Govt To Assess Kanchanaburi Flooding

[Kan Win]

Govt to assess Kanchanaburi flooding

Writer: BangkokPost.com

Published: 16/08/2009 at 12:39

PM Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva had assigned relevant units to investigate the flooding damage in Kanchanaburi after a large amount of water was released from Srinagarindra Dam.

Many households and plantations were inundated by rising floodwaters since Saturday night.

"There were technical problems when officials were repairing the gas pipes at the dam, but I will have to look into the details of the incident first," Mr Abhisit said on Sunday.

The government will assess and take care of the damage caused by the flooding, he insisted.

Bangkok Post

Yours truly,

Kan Win

[Kan Win]

My Wife was asked by our locals at 3.00 am this moring, to move our cars to higher ground when I was fast asleep.

Go on her

The river came over the top of our bank which is about 2 meters high and our house is another 1 or so higher.

We where lucky this time around.

By the news others where not so lucky......

The river Khwae (Kwai Yai) this moring at 10.30 am was down to fast flowing level 2 meters or so lower than early this moring like now.

Yours truly,

Kan Win

[skipvice]

Thats because they opened the flood gates and we are getting it down river

[Kan Win]

Thats because they opened the flood gates and we are getting it down river

Correct 'skipvice', but do you know (kwai) why they did it?

Read all about it

Pipeline incidents a policy wake-up call

Heavy gas reliance threatens security

Writer: YUTHANA PRAIWAN

Published: 19/08/2009 at 12:00 AM

Newspaper section: Business

Thailand's power system is at risk of blackouts as policymakers have failed to manage the fuel balance, especially gas supplies, energy experts admit.

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"Problems over the weekend with gas supplies from Burma forced the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand to release additional water at the Srinakarin Dam in Kanchanaburi to meet power demand, which led to flooding in nearby communities."

PIYARACH CHONGCHAREON****

A pipeline leak in Kanchanaburi on Sunday resulted in the disruption of gas supplies from Burma's Yadana and Yetagun fields for western provinces of Thailand. At the same time, repairs were under way to a leak in the pipeline bringing gas from the Gulf of Thailand.

The total drop in gas supply was 2,100 million standard cubic feet a day (mmscfd), including 1,100 mmscfd from Burma, 400 mmscfd from the Malaysia-Thai Joint Development Area and 600 mmscfd from the Bongkot field in the Gulf of Thailand. Thailand uses about 3,500 mmscfd of gas for its power plants.

The gas shortage forced the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand to immediately increase output from its hydroelectricity generators to prevent a power shortage, but this led to floods that damaged communities nearby.

"This is a valuable lesson that we should have better power management, fuel balance and crisis management. We need to review our power management policy immediately," said Twarath Sutabutr, director of the Policy and Strategy Co-ordination Office at the Energy Ministry.

"This is a warning sign telling us we depend too much on natural gas. The country's power production relies on gas for around 70% of total capacity, so that when we have a gas supply disruption, our power security turns out to be not secure at all."

In the past, Thailand has overcome isolated gas supply disruptions but it never had to deal with three outages at the same time, said Dr Twarath.

Last year, a gas pipeline from Burma sprang a leak but officials offset the shortage with fuel oil to generate power.

Fuels such as coal and nuclear power are seen as good choices since coal represents only 16-18% of total power production, planners say.

The Energy Ministry is now revising again its 15-year power development plan (PDP) to reflect prevailing and forecast economic conditions. The latest incident will be take into consideration as well when officials look at fuel usage.

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Yours truly,

Kan Win

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Bangkok Post

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[Kan Win]

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/2240...-safety-of-dams

Egat under attack over safety of dams

Writer: PIYARACH CHONGCHAROEN

Published: 21/08/2009 at 12:00 AM

Newspaper section: News

KANCHANABURI : The tourism industry has taken the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand to task for failing to warn people about water discharge from Srinakarin dam which caused flooding in Muang district on Saturday.

Surin Chanpian, chairman of the Kanchanaburi tourism association, said the lack of warning from the power agency posed a serious cause for concern for residents of the quake-prone province.

Srinakarin and Vajiralongkorn dams are situated on major faults - Sri Sawat and Three Pagodas - which remain active. There have been widespread fears of dams collapsing when earthquakes strike.

Following Saturday's deluge, Egat issued an apology for the discharge which caused the River Kwai to break its banks and flood residential areas in Muang district.

But Mr Surin said an apology would not save the lives of people living below the two dams if an earthquake hit and caused the dams to burst.

Egat cited a need to increase hydroelectricity generation to offset a production shortfall caused by an abrupt stoppage of gas from Burma.

"An advance warning should have been issued before the production began," Mr Surin said. "This is not a natural disaster like an earthquake which is hard to predict.

"It is clear that Egat does not have a plan and massive losses will be unavoidable.

"State agencies have promised to install an early warning system but there is no progress."

Pinant Chotirosseranee, president of the Kanchanaburi Conservation Group, yesterday questioned whether the need to increase electricity production fully explained the flood.

She believed an earthquake in the Indian Ocean off India's Andaman islands on Aug 11 had an impact on the dam.

Mrs Pinant also rejected Egat's claim that the Srinakarin dam was strong enough to withstand a major earthquake.

"If Egat was forced to open the floodgates to release water when all the machines were functioning, there was something wrong with the design," she said.

"So its claim that the dam is designed to withstand an earthquake is very much doubted."

Mrs Pinant called on Egat to reveal all information about the dams and their safety margins to allow local residents to assess risks and prepare for any emergency.

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Yours truly,

Kan Win

[Kan Win]

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/2248...-warning-towers

Kanchanaburi building 4 more warning towers

Writer: POST REPORTERS

Published: 22/08/2009 at 12:00 AM

Newspaper section: News

KANCHANABURI : Four more disaster warning towers will be completed by February next year to give warnings of a possible dam collapse, says the provincial administration organisation.

Three towers are being built downstream of the Kwai Yai River where the Srinakarin dam sits while the other is located by the Kwai Noi River where the Vajiralongkorn dam is situated, according to PAO deputy head Asuchin Paoari.

The two dams sit near fault lines in western Thailand.

An Aug 15 incident in which the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) released large amounts of water from the dam without warning to downstream villagers has sparked a fresh round of fears of dam-related disasters.

Mr Asuchin said Egat should have told people about the threat and ways to cope with it.

The PAO has decided to build the towers itself, spending 10 million baht.

Another three early warning towers will be built in Thong Pha Phum, Erawan, and Kanchanaburi municipalities by the National Disaster Warning Centre.

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Yours truly,

Kan Win

[jasreeve17]

Is it possible that this wasn't some absurd 'incident' 'planned' to support a kickstart to the Thailand Nuclear Energy campaign:

Reason 1 to build nuclear power plants - avoid our reliance on natural gass and the disasterous side effects!

(My paranoia... I hope...)

[Kan Win]

So what to you folks think?

No floods in Kan last year due to the learns that they learned in 2002 and before that around 1996-7

I think.

Win