Former PM Yingluck explains her actions during "Great Flood" of 2011

[webfact]

Picture: Daily News

 

Former Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra explained her actions during the so called "Great Flood" of 2011 that inundated large swathes of the Chao Phraya river basin and the Thai capital Bangkok.

 

She explained the early days of the crisis were during the election campaign as water levels rose during the early part of the year.

 

Once in power she faced many difficulties in getting things done in an expedient manner.

 

By the time the flood waters reached Bangkok many other issued had to be faced that ultimately proved insurmountable, reported Daily News. 

 

The former PM was speaking in a Pheu Thai interview with others on the response to the flood situation.

 

She took the opportunity to take a swipe at subsequent administrations who did not implement her policies and recommendations in the wake of the flood and in other politcal areas.

 

She said that she had suffered much criticism for her role in the flood drama and had taken it all on the chin. 

 

The former PM was later ousted and fled the country following a conviction in the rice pledging scheme. 

 

-- © Copyright  ASEAN NOW 2021-10-19

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow ASEAN NOW on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

 

Get your business in front of millions of customers who read ASEAN NOW with an interest in Thailand every month - email [email protected] for more information

[HaoleBoy]

What specifically were Yingluck's Gov proposals for "flood policies"?  It would be good to list these out in this time and open them up for debate.

 

This current junta gov has had 7+ yrs now to do something (in many areas) and has done very little.

[internationalism]

it was el ninio year, and exceptionally strong.

Already in march rainfall was 344% above average.

End of May there were already major floods, with deaths.

Such floods happen statistically every 50 years. 

[John Drake]

5 minutes ago, internationalism said:

it was el ninio year, and exceptionally strong.

Already in march rainfall was 344% above average.

End of May there were already major floods, with deaths 

And the government continued to hold water in the dams all throughout  until October. Then, when it was time to use resources such as the Mahasawat, Pomelo growers in Nakhon Pathom paid in order to divert the water from their fields (and also an Old Dutch Mill dairy plant) and pour the water on Thawi Watthana instead. Tens of thousands of peoples homes flooded for almost three months in order to save trees and a dairy.

[internationalism]

yingluck took over only in an early august, and faced resistance from departments and local authorities.

thailand was already flooding since end of May.

she claims her initiatives were sabotaged for political reasons.

certainly there was mismanagement of dams from March, when they failed to gradually release and prevent from devastating overflowing in October

[Bert got kinky]

 

In all fairness to Yingluck, she had to wait for her puppet master's instructions and he was in no rush to help a country that he had already stripped the resources from.

 

 

[tingtong]

The 2011 flood, greatly thanks to Jingluck's action caused my house about 1 million baht total damage.

In desperation to spare fully some high so parts of Bkk, we got 2m water in our street for 2 months.

A series of wrong decisions trying to save what is "important" for them, turning the potential moderate flood levels in areas not flooded for decades into a man made disaster to many.

 

The one time 5000thb competition didn't solve things.

Her action rubbed years of hard work from me, and a few million others. 

No excuse and no forgiveness!

 

 

 

 

[poskat]

"and had taken it all on the chin. "

 

I would watch the video of that....

[Denim]

10 years ago. Water under the bridge

[overherebc]

2 hours ago, internationalism said:

it was el ninio year, and exceptionally strong.

Already in march rainfall was 344% above average.

End of May there were already major floods, with deaths.

Such floods happen statistically every 50 years. 

Yes, but it is always the fault of the oppostion.

Where's the sarky button??

[AgMech Cowboy]

I concur with the former PM. The flood was not her fault. It was the bureaucrats who spent all their time kowtowing to the 'new' government and didn't pay attention to their jobs and the water levels in the reservoirs upcountry. Then Thailand had a number of tropical storms sweep across Vietnam & Laos in short time frames, which dumped large amounts of water into those reservoirs. Next thing you know the sluice gates were opened and here came the water. No place to put it, especially when the Bangkok Governor closed his flood gates to protect Bangkok (which was his job).

 

Her and Pheu Thai's big crime was the rice price fiasco.

[ourmanflint]

4 hours ago, internationalism said:

it was el ninio year, and exceptionally strong.

Already in march rainfall was 344% above average.

End of May there were already major floods, with deaths.

Such floods happen statistically every 50 years. 

It was a strong La Nina year *not* El Nino, this year is a weak La Nina year

[hotchilli]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Once in power she faced many difficulties in getting things done in an expedient manner.

I don't know, she didn't hang around getting the rice pledging scheme up & running.

[GreasyFingers]

I wish I could be a politician and never be wrong.

[internationalism]

2 hours ago, ourmanflint said:

It was a strong La Nina year *not* El Nino, this year is a weak La Nina year

was wiki is mistaken:

"Flooding was still ongoing by late-August, as heavy rains were expected to continue for longer than usual due to the effect of El Niño."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Thailand_floods#Flooding_timeline

[snowgard]

5 hours ago, tingtong said:

The 2011 flood, greatly thanks to Jingluck's action caused my house about 1 million baht total damage.

In desperation to spare fully some high so parts of Bkk, we got 2m water in our street for 2 months.

A series of wrong decisions trying to save what is "important" for them, turning the potential moderate flood levels in areas not flooded for decades into a man made disaster to many.

 

The one time 5000thb competition didn't solve things.

Her action rubbed years of hard work from me, and a few million others. 

No excuse and no forgiveness!

 

Wow!!! Do you can't use your brain? What SHE had to do with the flood? The flood start in July and she started her job on 5th August. What do you think she could have done? Use a magic wand or do a "Stop Rain Dance"?

The old government and the military were responsible for this.
But it is always easier to blame the newcomers for the mistakes.

 

[Artisi]

Put half the country on a major flood plain and then keep adding to it, what do you expect when a major flood arrives. It's simply nature in action. 

Who will they blame next time? 

[zzaa09]

7 hours ago, internationalism said:

it was el ninio year, and exceptionally strong.

Already in march rainfall was 344% above average.

End of May there were already major floods, with deaths.

Such floods happen statistically every 50 years. 

Indeed. It was most certainly a generational event. 

A catastrophic natural disaster that lent itself to impossible odds for any government infrastructure to handle - past or present.

[ArcticFox]

She is no more at fault then the administrations before her, or the administrations after her.  Thailand lives for the day.  When the crisis is over, it's forgotten until it arises again like clockwork.  Thais aren't known as planners.  And they are xenophobic to the point that they will not accept outside assistance from people who can actually help - like the Dutch.

But - she's a political scapegoat.  So blame the scapegoats while basking in moral purity. 

[BobBKK]

8 hours ago, Bert got kinky said:

 

In all fairness to Yingluck, she had to wait for her puppet master's instructions and he was in no rush to help a country that he had already stripped the resources from.

 

 

Stupid post and TOTALLY inaccurate.  Any proof?  data?  or did the court find her innocent recently?  

[BobBKK]

3 hours ago, hotchilli said:

I don't know, she didn't hang around getting the rice pledging scheme up & running.

same scheme the current government runs?  that one?

[OneMoreFarang]

I did what my brother told me to do.

I have no idea about those things. Or did you really think only because I am the small sister of Thaksin I know what I am doing?

[Denim]

7 hours ago, tingtong said:

In desperation to spare fully some high so parts of Bkk, we got 2m water in our street for 2 months

That was not Yingluks fault.

 

The then democrat governor  of Bangkok refused to open drainage  gates to allow water to flow through the city to pumping stations south of the city. Downtown Bangkok remained dry as a result whereas your house and mine got flooded.

[BobBKK]

4 minutes ago, Denim said:

That was not Yingluks fault.

 

The then democrat governor  of Bangkok refused to open drainage  gates to allow water to flow through the city to pumping stations south of the city. Downtown Bangkok remained dry as a result whereas your house and mine got flooded.

They won't listen. It was Thaksin, Thaksin, Thaksin... pathetic.

[Bert got kinky]

11 minutes ago, BobBKK said:

Stupid post and TOTALLY inaccurate.  Any proof?  data?  or did the court find her innocent recently?  

You really need to learn to read..

I stated that her 'puppet master' had stripped the country's resources, so any court decision about Yingluck has no bearing on the Master Shin's  actions.

 

 

 

[zzaa09]

Old Misdirection Theatre. 

When in doubt, use the Shinawatras as a buffer. 

 

And always seems to work. 

[OneMoreFarang]

21 minutes ago, BobBKK said:

They won't listen. It was Thaksin, Thaksin, Thaksin... pathetic.

And then there are still people out there who still think Thaksin and his little sister did everything right.

They are both wanted criminals and they should be in jail.

[sungod]

In all fairness, she did go out to the affected areas and connect with the people....

[internationalism]

9 hours ago, Bert got kinky said:

 

In all fairness to Yingluck, she had to wait for her puppet master's instructions and he was in no rush to help a country that he had already stripped the resources from.

 

 

unlike in 2010, the 2011  rainy season started in March (as in 2021).

despite bhumipol dam getting 10x of rain already at that time, officials were not releasing any water. 

That can be seen as sabotage for the government which was surely be formed too late to mitigate any damage already done.

The democrat party clearly already knew they will lose this election, as they did loose previous ones. So it was a political revenge and revenge on voters. The bangkok governor was playing the same game through.

 

You should not play partisan politics on deaths of thousands. People were dying from affects of this flood for many months after it ended - with diseases and illness originating from that time.

Thailand has lost over 15% of it's gdp

[Bert got kinky]

25 minutes ago, internationalism said:

unlike in 2010, the 2011  rainy season started in March (as in 2021).

despite bhumipol dam getting 10x of rain already at that time, officials were not releasing any water. 

That can be seen as sabotage for the government which was surely be formed too late to mitigate any damage already done.

The democrat party clearly already knew they will lose this election, as they did loose previous ones. So it was a political revenge and revenge on voters. The bangkok governor was playing the same game through.

 

You should not play partisan politics on deaths of thousands. People were dying from affects of this flood for many months after it ended - with diseases and illness originating from that time.

Thailand has lost over 15% of it's gdp

 

For God's sake, take off your  red tinted spectacles.

Yingluck, Thaksin, Prayut, Samak, Chuan, they're all as corrupt as each other and everyone of them bent the country over and shafted it.

Why are you so intent on defending corrupt politicians?