Thread: Foreign Investors Angry With Thailand's Flood Response

Originally Posted by Loy Toy

I have heard through the grapevine that around 700 foreign companies are considering relocating their businesses and this flooding is the straw that broke the camels back.

Re-locate where? Natural disasters can happen everywhere.

Originally Posted by DroversDog

Yes the Government has been in power for a whole 2 months and they failed to write a law banning natural disasters. Unbelievable!

The government failed to:

1. Grasp the enormity of the problem facing them when it became apparent that the decision to release the Sirikit Dam waters etc was taken too late and, quite literally, in the wrong direction.

2. Arrive at an honest appraisal of Bangkok's vulnerability.

3. Inform the public and international interests that as long ago as one month disaster was impending and unavoidable.


As a consequence the losses which could have been mitigated will be enormous.

That is the responsibility of this government and no other.

To consider otherwise on the grounds of some silly dogma or imagined hidden agenda is the province of the irrational but I imagine you are quite comfortable there.

Originally Posted by DroversDog

Re-locate where? Natural disasters can happen everywhere.

As I mentioned in my post the floods has been the straw that broke the camels back with regards to some foreign companies.

Anyone who has lived in Thailand over the last 5 years will know that there are a number of major reasons why these companies have considered relocating and those reasons are not a result of mother nature's wrath.

This flooding inconvenience will see some companies moving their manufacturing base away from Thailand if they have not started the process already.

Originally Posted by DroversDog

Originally Posted by Loy Toy

I have heard through the grapevine that around 700 foreign companies are considering relocating their businesses and this flooding is the straw that broke the camels back.

Re-locate where? Natural disasters can happen everywhere.

Indeed but, typically, you omitted to include the qualification "sudden " when opining about the occurrence of natural disasters.

The inundation is neither sudden nor was it unpredictable. In fact its progress was inexorable and well defined to the point the full effect was absolutely certain. Unfortunately, instead of honesty these companies have been met with disinformation and incompetence.

Why bother risking it again when Viet Nam, Malaysia and Indonesia are all there offering the same investment benefits without any of the cultural obfuscation so beloved of the Thai.

You would hope that these multinationals, given this and the results of the Japanese earthquake, might consider that their obsession with extremely lean just in time supply chains dependent suppliers that are niche and non-geoghraphically diverse is not necessarily as efficient as they think.

Its not the loss of the factories thats going to bother them as much as the loss of production. If they cannot put their product on the shelf they canon sell it; they are going to loose turn over and market share. that is going to seriously hurt them where they will feel it. I suspect many of these factories, particularly the better paying high tech ones will be total losses; these factories were built because at the time thailand provided best value, its only natural that these companies redo their best value calculations when rebuilding and some will move out of thailand as a result. And its one reason why its vital to protect the industrial estates and given the information they need to make their own decisions about what they need to do. This artical suggests that they are simply getting the same confused mess of communications that the rest of us are getting and I cannot blame them for being pissed off, I am.

The thai government has by its one admission suffered from flooding causing serious economic damage in 1983, 1995 and 2006; about every 10 years; the cause being inadequate drainage from central thailand to the sea. in addition to this they get what in most countries should be considered serious flooding almost every year. Yet they clearly do not have the will to actually do anything about it.

The only hope is that the democrats continue to live in denial of their major contribution to this flooding and over the next year or more continue to beat up the current government about their flood response. This might be enough to get someone to finally commit to building infrastructure to drain central thailand to the sea; if for no other reason than to be seen to be doing something. because nothing else has in the last 30 years.

The solution is not necessarily limited to draining the annual run off into the sea. This year's mistake was made in the name of irrigation - they didn't release the dam waters when they should have done because of concerns about agriculture in the forthcoming dry season. Had they constructed more subsidary reservoirs to take excessive water then the decision not to release the pressure on the major dams would not have been so calamitous.

As it is, east of Khorat the plateau will be as bone dry as it always is come next April.

^Do you have any idea of how the capacity of the dams compares to the volume of the flood waters?

Well, yes, I think I do. According to references 3 of the major dams contain up to 25% of an average annual run off although spikes such as occurred this year would reduce that figure. My point is that the construction of more catchment areas or reservoirs and an infrastructure of water pipelines to the more arid areas caused by the dry season would help to ameliorate the problem of dealing with the run off.

Water management involves a mosaic of solutions.

Originally Posted by thegent

Originally Posted by DroversDog

Yes the Government has been in power for a whole 2 months and they failed to write a law banning natural disasters. Unbelievable!

The government failed to:

1. Grasp the enormity of the problem facing them when it became apparent that the decision to release the Sirikit Dam waters etc was taken too late and, quite literally, in the wrong direction.

You seem to not noticed that it is Royal Irrigation Departments job to decide this. I assume that you are talking about blaming both the Dems and PT for having CTP in charge of the Department of Agriculture.

Originally Posted by thegent

2. Arrive at an honest appraisal of Bangkok's vulnerability.

The BMA have been saying that Bangkok was safe. Most parts (Democrat electorates) of Bangkok are fine. The klongs around where I live are below normal levels.

Originally Posted by thegent

3. Inform the public and international interests that as long ago as one month disaster was impending and unavoidable.

The floods have been getting plenty of press for the last 2 month. Do you only read the Bangkok articles in the news?

Originally Posted by thegent

As a consequence the losses which could have been mitigated will be enormous.

Yes, but you can't blame a government that has been in for 2 months for the failure of the past governments to put in place proper infrastructure and procedures.

Originally Posted by thegent

That is the responsibility of this government and no other.

Yes they just have to wave the magic wand and all things will instantly be fixed. Nice try to pass the buck!

Originally Posted by thegent

To consider otherwise on the grounds of some silly dogma or imagined hidden agenda is the province of the irrational but I imagine you are quite comfortable there.

You are the only one sprouting silly dogma.

Originally Posted by thegent

Had they constructed more subsidary reservoirs to take excessive water then the decision not to release the pressure on the major dams would not have been so calamitous.

And what has this got to do with a government that has only been in power for a couple of months? It takes years to build infrastructure like this, and nobody wants it in their backyard!

Originally Posted by thegent

Well, yes, I think I do. According to references 3 of the major dams contain up to 25% of an average annual run off although spikes such as occurred this year would reduce that figure. My point is that the construction of more catchment areas or reservoirs and an infrastructure of water pipelines to the more arid areas caused by the dry season would help to ameliorate the problem of dealing with the run off.

Water management involves a mosaic of solutions.

Dream on.... The sort of infrastructure you are talking about is politically impossible to get through any Thai government. It is easier to relocate Bangkok on an island 25 km south then to put dams on peoples land.

Originally Posted by thegent

Well, yes, I think I do. According to references 3 of the major dams contain up to 25% of an average annual run off although spikes such as occurred this year would reduce that figure. My point is that the construction of more catchment areas or reservoirs and an infrastructure of water pipelines to the more arid areas caused by the dry season would help to ameliorate the problem of dealing with the run off.

Water management involves a mosaic of solutions.

But thats the point isn't it. The irrigation dams are that irrigation. They are only part of the flood prevention mosaic in the sense that they can be used to absorb small transient flood waters. To do more than this would involve keeping them empty and compromises their use as irrigation water stores. With the full power of hindsight... that would have been a very useful thing to do from what you are saying.

the RID's plan to build diversion canals to the rivers west of bangkok to drain central thailand in to the sea, has the advantage of still working when it reaches full a capacity and don't consume the area's of land that a dam would.

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

^ I have some Japanese friends in Bkk, several have moved to India as their companies relocated from Thailand. I think it's a significant number of companies over the last 10 years or so, but I'm no expert on the matter.

One really shouldn't be surprised by the growing runners by foreign businesses in Thailand.

Its amazing that Thailand got into this mess given how many experts there are in water management.

Just take Teakdoor as a cross-section. On the face of it just a bunch of old wash-outs, yet it turns out that they are super-experts in waterworks and flood management. All this time they were hiding their aquatic light under a watery bushel.

Originally Posted by ltnt

Now just what were those successes? After 2 months in office she's faced with a disaster beyond anyones imagination, but previous success, na, didn't happen. Same as Obama, not qualified to lead a pack of rats.

Originally Posted by Calgary

I keep searching for media articles that commend the hard working Ms. Y and the successes of Govt programs in the face of this disaster.

That is right INT....there has been not a single success....zippo....nuttin.

The media all the while has been demonizing, left, right and center.

This is definitely going down in the annals of Govtl. disaster management as the greatest debacle of all time.

Thailand will be used in every Govt. Administrative Masters Degree program as a case study describing "the mother of all crisis management abject failures"

And if ya don't believe me, just read the domestic media, watch every TV channel following Abhi. around, and you will see for yourself.

Originally Posted by Mid

Foreign Investors Angry With Thailand's Flood Response


“They kept telling us, it’s going to be fine,” said Hiroshi Minami, president of Rohm Integrated Systems Thailand, one of the largest Japanese makers. Its factory in Navanakorn, the nation’s oldest and largest industrial zone, has halted production for nearly a week and the first floor is almost entirely submerged.

“We could have taken critical equipment to the third floor and saved them. Now they are at risk of rusting away,” Minami said.

And i thought the Japanese were smart. I would of taken every precaution at rising water and would of taken it to higher ground and not of listened to the Goverment speeches. Not hard to fiqure out that water will continue to rise and the comment "ok all is fine" basically means "we don't have a clue"

Anyone who wants out can fcuck off now and don't come back in my book

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

^ I have some Japanese friends in Bkk, several have moved to India as their companies relocated from Thailand. I think it's a significant number of companies over the last 10 years or so, but I'm no expert on the matter.

during my time in thailand, i got to know a lot of japanese, working for large firms.

they were constantly complaining about how hard thailand made it for them to conduct business there, despite the fact that they invest so much into the country.

making the wife and kids of company employees do constant visa runs, was a common complaint.

even back then (2008) many companies were considering closing up shop, and moving to vietnam .....

Originally Posted by Wally Dorian Raffles

making the wife and kids of company employees do constant visa runs, was a common complaint.

kids overstay are free, but for not for the wife

I am surprised they don't get extension of stay based on their husband work permit

Originally Posted by LooseBowels

Anyone who wants out can fcuck off now and don't come back in my book

I like this slogan. Its like 'Amazing Thailand' but longer.

I can visualise it on the adverts !

Originally Posted by Butterfly

I am surprised they don't get extension of stay based on their husband work permit

So am I.

Honda to keep Thai factory shut for 6 months- Nikkei
(Reporting by Rie Ishiguro; Editing by Paul Tait)
Sun Oct 30, 2011

Japan's Honda Motor Co is likely to be forced to keep its Thai factory shut for about six months due to severe flooding, a move seen affecting 3 percent of its annual global car output, the Nikkei business daily reported on Sunday.

Japan's number three automaker has suspended operations at its factory in central Thailand for weeks, with no sign of a restart.

The company believes it will have to replace most of its equipment and facilities that were submerged by floodwaters, the Nikkei said, citing a company executive.

Honda is the only Japanese carmaker whose Thai factory was inundated, the paper said.

The half-year suspension would affect production of more than 100,000 vehicles, it said.

Honda reports second-quarter earnings on Monday, with its profit forecast to fall 61 percent, according to a Reuters survey of 13 analysts. A supply shortage caused by a devastating March earthquake in northeast Japan has dragged on longer than it has for Honda's peers.

Its outlook has become even shakier with its Thai car factory under water.

reuters.com

Originally Posted by WujouMao

Originally Posted by Mid

Foreign Investors Angry With Thailand's Flood Response


“They kept telling us, it’s going to be fine,” said Hiroshi Minami, president of Rohm Integrated Systems Thailand, one of the largest Japanese makers. Its factory in Navanakorn, the nation’s oldest and largest industrial zone, has halted production for nearly a week and the first floor is almost entirely submerged.

“We could have taken critical equipment to the third floor and saved them. Now they are at risk of rusting away,” Minami said.

And i thought the Japanese were smart. I would of taken every precaution at rising water and would of taken it to higher ground and not of listened to the Goverment speeches. Not hard to fiqure out that water will continue to rise and the comment "ok all is fine" basically means "we don't have a clue"

One would think they either they, or their insurance carriers would have taken a proactive role and brought in their own experts to evaluate the situation.

Originally Posted by Mid

“They kept telling us, it’s going to be fine,”

Just shows how little the senior management knows about Thai ways. Anything negative is always brushed under the carpet here and a yes often means no. Perhaps if they had sent the senior Japanese executives on a cultural familiarisation program they might have had the foresight not to take the Thai officials at their word.

Having said that, its pretty fair to say that a lot of people have been caught with their pants down as nobody thought it would be this bad .