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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Sawyer
I did not detect a smidge of smugness from anyone. BTW Bob, my wife is Thai and she adamant that we will never by property in Thailand. She says it is a foolish investment.Quote:
Originally Posted by English Noodles
^^
No you were replying to me. Anymore misguided points?
^
Us too. Only rent.
Not sure what this red was all about. :confused:Quote:
Originally Posted by chitownYou must spread some Reputation around before giving it to English Noodles again.Quote:
Originally Posted by English Noodles
https://teakdoor.com/images/td_defaul...tation_neg.gif Bangkok Will Escape... 20-10-2011 11:00 PM Chairman Mao Don't worry, I'll get him. :)
Just desperate for a few scraps of attention, mate. Ignore her.Quote:
Originally Posted by chitown
Her??? Oh dear, do I know this person? :chitown:Quote:
Originally Posted by English Noodles
How is it misguided if I tell EN I wasn't replying to him. I wasn't replying to him. If you wanted to say that only Chitown shouldn't buy in Thailand then you should have said so. You didn't, you made a general statement. By your "logic" nobody should own property anywhere as a natural disaster could happen at any moment. Quite right! Anybody whose property is threatened or destroyed by tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, angry deities, earthquakes, or anything else at all is at fault because they should have bought property somewhere things like that can't possibly happen. That's why I plan to build a ranch on Pluto, I believe it's much less susceptible to flooding than Earth (although I'm a little worried about meteor impacts and I've heard it's somewhat lacking in atmosphere). Perhaps you might think about building a house in Uranus, you seem to spend a lot of your time there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Sawyer
Bangkok Post : Froc: Warning for Lak Si, Don Mueang
Froc: Warning for Lak Si, Don MueangFroc director Pol Gen Pracha Phromnok in a live telecast issued the official warning for residents in Lak Si and Don Mueang to prepare for possible waterflow overrun as the Chulalongkorn water gate may not be able to hold up due to rising water at Rapheephat canal.
- Published: 20/10/2011 at 10:48 PM
- Online news:
Residents are urged to move things to high ground above 1 metre and prepare to stock up flashlights in case of blackout.
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Bangkok Post : Yingluck thanks Sai Mai volunteers
Yingluck thanks Sai Mai volunteers
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra visited Sai Mai to personally thank volunteers who help fill up sandbags to be used to erect flood barriers.
- Published: 20/10/2011 at 10:38 PM
- Online news:
She also inspected water gate at Khong 2, Sai Mai to observe the waterflow.
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Bangkok Post : Pramote: Bangkok can fight
Pramote: Bangkok can fightFormer Irrigation Department chief and water expert Pramote Mai-glad encouraged Bangkokians to take heart that BMA and the government could manage the defence of Bangkok.
- Published: 20/10/2011 at 10:18 PM
- Online news:
He said the water mass is huge, unprecedented in living memory, but if all hands chip in Bangkok can pass the crisis with a few bruises.
The encouraging sign was that Nakhon Sawan's water level was lower even though Ayutthaya level was still the same. Eventually, Ayutthaya flood level would decline, when it would none could tell.
Bangkok will have to endure the bad situation for awhile, but it will pass.
Thai-ASEAN News Network
FROC Announcement: Oct 20, 10.35PM
UPDATE : 20 October 2011
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The Flood Operations Center (FROC) reassured the water level in various canals is manageable especially Rapeepat and Rangsit Canal. The authorities have been able to drain water from the various canals and waterways into the Bang Pa Kong River while more pumps are being installed to ensure the water level does not exceed the river bank.
Residents of Don Muang and Lak Si have been advised to be on a high alert for rising water level.
Due to concern that the Chulalongkorn Flood Gate may not be able to contain the rapid and large volume of water, chief of the FROC Pracha Promnok issued an announcement urging residents in DON MUANG and LAK SI to move their valuables and power outlets to higher grounds (more than 1 meter). Residents living in the areas are also advised to prepare lighting equipment to improve visibility during night time. Vehicle owners in the mentioned area are advised to move their cars to the parking areas at Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Chitown fastened his crash helmet, dons his water wings and slips his snorkeling flippers on
veen_NT veena T.
Channel 3's [at]Kitti3Miti reports the Rangsit market is inundated.
^^Best of luck, Chi.
If things deteriorate, contact me if you are able. I will be up your way either tomorrow or at the weekend I think.Quote:
Originally Posted by chitown
Tulip_Oum Tulip Naksompop
10:50pm Bangbuathong evacuation operated by military since morning, 6,000 rescued so far today.(via [at]Neaw_NBC)
Nonthaburi govn: Bangbuathong receives water from Pathumtani, probably will stay flooded for a long while. (via [at]teera_ntv)
11pm some part of ChangWattana already flooded, as high as footpath. Small vehicles might have trouble tomorrow. ~ [at]wannasiri_
"Speak softly and carry a big stick" - for the snakes and suchlike critters. :yanky:Quote:
Originally Posted by chitown
Bangkok Post : Nonthaburi asks for motorised boats
Nonthaburi asks for motorised boats
- Published: 20/10/2011 at 11:12 PM
- Online news:
Nonthaburi Province Administration chief asks the government to provide the local organisation with motorised boats to help ferry trapped people in submerged housting estates in Nonthaburi, especially Bang Bua Thong.
Some areas of the housing estates are now head deep which no motorised vehicles can reach and rowing boats are not convenient to help relief efforts as there are thousands still trapped.
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Tulip_Oum Tulip Naksompop
11:09pm Flood level at Nonthaburi's bangbuathong, highest at 4 meters, can only access by boat. (via [at]Neaw_NBC)
Deluge surprises Bang Bua Thong - The Nation
Deluge surprises Bang Bua Thong
The Nation October 21, 2011 12:44 pm
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Bang Bua Thong district was caught off guard when the flood surged into Nonthaburi early yesterday, leaving thousands of residents stranded in their homes without enough food and waiting impatiently for assistance.
The municipality is asking for donations of barges to distribute relief supplies. An estimated 1,000 people are believed to be trapped in a government housing estate.
The estate, with 62 affordable flats, is surrounded by chesthigh water. A tenant is calling for help and can be contacted at 0894977615.
The flood water averages 1.5 metres in most areas, which are now accessible only by boats and military trucks.
The escape of flood victims to schools and temples has been disorderly, as evacuation plans were not activated.
A group of residents complained about a Cabinet member visiting less critical areas elsewhere, and officials with provincial authorities busy welcoming the dignitary and failing to take care of them.
The flood arrived in Nonthaburi and inner Bangkok through Prapa Canal at about 3am.
Residents living nearby panicked, driving out to fill their tanks and seek parking spaces on high ground, while shopping for food and supplies until store shelves were bare.
About 300 flood refugees have taken shelter in the Public Health Ministry's compound and many officials are sleeping over in their offices.
Extra measures have been laid on to ensure better safety for the ministry's computer and database centre, and flood barriers have been reinforced around the compound.
Plans to let capital flood ruled out - The Nation
Plans to let capital flood ruled out
The Nation October 21, 2011 12:46 pm
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The government has ruled out a proposal to allow runoffs to pass through Bangkok before draining into the sea.
"The situation does not warrant flooding all of Bangkok because the water can still be diverted via the capital's eastern areas," Flood Relief Operations Centre (FROC) director Pracha Promnok said yesterday.
He added that the water could flow through the city's three main canals, Saen Saep, Prawet and Phra Khanong.
Sluice gates on the eastern outskirts were put in operation from Wednesday to divert water to the three canals under a timetable designed to minimise the chances of flash floods, he said.
He voiced optimism that overland flow and runoffs from the north of the city would not inundate inner Bangkok.
Banned Thai Rak Thai and People Power Party executives, known as House No 111 and 109, held a brainstorming session to map out a floodcontrol proposal for the government.
According to the proposal, Bangkok should allow water to pass through certain areas, such as Don Muang, to protect the inner city and the central business district. The city has the capacity to pump out and drain the water within six hours, as it normally does after heavy downpours.
Drainage via Bangkok would rein in the massive runoffs and overland flow, which would otherwise break down the system of dykes and levees, causing greater damage.
The proposal was the brainchild of two senior officials, deputy permanent secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Suphot Tovichakchaikul and irrigation project director Somkiart Prachamwong.
Somkiart said the volume of water heading to the capital was estimated at 10 billion cubic metres, including the water retained in lowlying areas in the Central region from Chai Nat to Nonthaburi. The amount of water is close to the capacity of Bhumibol Dam, which can accommodate 13 billion cubic metres.
To prevent flooding, it is imperative that the overland flow is drained as quickly as possible into the sea, especially since additional runoff and heavy rain are expected to worsen the situation later this month.
Democrat spokesman Chavanont Intarakomalyasut said the government appeared confused in implementing floodcontrol measures.
In a recent incident, the government and relevant agencies appeared to lack clear direction in tackling the contamination of raw water reserved to produce drinking water, he said in reference to the runoffs flowing into the main waterworks canal. He said his party would like to repeat its call for the imposition of the emergency decree.
The government has called off a scheduled meeting to put up barriers around Government House. Officials said they had been instructed to move equipment and documents to higher areas as a precaution, but sandbag barriers would not be put up at this juncture.
Yingluck urges Bangkokians not to panic as canals fill up - The Nation
Yingluck urges Bangkokians not to panic as canals fill up
The Nation October 21, 2011 12:46 pm
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Residents told to move belongings to higher ground; water won't be blocked
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday pleaded with the public not to panic when Bangkok’s canals fill up as floodwater is diverted out to nearby rivers.
"Please understand that the water comes from opening water gates to drain the water as soon as possible. We have to let the water flow smoothly. We know that water is now trapped in the plains and many areas. With the drainage, trapped water will drop fast. If we block all flows, problems will follow as some dykes can't block or hold the water. The dykes are also made of earth so they can crumble," she said.
Some areas in Bangkok are already experiencing flooding, but still at controllable levels, while the water has not yet reached other areas.
Residents are advised to move their belongings at least one metre higher and park their cars at safe and suitable places, she said.
Some low or eroded areas might have to face a little flooding but the water would be pumped out as soon as possible, she said.
All of Bangkok's sluice gates will be opened, but in rotation, so the water can flow to the east.
That was easier than trying to discharge the floodwater to the west, as the Tha Chin River was higher, she said after meeting with Irrigation Department directorgeneral Chalit Damrongsak, Science Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi and former Bangkok governor Bhichit Rattakul.
In the long run, Thailand will have to set up a water management system, she said.
Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra said the flood situation has not reached the critical stage and the areas under close monitoring remain the same.
"Bangkok has not announced more closemonitoring areas besides the seven districts (that were declared at risk earlier). But the government should take care of the three sensitive areas as they are out of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's hands. They are the Lak Hok subdistrict of Pathum Thani, the area under the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority and Paholyothin Road crossing over Rangsit Canal," he said.
The capital would do its part by draining water in Samsen Canal to reduce the water in Waterworks Canal.
After inspecting preparations at Siriraj Hospital, Sukhumbhand said the sandbag barrier had been raised to 2.8 metres above sea level. It should be safe but the city was ready to build it higher at any time.
The hospital also put up a 200metrelong retaining wall made of cement bags that was 1.2 metres high.
Justice Minister Pracha Promnok, the director of the Flood Relief Operations Centre, said after going on an aerial survey he was 90 per cent sure that Bangkok would be safe but there still was 10percent room for uncertainty.
Citing the example of the 26kilometre dyke now under construction, Pracha said both the BMA and the military were very helpful as the government works to solve the problem.
To restore people's confidence in FROC's announcements, the presentation was changed to the reading out of statements so there was no need to change the spokesmen, he said. The only concern was that people not directly in charge were spreading news.
The directors of Don Mueang and Lak Si district offices in northern Bangkok said there were no signs of floods entering their areas yet but sandbags and pumps had been prepared to drain any inflow out.
Rabiab Koobkrabi, director of the Lak Si District Office, said the flood in Muang Thong Thani 1 was due to the release of water while the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority was fixing problems with the Waterworks canal.
Poomipat Damrongkiatisak, director of the Don Muang District Office, said residents should be wary of rumours but anyone who feels uneasy can move to prepared evacuation centres.
Aroon Puangsombat, director of the Min Buri District Office, said the flood's impact on the district would depend on the level of Saen Saeb Canal in the area and how the water would be channelled out according to the government's plan.
The situation would be monitored and reported on every three to six hours, he said.
Saen Saeb Canal links to Bang Pakong River to the east of Bangkok.
Panu Kerdlarppol, the deputy Metropolitan Police commissioner overseeing traffic control, said police in each area had been ordered to prepare traffic plans for emergency and evacuation routes and meeting points. Police have also coordinated with the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority for alternate transportation.
Some roads were washed out for a short period of time due to the rising river tide but that had not disrupted traffic much, he said.
Bangkok opens watergates - The Nation
Bangkok opens watergates
Piyanart Srivalo
The Nation October 21, 2011 12:45 pm
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Military vows allout efforts to rescue stranded flood victims
Runoff water from the upper part of the country has finally proved "too huge" for the government to keep out of Bangkok.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday told the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) to use the capital's canals to direct runoff water out to the sea.
"We have asked the BMA to open all watergates along the capital's waterways. Then, we should be able to push between 8 million to 10 million more of cubic metres of water into the sea per day," she said.
Although, Yingluck tried to assure city residents that Bangkok's canals would not overflow, she fell short of clearly explaining how the government would control the water level and volume.
The PM held a meeting with Royal Irrigation Department directorgeneral Chalit Damrongsak and Bhichit Rattakul, a former Bangkok governor, to discuss the plan yesterday afternoon.
"We are trying to find out how to push as much water as possible into the eastern part of Bangkok. There, we have already dredged seven canals to facilitate the water flow into the sea," the prime minister said.
She then just added that ridges and embankments would also be used to prevent the overflow and to divert the water into Bangkok's eastern part.
"This is the fastest way to push the water out into the sea," Yingluck said.
She told Bangkok residents in Sai Mai, Bang Khen, Klong Sam Wa, Nong Chok, Min Buri, Lat Krabang and Khannayow districts to move their belongings to spots at least one metre above the ground.
She said the water from Bangkok's canals would not overflow onto the roads. "But if it does overflow, we will use pumps," she said.
Asked whether Bangkok could be considered safe from floods, Yingluck said, "It's a surveillance area. It's not a risky area".
The military has pledged allout efforts to evacuate stranded residents in heavily flooded Bang Bua Thong district in Nonthaburi, the government Flood Relief Operations Centre announced.
Anyone calling for help can signal to barges passing their homes with flashlights or lighted candles, or call 1131, said military officials, present for the first time in uniform during a FROC press conference.
Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra said the BMA could release 1,600 cubic metres of water per second into the sea.
"We will do our best to assist the central government but we will take into account impacts on local people, too," he said.
China Premier Wen Jiabao insisted yesterday to send a total of 170 heavy pumps to help Thailand fight the floods crisis.
He offered the assistance to Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt na Ranong during his threeday trip to China until this weekend.
Wen said the first lot of 150 pumps with a capacity of 78 tonnes per hour each will arrive by tomorrow afternoon and the remainder, with greater capacity of 200 tonnes, will be delivered later.
Because the coalition government takes the advice of their technical experts in the civil service you retard. Just like all other Democratically elected Governments.:)Quote:
Originally Posted by StrontiumDog
I hope it is Big Buiddah thats sent the floodwater to Bangkok to cleanse the blood of the 91 innocent protestors who were assassinated on the very same streets by abisits murdress junta proxy government.Quote:
Originally Posted by thegentAre you gay?Quote:
Originally Posted by LooseBowels
Your absurd, hysterical blatherings certainly seem to indicate some sort of imbalance.
The problem you and your fellow morons continually overlook is not the fact that Thailand faces a natural disaster but the incoherence of their government which has signally failed to provide the public with any meaningful plan to deal with the inevitable destruction. Given the chronology of events and the predictability of the run off flood waters this failure is quite unforgiveable as indeed has been the appalling management of resources and poor communication.
Given it is Yingluck's administration that has been incumbent the past 3 months who else would you expect to assume responsibility?
You idiot.
The people swept away the monkey arse illegal government, and with a bit of luck, if it does turn out to be Big Buddahs work, the floodwater will sweep you and your fellow retards back down the Bangkok sewers where you came from:).
You cant argue with that
Ouch!!! :tieme::tieme::tieme:Quote:
Originally Posted by LooseBowels
Good one!:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Butterfly
Still think judging a leader by expression is a shallow way of picking a leader! The next few years will tell a true story. IF your elite lot don't forget that Thailand is a democracy, again!
It's all wet in Thailand
By Shawn W Crispin
BANGKOK - As Thailand counts the cost of massive seasonal flooding, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's political and economic leadership is under sharp new scrutiny. Catapulted to power on a class struggle rally cry and pro-poor populist policies, her government's response to the disaster has prioritized the protection of industrial estates and central Bangkok property over grassroots livelihoods and lives.
The floods have devastated agricultural crops, inundated over 14,000 factories, including multinational manufacturers like Honda and Toyota, and caused over 300 deaths. As much as six million tons of rice crops have been damaged, representing 23% of the year's main harvest; thousands of manufacturers face extended work stoppages, jeopardizing global supply chains and the solvency of Thai plants that owe over US$2 billion in outstanding
loans; the total death toll won't be known until high waters recede in 14 worst-hit provinces.
Finance Minister Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala has estimated the deluge will shave between 1% and 1.7% off this year's gross domestic product (GDP) growth, a loss assessment international investment banks corroborate. The government has signaled plans to spend at least 130 billion baht (US$4.2 billion) in flood relief and rehabilitation, pushing deficit spending to its 20% legal limit of total annual spending. The government has also indicated it may take out external loans to finance the emergency efforts.
Harder to calculate is the impact on Yingluck's credibility and popularity, which pre-flood was riding a July election win high, but post-flood is expected to sink, including in some of her Puea Thai party's worst-affected provincial strongholds. Her government's response to the disaster has been by all accounts erratic and uncoordinated, bringing the premier to tears at one point and underscoring her lack of political experience and control over her administration. Her self-exiled, former premier brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, has been widely reported to be managing her crisis team from the United Arab Emirates.
The floods have also raised new questions about Yingluck's economic priorities, including her dogged commitment to populist policies during a time of national crisis. Economic analysts contend the floods point to the pressing need to spend more on infrastructure, including on better water management systems, to avert future crises and reassure foreign investors in industrial estates that this year's floods are an anomaly rather than the new norm. Thailand was buffeted by major flooding last year as well. (Thaksin claimed in a press interview that he has a 400 billion baht plan to avoid future floods, though he failed to disclose details.)
Opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva has suggested that Yingluck reallocate funds earmarked for a populist policy cosseting first-time home and car buyers, a program critics say will benefit her family's and cronies' property businesses, to flood-affected victims in need of basic food and shelter. Those calls have so far been ignored: Yingluck's public relations team released a statement saying that all the "urgent economic stimulus plans" that were announced before the flooding will still be implemented to "improve [the] Thai economy".
Yingluck's commitment to the program underscores her need to regain suddenly lost political momentum, a drive that before the floods was pushing for the criminally convicted Thaksin's return to Thailand as a free man by year's end. Her government was elected in July on a wide raft of populist offerings, including a fixed rice price guarantee, a countrywide minimum wage hike, and free tablet computers for school students, among other frivolous giveaways.
The floods, deaths and devastation, however, have taken much of the buzz out of those offerings. Even before the deluge, Yingluck's brand of populism was viewed widely as a crude imitation of Thaksin's original pro-poor platform, which entailed village development funds, a debt moratorium for farmers and low-cost universal health care. Critics have argued her populist policies will do more harm than good for the rural poor, and through state intervention threatens to build up significant pricing distortions across the economy.
Heavy interventions
Criticism has centered on her main rice pledging scheme, where the government vows to pay a fixed 15,000 baht per ton at a time global prices float around 10,000 baht. Thailand is typically the world's largest rice exporter, commanding around 30% of the global market. Economic analysts argue that the scheme will encourage overproduction, encourage worker migration from industry and services to inefficient agriculture, burden the government with billions of dollars in annual losses, and potentially erode Thai rice export competitiveness. Nor does the scheme protect farmers against the flooding devastation they now face.
Yingluck's mandated minimum wage hike, which was pushed through on October 17, elicited calls from local manufacturers to suspend the plan until they can recoup massive flood-related losses and regain their financial footing. The scheme will raise minimum daily wages by 40% to 300 baht in Bangkok and six other well-off provinces, and by 40% on prevailing pay rates in other poorer provinces. Similarly, the scheme raises economic concerns about export price competitiveness and the future solvency of industries competing for markets and investments with lower-wage countries like Vietnam and Indonesia.
Because the informal sector employs as much as 60% of Thailand's work force, according to World Bank estimates, analysts contend the policy will be impossible to enforce in a meaningful way across the broad economy. Sriyan Pietersz, head of research at JP Morgan in Bangkok, says provincial small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), many of which operate on thin margins and have been devastated by the floods, will feel the biggest impact. Ironically, SMEs were a grassroots constituency Thaksin championed through cheap government loans during his tenure but Yingluck's policies now threaten to put them out of business.
Korn Chatikavanij, formerly finance minister in the Democrat Party government, is among the critics of what he refers to as Yingluck's "cheap thrill" populism. Measured against the outgoing Democrat Party's grassroots policies, Korn contends that Yingluck's offerings are comparatively "wasteful" and represent a "serious distraction" from the economic inequalities and structural shortcomings his government addressed in a supposedly more "sustainable and practical way".
"Thaksin had fresh ideas; this government has no ideas," he quipped.
Thaksin's original populist policies, devised after rather than before he was elected, were heavily marketed to establish his pro-poor credentials. At the same time, his government spent more to rehabilitate indebted industrialists, property developers and other entrepreneurs flattened by the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis. Thaksin's populist policies came under heavy criticism that the spending risked a fiscal blowout - warnings that came to nothing due to his use of off-balance-sheet state banks to fund many of the programs.
Yingluck has stolen pages from her elder brother's populist playbook, passing funding responsibility for her 114 billion baht rice pledging scheme to the state-run Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives. She has also shown flashes of political courage by scrapping or scaling back some of the wilder populist pledges her party made on the election campaign trail, including a plan to distribute government-backed credit cards to indebted farmers. An election pledge to distribute computer tablets to all eight million of the country's school children has since been limited to only first-year students.
With pre-flood public debt at 43% of GDP and calls for counter-cyclical spending to guard against a possible double dip recession in the United States and Europe, Yingluck has fiscal room to maneuver. Inflated popular expectations initially aimed to buoy Yingluck's popularity and keep the military on the hind foot while she pushed controversial political measures, including Thaksin's return to Thailand.
But the devastation of the floods has raised hard questions about Yingluck's economic and political priorities, and there is no guarantee the political novice's commitment to populism during times of crisis will amount to the same political boon as Thaksin's pro-poor policies.
Shawn W Crispin is Asia Times Online's Southeast Asia Editor.
Yawn W(anker) Crispin must be getting well paid by the thai axis of evil to make all that shite up.:p
he writes it and then sits back laughing at all the nutters who take it in.
What a load of wishfull thinking.
Desparation setting in.
Yingluk is playing a blinder in facing and dealing with this natural disaster challenge mother nature, and a few PAD yellow nutter terrorists, has thrown along.