China Denies Upstream Water Release Amid Thai Floods

[lordgrinz]

2 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Bet they also pointed out anti-flood devices freely available to buy on Shoppee and Alibaba, etc

 

Nope, everyone should now use TEMU 🤪

[fondue zoo]

2 hours ago, thesetat2013 said:

Why is Thaksin involved in this?

 

He's everywhere you want to be.

[herfiehandbag]

2 hours ago, Theforgotten1 said:

Asians , denial ,denial,denial , 

Surely, demekong, demekong, demekong!

[andygrr]

On 7/24/2024 at 10:14 PM, herfiehandbag said:

That is the great benefit of the internet.

It even allows you to multitask!

 

2 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

The good water management of Thailand.. It is because of China, we couldn't do anything about ...But for years nothing really nothing is done to solve yearly flooding in this country.. No cleaning waterways, no dam level management, but only sell land to built houses, businesses and no further infrastructure whatso ever

The water has to go somewhere. If they cleaned the waterways out and improved the condition of the rivers more water would flow south via the Chao Phraya basin ending up in Bangkok causing more flooding there. You just can't win. Nature rules.

[brianthainess]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra had suggested that the unusually high water levels in the Mekong River could have resulted from China releasing excess water due to their own flood situations.

Oh Him again........................

[brianthainess]

1 hour ago, daveAustin said:

Taking notice of anything the Chinese embassy or ccp put out…  by default the answer will be ‘nothing to do with us!’ 😞

I mean, You may as well ask a soi cat or random mynah bird. 

I asked a Soi Cat and he had this to say

[retarius]

You know, I think China is responsible for the rainy weather we have been having lately. They hate Thailand being so successful and are pushing the rainy weather into Thailand.

[brianthainess]

1 hour ago, IamNoone88 said:

I have not read of heavy and prolonged rains this season ... so I was also wondering why there was a deluge. The Chinese did not admit to being the source of Covid either ... And that was pretty clear.

Here on Koh Chang I have never known a year like it for rain, and I have been here 15+years, it has 'Prolonged' more than ever, everyday it is still pissing it down, for hours at a time. Luckily I live 40+ meters above sea level. ...bob will be happy...

[Kerryd]

There's almost a cycle to this event. 
A couple of years of heavy flooding, especially in the lowlands and capital region. Then a couple years where they are telling the farmers to not plant a second rice crop because the water levels in the dams and reservoirs are at "all time lows".
(Remember the stories of them finding forgotten monuments and the remains of old temples that had been submerged in different reservoirs for decades and were suddenly "on dry land" again because the water levels were so low.)

And then a couple years later, Bangkok is flooding again and they've got special boats in the Chao Praya river using their propellers to try and force more water out into the Gulf because the dams "upstream" are at their limits and have to dump excess capacity "downstream" (or risk a catastophic collapse).

Meanwhile, I rode past the Map Prachan reservoir a couple days ago and I have never seen the water level so low. And that was after a recent heavy rain.
And we are nearing the end of the rainy season.

Remember before the Covid crisis. We had a bit of a "drought" and the place was packed full of tourists.

The water levels were so low the PWA had to start rotating "cut off days" where some areas either had reduced water flows or were cut off entirely for a couple of days.

That was when the "officials" came up with the great idea of trying to channel all of the city's water drainage (from the sewers and run-off from the streets) back into the city's main water supply ! Think of all the crap (literally), garbage, chemical and industrial waste that people routinely dump into the sewers and spills onto the roads every day.

And they wanted to pump all of that into the Map Prachan reservoir to boost the water levels !!

(Note: the city water supply is "filtered" - not "purified". Basically it's run through filters/strainers to remove sediment and "big stuff" before being released into the water mains.)

Probably a good thing the covid crisis hit otherwise they might have gone through with that idea and ended up contaminating the entire reservoir with assorted pollutants.

It does appear that they are doing some dredging on the north-west corner of the reservoir. I hope it's to increase the capacity and not for some building project.

I was actually trying to push that idea back before the covid crisis. Had a presentation sketched out on how they could dredge out a portion of the reservoir that was usually "high and dry" even when the reservoir was nearly full and how much capacity they could gain (while using or selling the dredged material for landfill or construction elsewhere).

What I didn't have was any "connections". Basically the idea had to come from a "local", preferably someone that had some influence, who could talk to the people that knew the people who could make something like that happen.

And none of the people I knew at the time could do that. And then covid came along and without the increased demand for water from all the hotels and businesses, the problem went away.

But it looks like it's back and possibly even worse than before.

Glad I had the extra large water tank installed last year and a good stock of "filtered water" jugs.

I'm guessing we're going to be in for a lot of "cut off" days between now and next Spring.
 

[cnx101]

3 hours ago, thesetat2013 said:

Why is Thaksin involved in this? He is not in any government capacity to be doing this.

But he runs the government 

[bunnydrops]

4 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

Here on Koh Chang I have never known a year like it for rain, and I have been here 15+years, it has 'Prolonged' more than ever, everyday it is still pissing it down, for hours at a time. Luckily I live 40+ meters above sea level. ...bob will be happy...

Same where I live. It has never flooded here in the 15 years I have been here. All the ponds are full, there isn't anywhere for the water to go and it poured down rain last night. I don't live anywhere near a river.

[sabai-dee-man]

3 hours ago, Theforgotten1 said:

Asians , denial ,denial,denial , 

 

No, that's in Egypt! 

[bunnydrops]

 

[ThaiFelix]

No not Chinese floods, they would have been broken or worn out before they got to Thailand.

[NobbyClarke]

China again!!

China is no ones friend and the whole world, not only Thailand, needs to realise what is happening before it is to late.

IMO

[sambum]

"Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra had suggested that the unusually high water levels in the Mekong River could have resulted from China releasing excess water due to their own flood situations."

 

Ah, so it's "Gospel" then?

[drgoon]

Well of course they didn't. China is so respectful of everything.

[Coota]

3 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

You can, and other countries manage.   OR ... Buddha forbid, try not building on low level flood plains, would be even a better solution.   oops ... too late.

 

Nong Khai city as a retaining wall, and works ... most of the time     Same with Vientiane, Laos, as haven't read about them being flooded out for some time, though don't really pay attention.

Cities can be protected up to a point but the photo in the article shows acres of rural land and we both know how much rural land there is along the Mekong. Hell, they can't stop Bangkok and Ayuthya from flooding.

 

[KhunLA]

26 minutes ago, Coota said:

Cities can be protected up to a point but the photo in the article shows acres of rural land and we both know how much rural land there is along the Mekong. Hell, they can't stop Bangkok and Ayuthya from flooding.

 

File photo = anywhere, anytime

 

... used previously in Aug & Sept 2023

 

Did you read the article, or just look at the photo ... 

"Nakhon Phanom had risen to around 10.4 metres, standing just 1.6 metres below the overflow threshold."

 

One day ago ... not flooding, not even close

Screenshot of YT vid

Other vids available IF looking for

 

 

[MalcolmB]

5 hours ago, thesetat2013 said:

Why is Thaksin involved in this? He is not in any government capacity to be doing this.

He is running the show now.

 

Reporters all know this and bypass his PM daughter and go straight to him.

 

 

[ikke1959]

4 hours ago, Coota said:

Havea good look at the photo mate, no amount of infrastructure is going to stop that. Have you ever been up there, near the Mekong? 

I am from the Netherlands so I know about water.. start with building dikes..

[ikke1959]

3 hours ago, andygrr said:

 

The water has to go somewhere. If they cleaned the waterways out and improved the condition of the rivers more water would flow south via the Chao Phraya basin ending up in Bangkok causing more flooding there. You just can't win. Nature rules.

I am not sure... start building dikes as we did in the Netherlands, and make some buffer areas... but do nothing will only give the same every year...too easy to say that nature wins,

[PETERTHEEATER]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

On a visit to flood-stricken areas in Chiang Rai, Thaksin mentioned that Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs was in discussions with Chinese officials to manage water release so as to prevent further overflow.

Good to see an ordinary citizen taking an interest in local problems. Presumably he was on a weekend break taking his grandchildren to the zoo.

[Coota]

5 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Yea ... it pretty much floods along the Mekong every other year, sometimes very bad.  Been doing that the whole 24 years I've lived in TH.  

 

It's called rainy season.  Revolving floods, and of course droughts & low reservoirs.  You'd think after 80 years after WW II they would have figured out how to manage the water a bit better.

 

Oh wait ... the N & NE, was low on BKK's priorities for decades.  

Once again, have a look at the photo, most of the flooded area is not inhabitated and the few people living there are poor farmers not a lot anybody can do.

 

[KhunLA]

16 minutes ago, Coota said:

Once again, have a look at the photo, most of the flooded area is not inhabitated and the few people living there are poor farmers not a lot anybody can do.

 

 

Did you miss this post below, or just ignore it 

 

1 hour ago, KhunLA said:

File photo = anywhere, anytime

 

... used previously in Aug & Sept 2023

 

Did you read the article, or just look at the photo ... 

"Nakhon Phanom had risen to around 10.4 metres, standing just 1.6 metres below the overflow threshold."

 

One day ago ... not flooding, not even close

Screenshot of YT vid

Other vids available IF looking for

I've been here long enough to remember both cities, Nong Khai and Nakhon Phanom both being flooded.  

 

 

[animatic]

12 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

When I think of severe flooding in Thailand....

My first thought is to recollect the floods of just over a decades ago.

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2011/10/worst-flooding-in-decades-swamps-thailand/100168/

 

 

 

Ah yes, Auntie Yingluck’s Rice Pledging floods from trying to save the rice crop to pay off the rice millers mafia for handing her the election.
 

When extra rain kicked in they almost caused multiple dam over flows and catastrophes by not letting out more water sooner during harvest. More floods and bigger and 2-3m in Bangkok. Sounds like round two.

[Irish star]

Trust China , I Trust they are Collapsing is the only Truth out there 

[ThaiFelix]

6 hours ago, sambum said:

"Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra had suggested that the unusually high water levels in the Mekong River could have resulted from China releasing excess water due to their own flood situations."

 

Ah, so it's "Gospel" then?

Former?

[Irish star]

10 hours ago, thesetat2013 said:

Why is Thaksin involved in this? He is not in any government capacity to be doing this.

As long as he’s blaming China I’m ok with it , they need to be called out 

[Dexxter]

When China denies something it is 99% probable that they are lying just like they always do. It's a shame that Thailand has to tolerate second-hand water coming from China in the Mekong.