Dutch flood lessons for Bangkok as risks mount

Bangkok's flood debate could draw useful lessons from the Netherlands, where protection combines huge sea defences with plans that deliberately make space for rising rivers.

In an early July Facebook post, Prof Dr Suchatvee Suwansawat, leader of the Thai Kao Mai Party, warned that Bangkok was "a million per cent certain to sink below sea level if water continues to be managed in the same way". He said the assessment reflected data and views gathered from numerous experts.

Sea barriers protect vulnerable Dutch land

The Netherlands faces a similar challenge as a low-lying river delta. Rijkswaterstaat, its infrastructure and water-management authority, says about 60% of the country would be at risk of flooding without protective systems.

The country strengthened its approach after the 1953 North Sea flood, when a severe storm and exceptionally high water breached dykes. Seawater flooded coastal areas, killing 1,836 people and inundating about 150,000 hectares.

That disaster accelerated the Delta Works, a network of dams, storm-surge barriers and other controls designed to protect land and population centres from the sea.

At Krimpen aan den IJssel, the Hollandsche IJsselkering protects some of the Netherlands' lowest terrain, which reaches about 6.76 metres below Normaal Amsterdams Peil, or NAP, the Dutch elevation reference level.

Near Rotterdam, the Maeslant Barrier has two automatically closing gates, each 210 metres wide and 22 metres high. It is designed to withstand storm surges reaching five metres above NAP.

Making room for high rivers

The Dutch system does not rely solely on ever-higher dykes. High river levels in 1993 and 1995 helped prompt the Room for the River programme, based on allowing excess water to go somewhere safely.

Defences were moved inland in some locations, floodplains lowered, new channels excavated and designated areas adapted to receive floodwater. Rijkswaterstaat says the programme covered 39 projects at 34 locations along the IJssel, Waal, Nederrijn and Lek rivers.

One example is Noordwaard, a 4,450-hectare area designed to take higher river flows. When water reaches a predetermined level, it can enter the area and pass through it, reducing pressure elsewhere. The project includes pumping stations, hydraulic structures and numerous bridges, while also creating space for nature and biodiversity.

Flood defence is a permanent task

Dutch authorities treat flood management as a connected national system, rather than a collection of individual construction projects. Dykes, canals, barriers, pumps, forecasts, maintenance and land-use planning are managed together.

The National Delta Programme coordinates central government, provinces, local authorities and water bodies on flood risk, freshwater shortages and increasingly extreme weather.

The Netherlands is now developing Room for the River 2.0 for both high and low river flows. Its experience suggests Bangkok's choices extend beyond the height of flood barriers to deciding where water can safely be stored, channelled and managed.

Picture courtesy of The Nation

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30 September 2026