Thread: Bangkok Will Escape Flooding: Yingluck

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Bangkok Governor asserts BMA can still handle flood situation

วันเสาร์ ที่ 15 ต.ค. 2554



BANGKOK, Oct 15 -- The flood situation in the capital city of Bangkok was still under control at the moment but the west side of the city was worrisome, as water levels were increasing and the flood prevention dyke was not strong compared to other parts of Bangkok, according to Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra.

The Governor said the BMA Special Flood Prevention Operation Centre reported that the situation was stable, with the water volume of Chao Phraya River at Ayutthaya's Bang Sai district was measured at 3,728 cubic metres per second.

The Chao Phraya River reached its highest point of 2.15 metres above mean sea level at 9 am, measured at Pak Klong Talad, he said, adding that the figure is lower than the projection of 2.18 metre but was the highest record of the year.

MR Sukhumbhand said the most worrisome area was the western side of Bangkok because the large amount of water flowing from the north in the Nakhon Chaisi River and the flood prevention wall was not as strong as the northern and eastern parts of the city.

The authorities have to closely monitor situation and check the direction of water because the area was on lower elevation, he said.

The Governor said that in the event Bangkok flooded, the water level would not increase as quickly as other provinces and there would be more time for evacuation.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) will hold a press conference to announce the situation at 10 am everyday and will have additional press briefing if there was any emergency situations or evacuation announcements, he said.

The Governor earlier flew by helicopter to inspect the flood prevention dykes around Bangkok and later expressed concern over the western side of Bangkok, especially Thawi Watthana district and Maha Sawat canal, as the water would flood Bangkok from the direction of Nakhon Pathom.

Mr Sukhumbhand said he would discuss with relevant agencies to prepare measures to solve the problem and seek long term solutions to prevent floods in the future. (MCOT online news)

Bangkok Post : Nava Nakorn 'last stand'

Nava Nakorn 'last stand'

• Published: 15/10/2011 at 06:38 PM
• Online news:

After having inundated Saha Ratana, Rojana, Hi-Tech, and Bang Pa-in industrial estates in Ayutthaya, the water mass is now threatening the oldest industrial estate in Thailand, Nava Nakorn, says TV news report.

Volunteers, workers and soldiers from first army region are filling up ten of thousands sandbags to protect the estate in Pathum Thani.

The earthern dyke behind the estate has been strengthened.

Army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha personally inspected the estate and said he was satisfied with the defence measure.

Meanwhile, Pathum Thani Municipality is now totally submerged including the province's hall. The water level is knee to waist deep.

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

Having possibly the storm of the year in Bangkok right now. My street is flooded to a depth of 8 inches plus....not good.

Wish your street well, ok here

pouring now like crazy, not good

Soldiers and sandbags defend Bangkok from floods - [at]Latest news around the world and developments close to home - MSN Malaysia News

By Agence France-Presse, Updated: 10/15/2011

Soldiers and sandbags defend Bangkok from floods

Thousands of sandbags piled alongside a canal on the northern edge of Bangkok form the last line of defence between the city of 12 million people and a wall of floodwater bearing down on the capital.

The emergency dyke is part of huge efforts to keep Thailand's worst floods in decades from pouring into the densely populated city from the central plains, which are several metres under water in places.

If the defences give way, 72-year-old Chalam Khetrum's house will be one of the first in the path of the muddy waters.

"I've added more sandbags in my backyard because the water came through the back first. At the front the barrier's still holding up but if it breaks I'll be in big trouble," said Chalam, who lives just south of the flood barrier.

Inner Bangkok has so far escaped major flooding as the authorities divert water to areas outside the main city in a bid to prevent the Chao Phraya River bursting its banks and flooding the political and economic heartland.

The capital was bracing for a large amount of run-off water along with seasonal high tides that were making it harder for the flood waters to flow out to sea.

Sandbags have been piled in front of homes and businesses in preparation for possible inundation, and some residents have chosen to leave their vehicles in multi-storey carparks while stocking up on food, water and flashlights.

The authorities called in the military to bolster the floodwalls and said they were confident they could prevent severe inundation in the centre of the low-lying capital.

"The flood protection wall is 4.3 metres (14 feet) high," Therdthum Wongkalasin, a civil engineer with the government's irrigation department, said as he surveyed the last line of defence.

"We can put up more sandbags to increase the wall height. We can say Bangkok is safe because we now have a lot of help from soldiers."

On the other side of the flood defences, in the flood-stricken province of Pratum Thani, Chanvut Wongphet's home has been inundated for several days.

He built a concrete wall almost half a metre high at the entrance but the waist-high water is still leaking through, and his family is working the water pump on round-the-clock shifts.

In the streets near his home, boats have replaced cars.

He said he understood why the government focused its efforts on keeping Bangkok dry, but feared things could get even worse for him.

"They're trying to protect the area which will affect the country the most. I accept that but the aid still needs to keep coming to the people who are already in trouble," the 45-year-old said.

"We can live now but what I'm worried about is if the electricity and water are cut. It will be difficult. I won't be able to pump water out and the flood will leak into my house and we will have to live on the second floor."

Even inside the flood barriers, many residents are moving belongings to the second floor despite the government's reassurances.

"I sometimes wake up during the night to see if everything is OK. I've packed up and moved everything I can to the second floor," said Chalam.

"Whatever happens, happens. But I still believe it will be OK because they can't let the wall collapse otherwise Bangkok will be under water," she added.

Originally Posted by Butterfly

pouring now like crazy, not good

Yeah, there are 3 big storms around Bangkok at the moment. Amazing lightning again. The rain hasn't been too heavy here yet...

Originally Posted by nostromo

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

Having possibly the storm of the year in Bangkok right now. My street is flooded to a depth of 8 inches plus....not good.

Wish your street well, ok here

Thank you Nostromo, that's kind of you. All is well today. But it was the worst flooding I've experienced here. Definitely the storm of the year.

Is there any news? I was just North of Don Muang and there is a lot of activity here - the Army and workers mucking about building 1 foot walls.

My just neighbor told me that a bunch of people near Future Park just parked on the tollway and are standing outside of their cars looking over. Can anyone confirm this??

Bangkok Post : Minburi declared disaster area

Minburi declared disaster area

• Published: 15/10/2011 at 09:18 PM
• Online news:

Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation has declared Minburi, eastern Bangkok, a disaster area.

Minburi district chief reported 35 communities are being affected by the flood covering 4,636 households, 1,390 rai of farmland.

TAN_Network TAN News Network

Locals close off Rangsit Pathum Rd in Pathum Thani to call for reevaluation of floodgate management in area; governor arrives to negotiate

Yeah - looks that way. Still, they're probably all right about central BKK.

^
Dengue will increase I'd bet.

Originally Posted by The Gentleman Scamp

nature does what it does regardless of how arrogant we are in our delusion that we can control it?

You been watching Jurassic Park again Scampy?

Otherwise, correct.

^
So what about Fat Boy - he was saying Bangkok would not flood "it was his holy mission"

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/nati...-30167779.html

Northern Bangkok under threat

The Nation on Sunday October 16, 2011 12:17 pm



Urgent plan to extend khlong as huge volume of water flows down from Ayutthaya; Nava Nakorn estate readies defences

Pathum Thani province and the northern part of Bangkok are now at risk of flooding as a huge amount of water from the Chao Phraya River and run-off from Ayutthaya and other flooded provinces flows southward.

The Nava Nakorn Industrial Estate and Rangsit area could be inundated if the huge amount of water is not properly diverted.

As a result, the Flood Relief Operations Command (FROC) has suggested there should be an urgent move to dig Klong Rapipat (South), covering a length of 3.5 km, to divert the water into the sea.

Pracha Promnok, the FROC chairman, said Public Health Minister Wittaya Buranasiri had been assigned to talk with villagers in Ayutthaya's Wang Noi district about this urgent measure so as to properly drain off an estimated 200 million cubic metres of floodwater.

Meanwhile, the Bang Pa-In Industrial Estate in Ayutthaya was flooded yesterday. It is the fourth industrial park to be hit by massive flooding.

Bang Pa-In industrial estate has a total of 90 factories and 40,000 workers.

However, it is smaller than the Nava Nakorn Industrial Estate in Pathum Thani province, which is one of Thailand's largest industrial parks.

Nava Nakorn is home to 227 factories covering a combined area of 8,000 rai. A total of 180,000 workers are employed at this sprawling industrial park whose combined investment is estimated to top Bt100 billion.

In addition, there are more than 30,000 households with over 100,000 residents around the Nava Nakorn estate.

Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha, the Army commander-in-chief, and Lerk-kiat Kaew-srichan, the deputy governor of Pathum Thani, yesterday joined the top management of Nava Nakorn to map out plans to help the industrial park avoid inundation as a massive amount of flood water flows downstream from Ayutthaya.

In Ayutthaya, Rojana, High-Tech (Bang Wa), Saharattana and Bang Pa-in industrial parks have already been swamped due to the unprecedented amount of water released from overloaded dams.

To try to prevent the Nava Nakorn estate from being inundated, officials yesterday reinforced the industrial park's northern area with more piling as the protection wall is at risk of being breached if the water rises by another 30cm.

They also reinforced the park's western and southern areas with an additional 100,000 sandbags.

Gen Prayuth said authorities had earlier faced a big challenge in preventing Rojana, High-Tech and Saharattana industrial estates going under the water largely because the amount of flood water was enormous.

"Nava Nakorn is next but this industrial estate is very well-prepared and if it succeeds in withstanding the force of the water it would be a good example [on how to cope with this kind of critical situation]."

"The government has focussed on helping big industrial parks because tens of thousands of people work in those places. If they are out of work for six to seven months, it would be a big problem due to the lack of income for their families," he said.

The government has been following HM the King's initiatives on flood water management. It was doing the utmost to discharge the water into the Gulf of Thailand as quickly as possible to alleviate hardship as more than 14 provinces in the Central region had been flooded, Gen Prayuth said.

Nipit Arunvongse Na Ayudhya, managing director of estate operator Nava Nakorn Plc, said yesterday that the park was located on the highest ground in Pathum Thani.

If the estate was flooded, the whole province would be flooded. The estate also had barriers that were 5 metres to 5.5 metres high.

Of the 270 firms in the park, 20 per cent have suspended operations, as suppliers in the flooded industrial zones cannot get components to them. The other 80 per cent were operating as usual. Major investors in the estate include Toshiba, which has a hard-disk drive plant, plus Kubota, Nestle and Oishi.

Supinya sees lack of trust in govt flood communications

Supinya sees lack of trust in govt flood communications

Pravit Rojanaphruk
The Nation on Sunday October 16, 2011 12:16 pm



The government should quickly and efficiently provide centralised and reliable flood updates on television, radio, mobile phones and other media on a regular basis to avoid confusion, panic and exacerbating the damage already done, National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) member Supinya Klangnarong said yesterday.

"Information on an hourly basis would help, or even [news tickers] on television, so people can feel reassured," Supinya told The Nation by phone.

Supinya, a media-reform activist, said the NBTC had contacted the government, but there seemed to be a lack of leadership among government officials at the moment. "What is lacking is a trustworthy voice," she said, adding that it's the government's responsibility to issue timely updates and warnings.

Supinya urged television channels to pool their resources so that coverage isn't duplicated. "It's up to the Broadcasting Journalists Association to decide," she said. As for online social media such as Twitter, of which Supinya is an active user, the commissioner urged people of various political stripes to "calm down" and not get bogged down in attacking one another.

Bangkok, she warned, would have to deal at some stage with the question of why it is necessary to sacrifice other areas by allowing them to be flooded in order to save the capital. The matter would have to be addressed "decisively" by the government, she said.

Soldiers help repair Asia Highway

Soldiers help repair Asia Highway

October 16, 2011 12:26 pm



Soldiers from Jiraprawat Boot Camp in Nakhon Sawan were working hard yesterday with heavy machinery to repair the Asia Highway - the main route to Bangkok - so it can be used again, after the highway was covered with a metre of water. They expected to finish repairs last night.

In Ayutthaya's Bang Pa-in district, the Asia Highway was impassable at the 5km marker in front of Hi-tech Industrial Estate because of high flood water. Previously, it was under water at the 25km marker. The elevated Phaholyothin Highway stretch from Bang Pa-in to Wang Noi district was also impassable due to flooding.

Motorists trying to travel to Suphan Buri faced inconvenience and had to exercise caution, as roads in Pathum Thani's Lat Bua Luang district were also submerged.

Nakhon Pathom run-off is main threat to Bangkok: governor

Nakhon Pathom run-off is main threat to Bangkok: governor

Tanatpong Kongsai,
Kanittha Thepphajorn
The Nation on Sunday October 16, 2011 12:38 pm


A build-up of run-off water in Nakhon Pathom is the biggest flood threat currently facing Bangkok, Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra said yesterday.

Large volumes of flood water surround Bangkok, with the most pressing concern being the Mahasawat Canal in the capital's Thawee Watthana district bordering Nakhon Pathom province, which is largely flooded, Sukhumbhand said.

There is a possibility that water from this area, which currently drains to the sea through the Tha Chin River, will overflow the existing barriers and enter the capital via the canal. Bangkok is at a lower elevation that the flooded areas near the canal.

The water level in the Mahasawat Canal was 1.91 metres above sea level and 89 centimetres lower than its dyke.

Sukhumbhand urged Bangkok residents not to worry, however.

After a meeting in the afternoon, Sukhumbhand said at a press conference that the flood barriers on the western side of Bangkok were not as strong as those to the north and east. Therefore, sandbag dykes would be reinforced and the situation would be closely monitored, the governor said. He surveyed the flood situation in eastern and western Bangkok from a helicopter yesterday.

The water level in the Chao Phraya River set a record for the year yesterday at 2.15 metres above sea level. At 9am at Pak Khlong Talad, the water level was 65 centimetres below the top of the dyke there, Sukhumbhand said. "We will continue to closely monitor water levels in Khlong Rangsit. [On Friday] I checked it and found the water level was not too close to the dyke level. On the western side, it would take too long to construct a dyke all the way along Putthamonthon Road, as it is too long. We have to monitor where the water is heading and where to build dykes," he said.

If Bangkok were to flood, residents would have at least seven hours to one day to prepare for evacuation, he said, adding that a water level of 2.3 metres above sea level would pose a threat to Bangkok residents outside the existing barrier line. The level was currently at 2.15 metres, he said.

Sukhumbhand said 17 districts of Bangkok have been declared emergency disaster-affected areas by the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department. He added that these areas are not that badly flooded, however, and the disaster declaration is simply a legal necessity to enable more rapid assistance measures.

Royal Irrigation Department spokesman Boonsanong Suchartpong said the department was able to handle the flood water in Bangkok. Its drainage capacity was 138-140 million cubic metres a day. The situation was expected to improve in the next few days.

Due to heavy rain in Bangkok on Friday night, the water levels in major canals, including Lat Prao, Bang Sue and Nam Kaew, rose slightly. Water drainage was proceeding slowly in nine areas in Chatuchak, Lat Phrao and Din Daeng, he said.

The official said that drainage of trapped flood water in Lat Phrao to the Chao Phraya River and through the area's giant tunnel had begun at 2am yesterday and was likely to be completed in some places, including Chokechai 4, later yesterday, barring further rain during the day.

Flooding has only been a problem for....oh, sixty years I refuse to believe that the government can't fix this problem. Too busy pocketing the funds that would have been used to fix it, no doubt. Time to throw the lot of them out.

Nervous Bangkok on alert for floods

Published on Oct 15, 2011 by AFP

Thailand fought to hold back floodwaters flowing towards Bangkok on Saturday as a spring tide hindered efforts to protect the city of 12 million people from the kingdom's worst inundation in decades.