Bangkok Is Sinking

[paulbkk]

hi,

ive lived in thailand for 8 years, 5 or which are in bangkok, and ive always known the rumour that bangkok is sinking, i looked on the net today for information about it, but since ive lived in bangkok, i never hear thais or farangs talking about it, one website said bangkok would be underwater in 2050, i know governments dont tend to react to things untill its too late, but it seems there are no plans to deal with the problem and the general public and some of my thai friends, dont even know that bangkok was sinking! i just wondered if anyone had any thoughts or feelings on the matter, thanks Paul

[MikeRay]

Bangkok is stinking, that´s what I care more about.The more people and more buildings it´s understandable that the groundwater gage falls.

No understanding why it should rise?

[The_Other_Mac]

[insert generic comment about using politicians' hot air here.]

[Neeranam]

Yeah, I've head about it and to answer your question, NO nobody seems to care.

[Rinrada]

I mentioned that to the wife about 3 years ago and suggested that it might be worth considering selling her 2 houses since we are not too far from the C.P River at Sam Prac.

No need to she says "my dads got a boat so we would be OK"

Thai logic.....

My condos on the 13th Floor so recon its time to invest in a life belt

[paulbkk]

yes if your looking to live in bangkok long term and buy a house, what will your future be if its underwater, condos too. i spoke to an educated thai friend the other day and she hadnt heard about it before. for the capital city of a big country like thailand, it all seems alittle strange, that its not a worry

[Nordlys]

That is hardly a new news. Back 25 years ago everybody knew Bangkok was sinking. I remember it was most visibly apparent at the steps in front of Siam Center. They had to add two more steps there because the ground in front of the Siam Center was sinking. Not sure if it's true but heard it was caused by the excessive pumping of ground water (believed that's what caused Venice to sink and flood every winter now). But I wonder if they would have built the subway if it's still sinking.

Edited July 21, 2005 by Nordlys

[george]

If we are actually sinking, it's interesting news.

Topic moved to the Bangkok Forum branch.

/Admin

[paulbkk]

so many forums, i guess bangkok forum is best, im surprized u didnt know about this george

[Bentley 7]

Your concerns are correct and justified particularly if you own property in Bangkok. I have seen the results of this sinking effect on properties under our control, the buildings shift and weight gets displaced so cracking of retaining walls and even in the foundations occur. Which obviously doesnt help with future re-sale values. A structural engineer who examined one such building told me it was due to two major causes -one being that Bangkok is essentially built on reclaimed marshland and that there really is no solid bedrock to underpin foundations to, and secondly due to large scale business's that pump up the groundwater to use in their business because its cheaper than buying pumped water.

There has been a bill proposed by a concerned lobby group around for many years attempting to get the problem solved but it has had very little success due to the extreme cost of the exercise to fix the problem and that it would need this money to come from landowners (which many are politicians or politically associated) so it has been placed in the too hard basket and the next generations problem not ours.

So those members who live in Isaan be happy that your properties are safe due to large amounts of limestone and bedrock in those regions and that one day your great great grandchildren will have beachfront properties.

[OxfordWill]

This is brilliant, any sources or studies online we can look at?

[Heng]

Is Chonburi sinking (surely land "on the mountain" in Pattaya would be considered safe, yes?)? I'd hate to lose the other half of my portfolio as well.

p.s. am I correct in assuming these studies also refer to Samutprakarn?

Edited July 21, 2005 by Heng

[RDN]

That is hardly a new news... 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yep, old news. Where's me wellies?

This is brilliant, any sources or studies online we can look at?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Look here, Will:

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en...sea&btnG=Search

[autonomous_unit]

I think this problem is happening everywhere people are crammed together... I remember reading the same thing about the water table in the midwest of the US, though they are more worried about running out of water and sinkholes than becoming the next Atlantis.

Cities like Amsterdam and New Orleans already are below sea level... do you think BKK can pull it together and install seawalls and pumps to cope? Or maybe the Thai style would be to abandon the ground floors and live stilt-like above, with elevated roads and the surface turned back to canals.

I was amazed to hear that the "foundation" posts that are driven into the ground here for even small houses are 20-30 meters long (coming from an area in California where foundation posts would be a few feet deep). Somehow, I think the city will manage no matter what happens. I can picture new pilings driven in to reinforce the posts and then building extra floors, while the ground floor walls are knocked out.

[chownah]

I'm confused. Nordlys wrote that the Siam Center is not sinking but the land around it is...other people are writing that the buildings will sink while the land around them will not....seems like these two things are at odds with each other....I'm confused.

[paulbkk]

i guess from the replies that it seems we hear nothing about this cos the government doesnt have the money to solve the problem, or its low on their list of things to do. i understand that, i guess thats the way of things, deal with it when things start getting bad, but its sad to see its only a rumour and not fact, and yes its true not only for bkk, but many other cities, maybe taksin will move bkk to the khorat plato,(wrong spelling im sure), or maybe we should all buy condos in issan! so from what everyone says the sea level is rising, bangkok sinking.so now its gobal issue, maybe too much for only a bkk forum

[Nordlys]

But I don't think the Chaophraya river water level or Khlong water level noticeably going up as far back as I can remember from 39 years living in Bangkok.

[RDN]

... deal with it when things start getting bad...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think that's probably the main reason. In the rainy season, I've enjoyed many a paddle home along Sukhumvit Road dodging the floating turds rising out of the sewers...

[chechoie]

Bangkok is Sinking

Good name for a band, (and would probably get the issue good publicity).

[lopburi3]

This has been known, documented and actions have been taken to limit the subsistence. Basically Bangkok is built on very deep mud (from runoff over the ages dumped here by the river. Believe the amount of sinking was on the order of several inches per year at one time but is much less now that new water well have been prohibited for several decades. There are pie in the sky ideas floated every few years on what to do. Recall one was to pump rain water back into the ground somehow. Siam Center and other large building are built on piles long enough (believe over 50 feet) to reach solid ground so are not sinking. The roads are and our homes with normal floating foundations. There are also some areas where it is much worse than others.

But all this has been overshadowed by the huge improvement in water flood control and ability to pump the city dry is a very shot time. Those here 25 years ago can recall half a foot of water being normal for weeks at a time most years. Some years only military trucks could navigate. Roads have been built higher but the real improvement has been control of the river and runoff from the North. The big problem these days is the massive rainfall is a few minutes overloading the drainage ability. As the canals are dual use they can not be drained in wait for rain as in other cities so the short term storage is not enough at times.

The above is just the remarks of a non engineer type and may be all wet but is as it appears to me.

[OxfordWill]

Cheers RDN, google scholar has a few too.

[Boatabike]

Built on a reclaimed swamp, time to call in the Dutch to help out, they are great at swampland dwelling. I guess they need a cross between the boy who stuck his thumb in the hole to save the dyke or is it dike? and Atlas.

[RDN]

...The above is just the remarks of a non engineer type and may be all wet but is as it appears to me.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Makes a lot of sense to me! The only inconvenience it has been for me - in bkk for only a few years - was having to wait for the water in Sukh soi 13 to subside so I could get to the bar. And the wait was only an hour or so. So if it used to be "weeks at a time" a few years ago, they've obviously improved the situation massively.