Bangkok Residents Along Chao Phya Brace For Flash Floods

[sjjmmi]

Very safe here :jap:

Floods should drain by mid-November

• Published: 20/10/2010 at 02:24 PM
• Online news: Breakingnews

tweetmeme_url = 'http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/202341/flood-situation-to-return-to-normal-in-a-week'; tweetmeme_service = 'digg.com'; tweetmeme_source = "BPbreakingnews"; The floodwaters in Nakhon Ratchasima should all recede by mid-November if there is no more rain, Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Theera Wongsamut said on Wednesday.

Water could be drained only gradually from flooded areas as level of the Mun River was higher than the Lam Ta Khong River. The situation should be back to normal by the middle of next month, Mr Theera said.

The water held in by Nakhon Ratchasima's Lam Phra Phloeng Dam had started to recede and the reservoir should return to its normal level within a week, he said.

The minister said the water level in Pak Thongchai - a district in southern Nakhon Ratchasima - was falling by about 10 centimetres a day. The district should recover in a couple of weeks.

He said 18 out of the 19 provinces were still affected by heavy flooding. The situation in Phetchaburi province had returned to normal.

WLL Wan :jap:

they are under water a cant reply?

[swerver]

There may be flooding, but I doubt it will be worse today than flooding that has been experienced in Bangkok in the past. I remember hearing stories of swimming on Sukhumwit!

I've always somehow avoided them (knock on wood), but I agree with LaoPo that it is a "when", not "if", scenario. Every year we talk about how they should expand the city sewer system, manage the khlongs better, and stop people from clogging up the sewers with their garbage and cooking refuse (all those street stalls pouring hot fat, etc down the sewers). Every year, nothing gets done.

I still think that Thailand would be smart to follow Malaysia, and create a new capital somewhere that won't sink and is on higher ground. At least infrastructure can be maintained where it will be needed to coordinate a response if everywhere else goes down.

Typical Lazy People

When you settle on land centimeters - Not METERS - above low tide you can bet your aching ass you will be bothered with FLOODING.

My forefathers who discovered rich in nutrients agriculture land in their search for a place to live millennia ago immediately got to work to protect what they found from flooding by constructing dikes. Yes, I’m referring to HOLLAND.

As the saying goes: God made the world, the Dutch made Holland.

The Thais who came from Yunnan in China found what they were looking for, land rich in nutrients so they settled down on their lazy asses and let the land produce their food with the minimum amount of work. King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) on his world trip did see what the Dutch had done, but to get the lazies off their ass has been another story and today hundreds of years later the areas of rich in nutrients agriculture lands are still flooding.

Well global warming will do the trick of BKK being under water in the not too distant future - at which Mother Nature moves along. Not deep under water, half a meter or so, but still under water.

But don’t worry all the famous name schools, foreign and local, in Thailand will produce the next generations of Thais who can manipulate cyber numbers. Will they have learned to build dikes? Forget about it.

[sjjmmi]

Cool copy and paste

There may be flooding, but I doubt it will be worse today than flooding that has been experienced in Bangkok in the past. I remember hearing stories of swimming on Sukhumwit!

I've always somehow avoided them (knock on wood), but I agree with LaoPo that it is a "when", not "if", scenario. Every year we talk about how they should expand the city sewer system, manage the khlongs better, and stop people from clogging up the sewers with their garbage and cooking refuse (all those street stalls pouring hot fat, etc down the sewers). Every year, nothing gets done.

I still think that Thailand would be smart to follow Malaysia, and create a new capital somewhere that won't sink and is on higher ground. At least infrastructure can be maintained where it will be needed to coordinate a response if everywhere else goes down.

Typical Lazy People

When you settle on land centimeters - Not METERS - above low tide you can bet your aching ass you will be bothered with FLOODING.

My forefathers who discovered rich in nutrients agriculture land in their search for a place to live millennia ago immediately got to work to protect what they found from flooding by constructing dikes. Yes, I'm referring to HOLLAND.

As the saying goes: God made the world, the Dutch made Holland.

The Thais who came from Yunnan in China found what they were looking for, land rich in nutrients so they settled down on their lazy asses and let the land produce their food with the minimum amount of work. King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) on his world trip did see what the Dutch had done, but to get the lazies off their ass has been another story and today hundreds of years later the areas of rich in nutrients agriculture lands are still flooding.

Well global warming will do the trick of BKK being under water in the not too distant future - at which Mother Nature moves along. Not deep under water, half a meter or so, but still under water.

But don't worry all the famous name schools, foreign and local, in Thailand will produce the next generations of Thais who can manipulate cyber numbers. Will they have learned to build dikes? Forget about it.

[PlanetX]

About a year and a half ago my niece, who was 12 at the time, was reading something, and then came and told me she was scared. I asked her why and she said that according to what she was reading, which was supposed to be a very old Buddhist text, that in the year 2053 that BKK would be "lost to the sea" and be completely gone. She didn't care about BKK, but was worried about what might happen in Chiang Mai if that did happen. I told her we'd be fine.

Pardon, but I'd have to side with your niece on that concern.

If BKK were "lost to the sea", it would indeed be a disaster for CM.

Where do you think many, if not most, of the surviving Bangkokians would move to?

If it happened suddenly, as described in the text my niece read, I doubt if there would be many survivors. The way she translated the text, is sounds sorta like the sinking of Atlantis. Quick, fast and in a hurry. Ok, mythological sinking of mythological Atlantis.

My guess would be the text she was reading refers to the theory that a 12th planet (or second sun) will eventually be able to be seen in the sky causing the earths magnetic poles to shift

According to the Zetas "Prior to the shift, the Earth slows in its rotation, and actually stops. This is recorded in written

history and spoken folklore, worldwide, as a long day or night. The explanation for slowing rotation

resulting in a stopped rotation during the week prior to the shift is that the passing planet grips

the Atlantic Rift magnetically, so the Earth does not turn past this grip. This part of the globe is

centered between land masses that are fairly neutral in magnetic polarization, but lines up over

former lava flows from the renting apart of the continents, the mid-Atlantic rift. The Pacific trench

lies deeper under the water and its characteristics differ in composition from the newer magma that

has arisen during continental drift. Thus, the Atlantic lava beds are gripped, facing the Sun, facing

the approaching planet coming up from the South along the rift, and causing both Europe, the Americas,

and Africa to be on the long day side of the Earth."

All of South East Asia and India would be under water so Bangkok and Chiang Mai would be lost

The Zetas are aliens that have made a website to warn earthlings so take from it what you will

Edited October 20, 2010 by PlanetX

[LaoPo]

...not to mention if we happen to lose Greenland [An inconvenient Truth. Al Gore. 2006]

We all share the same concerns sir.

Any chance of quoting a source or any substantive data?

Cheers.

Holland, a low water country without any doubt (same as the Bangkok area) and for a large part beneath the sealevel faced an enormous drama on February 1, 1953 when the country was flooded in a disastrous way. 1.800 people drowned next to a large number of cattle and other animals. 100.000 people (more than 50 years ago!) lost their homes.

The causes were of a rare coincidence: Spring tide (caused by the Sun and Moon) combined with a huge storm where the enormous amounts of water had no way out and forced the dikes to break, causing this drama.

But, Holland is not the only example of such rare weather coincidences.

My scenario in post #2 is not so uncommon and if you realize that the river water at certain points in the Chao Phraya river is already higher than sealevel (at THIS moment MORE THAN 1 METER) you don't have to be Al Gore to realize that a disaster is around the corner Mr. Positive!

Probably not this time yet but it WILL happen.

The only way out, but it's likely too late already so save the BKK area, is sophisticated water management; in other words:

* creating enormous buffer zones in mountain valleys and man-made lakes, up country where access waters can be "catched" and stored during severe floodings periods

* creating and building a network of smaller to large canals, catching the overflow from rivers to either store that water somewhere in huge man-made lakes/ponds for a period of time or release -if possible- in the gulf.

* build more dikes; thousands of kms !

Water management is the key word.

LaoPo

Edited October 20, 2010 by LaoPo

[jcon]

URGENT:

I am writing you from my underwater lair.

It has been almost 2 hours now since my home, my vehicles, my plasma TVs, and my beloved Wedgwood tablewares have been underwater.

But....

I am missing my cat. I did not have time to put on his submersible cat-suit before the flash flood arrived here in earnest at 5:01pm BKK time. I fear he may be lost, or worse, being forced to swim (he just hates swimming and I am beside myself just thinking about it).

Please, help me find my cat and deliver him to the safety of my underwater lair and his waterproof mouse-toy. He answers to ''Timmy'' but I'm not sure he can hear you over his frantic cat-paddling.

p.s. Do not come to Bangkok. You have been warned. We are underwater. I am only able to type this because I lubed my computer cables in Vaseline and WD-40 (thank you TV Motor Forum).

[LaoPo]

On top of all this, the influence of Typhoon MEGI, now over the South China Sea, coming from the Philippines and heading for China's main coast in the Hong Kong region, will be felt also.

Lots of more rain to come.

It's time Thailand should invest more and work harder on Water Management, otherwise the disaster will be immense and beyond everybodies imagination.

And, what's more: you won't be able anymore to read the news here on Thaivisa since everything will not be functioning anymore.

Total failure and collapse of the infrastructure.

The biggest threat -one day- is coming from a very serious flooding, like there is now, coming from the North and Central, in combination with an exceptional storm, blowing the water in the gulf of Thailand, pushing it to the Bangkok shores.

Both flows will meet in the Bangkok region and the disaster will be complete, forcing Thailand into the greatest misery of it's existence.

It's not a question IF, but WHEN !

LaoPo

Doom! Doom! Run away!

Megi is expected to make landfall about 250 km northeast of Hong Kong, move inland, and dissipate about 200 km north of Hong Kong. I really doubt that Megi will have any effect whatsoever in Bangkok, which would be about 2000 km to the southeast.

Current tracking model for Megi

I wrote that MEGI will land on the mainland China.

But you're mistaken to think that it won't bring substantial more rain, also in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.

MEGI will be responsible for large amounts of extra rain as you can see in this image from Wunderground.com :

http://www.wundergro...at.html#a_topad

LaoPo

[ozzydom]

Strange indeed, floods all round the place and here in my area we are still buying water because the reticulated system is short on water and farmers are still irrigating their rice.

[golferchin76]

Back in the days when I was a high school student, (that was 14-17 yrs ago) there would be flooding at Charoennakorn road whenever it rained heavily, as well as many parts of Bangkok. One time I drove to pick up my girlfriend in the morning to school, I was literally boating. The water level was so high it was at the half of my car door. When trucks of opposing traffic passed, they left wakes that hit my Mitsubishi Lancer and send the cabin sideways, the electronics came on and off I had to cancelled my pick-up plan that morning.

Till this day I still wonder why the water didn't enter my cabin , and my Lancer didn't 'jeng' in the middle of the shit hole.

Now most areas of Bangkok hardly flood, except those really low areas. Obviously the government and its contractors did do their job even though they did take money from the budget.

The cause of flooding, I personally don't believe is from a lousy waste water pipe line work, but from our beloved mother nature which is getting more pissed nearly every year. If it is going to rain 200-500mm of water every night in several provinces, as we are seeing this year, there's simply no way to stop the flood to overwhelm the waste water pipe lines (shit, in this case rain water, eventually rolls downhill to Chao Praya), especially when there's a high tide.

And I am not going to blame the co2 emission, global warming, as the main cause of our mother nature getting pissed off. This is a tropical country, monsoon hits annually, and severity of flood is rated as once per 10 years, 50 years, 100 years, 500 years and thousand years. This time it is rated as once per 50 years and of course that's going to look like shit.

Bangkokians who live in low areas expect annual flood to enter their homes. They know they can't fight with it.

It is the same as where I was originally from (Taiwan), every year we get a few nicely named typhoon visits and they create wonders. 2-3 years back I believe we had a record high of 8-9 typhoons that years. And this year only one. Sometimes super typhoons don't hurt much (in term of flood), they just cause a lot of broken windows and billboards, blown-away roofs, tiles, and shaken spirits, and happy construction companies. It is those medium and small typhoons that brought heavy moistures with them, and suddenly rain 1000mm in a matter of hours. Those kills. Also typhoon can catch you by surprise. They attack you from one side, enter the island country of Taiwan from east, and left the country at its west on its way to China, and suddenly make a full U-turn and attack the vulnerable west part of Taiwan. Roughly less than 10 years ago there was one and it was devastating.

If you leave in low areas, it is time to sandbag your main doors, and plug the pipes. And I don't believe scientists who said that Bangkok is going to sink in 10 years. Their claims are as inaccurate as stock analysts.

[purushanti]

The map available at www.zetatalk.com and the one by Gordon Michael Scallion both show, as "future maps of the world", Bangkok and more of Thailand gone, under water. One map has a good part of Thailand left; the other just acouple of parts in the south and part of the NW border. Since these things come in cycles of thosands of years, it is again natural for a cleansing to take place, and the earth needs it soon. It is a matter of consciousness, so we are told, that determines the details. Those have nothing to worry about who have individuated from the herd mentality, relinquished fear, (daily rations of which other parties provide), forgiven themselves and others, and committed to a positive service-to-others attitude. For them, everything is important, but nothing matters.

[taff33]

Before the start of the of the rice season my wife decided to use part of the rice fields to build a large pond ( about 1 rai it has an under ground spring to feed it) great ,no rain at the start of the season use the pond water to get the rice started ,now it is full to the top with the spring water and the heavy rain so I am sorry Bangkok I will have to pump it out and send it down to you :jap:

[tomyummer]

There's got to be a reason that the government moved out to Changwattana besides the Bangkok traffic and building capacities. Probably said "to hel_l with Bangkok" it's not fixable. Although I hear that Changwattana floods during heavy rains too.

[chantorn]

Flood?

I though Loy Kratong is a little early this year.

[basjke]

I got an ad for Chaopraya Dinner Cruise near the bottom of this thread. Maybe a better time spent while surrounded by water anyways.

Did it say : Chaopraya dinner cruise coming to a place near you soon?

[astral]

The worst floods in 50 years???

Country wide maybe.

Has everyone forgotten the Bangkok floods in the early and mid 1980's??

April 1986 Silom Road was under water up to Rama IV Road...........

The ground floor of my house in Sala Dang was flooded, it simply came up

through the drains......

It had rained for 36 hours solid!

[Griffo63]

Can anyone help me.

I plan to drive to Nakon Sakon from BKK today. Are the roads open?

[Deeral]

Bkk is about 1.5 meteres above sea lvel.So hide tide and sea pushed by high winds against extra flow into the delta.....could mean flooding, but hardly a surprise.

[HakimKlunker]

About a year and a half ago my niece, who was 12 at the time, was reading something, and then came and told me she was scared. I asked her why and she said that according to what she was reading, which was supposed to be a very old Buddhist text, that in the year 2053 that BKK would be "lost to the sea" and be completely gone. She didn't care about BKK, but was worried about what might happen in Chiang Mai if that did happen. I told her we'd be fine.

Do not worry: That was 500 years ago!

[SAMCHAROEN]

Can anyone help me.

I plan to drive to Nakon Sakon from BKK today. Are the roads open?

Nakon Sakon?

[Just1Voice]

About a year and a half ago my niece, who was 12 at the time, was reading something, and then came and told me she was scared. I asked her why and she said that according to what she was reading, which was supposed to be a very old Buddhist text, that in the year 2053 that BKK would be "lost to the sea" and be completely gone. She didn't care about BKK, but was worried about what might happen in Chiang Mai if that did happen. I told her we'd be fine.

Do not worry: That was 500 years ago!

Typo on my part. Should have been 2553.

[webfact]

Bangkok in race against convergence of flood risk factors

Follow this link:

[bitterbatter]

Yes, that's why the flash ad is automatically switched on :

BUY BOATS ON THIS CLASSIFIED ADS SITE>>>

Just a funny touch to a grim news...

My Google ads while reading this news brought up the ad

Bangkok Dinner Cruise

www.changthaitravel.com/dinner

Bangkok dinner cruise along Chaophraya river, Special Price!

So this was yesterday? darn it! I was down near the river drinking a beer and didn't realize I was in the middle of a flood. I have to start checking Thai Visa news more regularly so I can notice when I am the middle of a disaster.

[kutjebu]

There may be flooding, but I doubt it will be worse today than flooding that has been experienced in Bangkok in the past. I remember hearing stories of swimming on Sukhumwit!

I've always somehow avoided them (knock on wood), but I agree with LaoPo that it is a "when", not "if", scenario. Every year we talk about how they should expand the city sewer system, manage the khlongs better, and stop people from clogging up the sewers with their garbage and cooking refuse (all those street stalls pouring hot fat, etc down the sewers). Every year, nothing gets done.

I still think that Thailand would be smart to follow Malaysia, and create a new capital somewhere that won't sink and is on higher ground. At least infrastructure can be maintained where it will be needed to coordinate a response if everywhere else goes down.

What about Amsterdam,20 ft below sealevel without any problems?

[mommysboy]

I know Bangkok's a big place, but here at Rachada it hasn't rained much you wouldn't know there is a big problem!

[tinsom]

HELLO<BR><BR>what happened o the fash floods we was supposed to get at 5pm wed now friday and they still not arrive<BR>some one must have got there forcast wrong i live close to paknam in town called prakasa and am surrounded by two cnals one river and paknam would be <BR>first to ge flooding not noticed any significant rise in water levels so eiher forecast wrong or water ha been sucked up into atmosphere<BR><BR>before people give these severe weather warning they should do their sums correct to begin with<BR>

[TackyToo]

On top of all this, the influence of Typhoon MEGI, now over the South China Sea, coming from the Philippines and heading for China's main coast in the Hong Kong region, will be felt also.

Lots of more rain to come.

It's time Thailand should invest more and work harder on Water Management, otherwise the disaster will be immense and beyond everybodies imagination.

And, what's more: you won't be able anymore to read the news here on Thaivisa since everything will not be functioning anymore.

Total failure and collapse of the infrastructure.

The biggest threat -one day- is coming from a very serious flooding, like there is now, coming from the North and Central, in combination with an exceptional storm, blowing the water in the gulf of Thailand, pushing it to the Bangkok shores.

Both flows will meet in the Bangkok region and the disaster will be complete, forcing Thailand into the greatest misery of it's existence.

It's not a question IF, but WHEN !

LaoPo

You are absolutely right!

To start with, building a capital in a well known and designated swamp area, then build concrete and asphalt roads where natural canals used to be was not a smart idea! Building dams that only cater the needs of some already filthy rich people for their mega-farming projects was not too smart either. Ignoring well known facts about weather and global warming, just to keep developer prices on a pre-desaster level do the rest to make this city a true Venice of the east.

[JetsetBkk]

On top of all this, the influence of Typhoon MEGI, now over the South China Sea, coming from the Philippines and heading for China's main coast in the Hong Kong region, will be felt also.

Lots of more rain to come.

It's time Thailand should invest more and work harder on Water Management, otherwise the disaster will be immense and beyond everybodies imagination.

And, what's more: you won't be able anymore to read the news here on Thaivisa since everything will not be functioning anymore.

Total failure and collapse of the infrastructure.

The biggest threat -one day- is coming from a very serious flooding, like there is now, coming from the North and Central, in combination with an exceptional storm, blowing the water in the gulf of Thailand, pushing it to the Bangkok shores.

Both flows will meet in the Bangkok region and the disaster will be complete, forcing Thailand into the greatest misery of it's existence.

It's not a question IF, but WHEN !

LaoPo

You are absolutely right!

To start with, building a capital in a well known and designated swamp area, then build concrete and asphalt roads where natural canals used to be was not a smart idea! Building dams that only cater the needs of some already filthy rich people for their mega-farming projects was not too smart either. Ignoring well known facts about weather and global warming, just to keep developer prices on a pre-desaster level do the rest to make this city a true Venice of the east.

Please stop implying that the "developers" knew what they were doing. People came here, so they built houses and roads, and made money. Rain? Water? Yes, great, we need that! Floods? No problem, we'll build drains. Project complete.

[LivinLOS]

On top of all this, the influence of Typhoon MEGI, now over the South China Sea, coming from the Philippines and heading for China's main coast in the Hong Kong region, will be felt also.

Lots of more rain to come.

It's time Thailand should invest more and work harder on Water Management, otherwise the disaster will be immense and beyond everybodies imagination.

And, what's more: you won't be able anymore to read the news here on Thaivisa since everything will not be functioning anymore.

Total failure and collapse of the infrastructure.

The biggest threat -one day- is coming from a very serious flooding, like there is now, coming from the North and Central, in combination with an exceptional storm, blowing the water in the gulf of Thailand, pushing it to the Bangkok shores.

Both flows will meet in the Bangkok region and the disaster will be complete, forcing Thailand into the greatest misery of it's existence.

It's not a question IF, but WHEN !

LaoPo

Doom! Doom! Run away!

Megi is expected to make landfall about 250 km northeast of Hong Kong, move inland, and dissipate about 200 km north of Hong Kong. I really doubt that Megi will have any effect whatsoever in Bangkok, which would be about 2000 km to the southeast.

Current tracking model for Megi

I wrote that MEGI will land on the mainland China.

But you're mistaken to think that it won't bring substantial more rain, also in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.

MEGI will be responsible for large amounts of extra rain as you can see in this image from Wunderground.com :

http://www.wundergro...at.html#a_topad

LaoPo

Will it also not be worth keeping an eye on giri ??

At least for the downstream effects ??

[Deeral]

On top of all this, the influence of Typhoon MEGI, now over the South China Sea, coming from the Philippines and heading for China's main coast in the Hong Kong region, will be felt also.

Lots of more rain to come.

It's time Thailand should invest more and work harder on Water Management, otherwise the disaster will be immense and beyond everybodies imagination.

And, what's more: you won't be able anymore to read the news here on Thaivisa since everything will not be functioning anymore.

Total failure and collapse of the infrastructure.

The biggest threat -one day- is coming from a very serious flooding, like there is now, coming from the North and Central, in combination with an exceptional storm, blowing the water in the gulf of Thailand, pushing it to the Bangkok shores.

Both flows will meet in the Bangkok region and the disaster will be complete, forcing Thailand into the greatest misery of it's existence.

It's not a question IF, but WHEN !

LaoPo

You are absolutely right!

To start with, building a capital in a well known and designated swamp area, then build concrete and asphalt roads where natural canals used to be was not a smart idea! Building dams that only cater the needs of some already filthy rich people for their mega-farming projects was not too smart either. Ignoring well known facts about weather and global warming, just to keep developer prices on a pre-desaster level do the rest to make this city a true Venice of the east.

Please stop implying that the "developers" knew what they were doing. People came here, so they built houses and roads, and made money. Rain? Water? Yes, great, we need that! Floods? No problem, we'll build drains. Project complete.

The information regarding the development of Bkk has been around for decades - even centuries - the results are know through experience else where - developers had access to this info and chose to ignore it.

things don't "just happen" there are reasons and causes....and in Thailand often this involves greed, graft and corruption......and seldom an eye for the future.