anyone with a basic knowledge of physics would know this is impossible.

Measuring the water flow speed directly behind the propeller of a boat will give you the rate that the water is being displaced, but that is tiny compared with the volume of water that isnt affected.

A simple experiment which any idiot could carry out to verify it....

1. Measure the waterflow 100 meters upstream of the boats.
2. Measure the waterflow 100 meters downstream of the boats.

Assuming the width/depth of the waterway is the same at both points, the flows will be identical. Indicating all they have done is waste 1,000 baht * 'x' boats * 'y' hours (no doubt allowing for a substantial payment to whoever is managing the whole thing)

[Agent_Smith]

Anyone with a basic knowledge of physics would know this is impossible.

You no unnerstan Thai people!

[BobR]

dont panic says bangkok governor.

Bangkok is ready, come hell or high water


Governor confident city's unseen infrastructure can deal with flood run-off


Published: 8/10/2011 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News

Despite floods wreaking havoc in almost 30 provinces, Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra continues to insist the capital will escape the worst of the deluge.


He said the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is well prepared for any possible flooding in the city.

Sanya Cheenimit, director of City Hall's Drainage and Sewerage Department, echoed the governor's assurance, saying Bangkok has eight flood drainage systems that could easily keep the downtown area flood-free.

First, the city has a 75.8km-long flood wall along the banks of the Chao Phraya River.

Bangkok also has 6,404km of drainage pipes, and there are 1,682 canals with a total length of 2,604km.

The city has 21 "monkey cheek" water retention areas, which were suggested by His Majesty the King. Those retention areas could hold up to 12.75 million cubic metres of water.

There are also seven water drainage tunnels in Bangkok with the capacity to drain 155.50 million cu m of water per second.

Furthermore, the city has 158 pumping stations to pump water out to sea, and a rain radar system which helps authorities forecast rainfall amounts and frequencies.

Finally, the city runs a highly sophisticated flood control centre with high-tech devices for rain forecasting and synchronising the meteorological information with various agencies that have also been involved in nationwide flood prevention efforts.

Mr Sanya said three factors could contribute to flooding in Bangkok.

They are long hours of continous heavy rain, the high volume of water run-off in the rivers from northern provinces that reach the city at the same time as rising sea water levels due to tidal influences, and water run-off from provinces around Bangkok.

The BMA has prepared for possible flooding this year by cleaning the city's drainage pipes. The city has already cleaned an estimated 3,780km of the 6,404km of pipes.

The city has also dredged 289 of its 1,682 canals and run its water pumping stations in a bid to speed up water draining and lower the levels of canal water.

It has already got its 1,152 water pumps ready for the operation at its 158 water pumping stations. It has prepared around 3 million sandbags and assigned 700 officials to emergency assistance units.

The BMA's flood control centre has been sharing information with state flood prevention agencies around the clock.

In February last year, the city constructed a seventh drainage tunnel between the Rama IX and Ramkhamhaeng areas. The tunnel is 5m wide and 5.11km long.

The combined length of the seven drainage tunnels in Bangkok, built at a cost of 5.6 billion baht, is 19km, and each has a water pump at its mouth.

Mr Sanya added that the BMA plans to construct three more water drainage tunnels with a combined distance of 29.3km. The three tunnels will cost 13.4 billion baht, with construction expected to be completed in the next five years.

The 21 monkey cheeks in Bangkok's suburbs would also help safeguard city residents from severe flooding, Mr Sanya said.

The Royal Irrigation Department and the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, which are the operators of major dams in the upstream Chao Phraya River, began to release more more water from the reservoirs this week as volume exceeded capacity.

Water released from the dams has worsened the flooding in the downstream provinces of Nakhon Sawan, Chai Nat, Angthong, Sing Buri, Ayutthaya, Pathum Thani and Nonthaburi. The released water is expected to arrive in Bangkok on Oct 17 or 18.

Mr Sanya said Bangkok will be able to handle water run-off from those provinces well, he said.

"However, more than 1,200 families in 27 communities outside the flood walls along the Chao Phraya River, the Bangkok Noi Canal and the Maha Sawat Canal are still at risk," said Mr Sanya.

The Bangkok governor has ordered 13 district offices covering the 27 flood-risk communities to prepare evacuation plans for residents, he added.

Did the person that wrote this article even notice the gross contradiction between the second line about confidence that the infrastructure will deal with the problem, and last sentence about evacuations?

[The Fresh Prince]

[Boon Mee]

yes perhaps filling in many canals over the years was not such a good idea after all

And denuding the forests upstream not so good either...

[Khun Custard]

^^
More chance that the tugs were connected to a train / flotilla (?) of barges me thinks
Was in Ayutthaya in November last year just after the floods when the river was still running fast. Saw 6 tugs j-u-s-t managing to keep the train going in a forward direction up stream.

Meanwhile, back in North Pattaya, yesterday at 9am Sukhumvit rd was about 40cm underwater near the Sara chicken mansion - klong had broken its banks
Drove back about 1pm and it had subsided

I'll be heading for higher ground ion the 16-18th if heavy rain persists and the high tide - a very scary combination of elements that I experienced in Malaysia a few years ago.

Partially cloudy, sunny, no sign of rain this morning

[The Fresh Prince]

More chance that the tugs were connected to a train / flotilla (?) of barges me thinks

I'm still hoping for a decent news headline tomorrow.

Eight Tug Boats Tear Down SeekulBridge!

[liveinlos]

We have just ordered 100 sand bags at 35 Baht each and we have just had a warning from the Chon Buri Province head that the level of the gulf of Thailand could rise by approximately 1 metre on the 16th to the 18th of this month.

That would put most of walking street including Bangkok under water.

In my 20 odd years here I have seen things in the last 3 weeks I have never seen before.

It is global climate change, not just Thailand, but all over the world. The problem is the Thais always think this is a one time deal, sitting around all year doing nothing and when a flood happens they think it is like the red sea parting.

[chitown]

Well, it has been pouring down rain for going on 3 hours now. My street has about 6 inches of water on it.