Thai Govt Blasted For Mishandling Flood Crisis, Lack Of Planning

[webfact]

FLOODS

Govt blasted for mishandling crisis, lack of planning

By The Nation

A flood-management expert yesterday criticised the government for mishandling relief operations and failing to carry out preventive measures before the flooding across the country reached a critical level.

Phornphilai Lertwicha, a Thailand Research Fund (TRF) researcher, said the heavy flooding in Nakhon Ratchasima, which is on a plateau in the Northeast, was a testimony to the government's failures.

"Flooding on a plateau is a difficult occurrence by nature. This shows that the government has done nothing to prevent it," she said.

She said some flood management and action plans had been carried out at the national level, "but during this government's term, we have not witnessed any clear-cut action, despite annual flooding in Thailand. We never learn any lessons, and we let it happen, over and over."

Responding to her statements, secretary to the prime minister Korbsak Sabhavasu said the government had thought about setting up a war room to handle flood management. "But we are worried about natural slow progress and red tape through the bureaucracy after it is set up.

"Now we are thinking about how to shorten the process and increase the speed of work. I admit that the problems get worse because there is no host agency to take care of them, which should be directly under the Interior Ministry's supervision," he said.

Delivery of relief supplies and aid money is continuing, but largely through efforts of the private sector and the media, which initiated donation campaigns before the authorities followed suit. But when it comes to regulations on handling donated money, the PM's Office Ministry is having problems with the Bt90 million it has in hand.

Permanent secretary Juturong Panyadilok said: "It will be clearer next week how the money will be given to flood victims" under disbursement regulations.

A Government House source said there had not been any discussion or meeting to discuss payment conditions or speedy delivery of donated money to cope with urgent needs.

The main responsibility for flood management had been assigned by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to former deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban, but after his resignation to take part in a by-election campaign, Abhisit was too busy with other tasks. "No one in the government is now dealing with the flooding," the source said.

-- The Nation 2010-10-23

[dumball]

So PM Abhisit is 'Too busy ' with 'Other things ' to show concern for the citizens of Thailand that are suffering with the worst floods in 50 years , this after being commended by the UN for their diligence in just such a disaster , the government would find it difficult to even know how best tho allocate the 50 million disaster fund . Pray tell me one thing the government of Thailand can do in an organised manner , oh , I know , feed at the trough of plenty .

[hmj]

"But we are worried about natural slow progress and red tape through the bureaucracy after it is set up."

What a lovely way to say "corruption".

[siampolee]

The rainy season has been occurring for centuries. Yet not one government has done one thing to alleviate the problem of flooding,. Money has never been diverted to this problem and as usual its a great wringing of hands and the wailing and gnashing of teeth when people suffer from flooding.

Crocodile tears from the powers that be. Politicians over the years have lined their pockets at the expense of Somchai and Portip Thai, the average man and woman in the street.

The fault is not of this government, it is the failure of successive politicians over the years to implement plans to alleviate the problems that are to blame.

Of course the kudos gained by the local, ' I paid for my seat M.P.' handing out meagre supplies of food to those affected with a smile or should I say smirk upon his or her face secures his or her place in the seat of corruption and self enrichment for yet another period of time.

No ., the politicians do not want a solution as it may well interfere with their personal cash flow.

Edited October 23, 2010 by siampolee

[asiawatcher]

"... "Flooding on a plateau is a difficult occurrence by nature. This shows that the government has done nothing to prevent it," she said."

Never could understand the logic of a woman - so won't even bother! Maybe she thinks the Government is a god and can direct nature.

[geriatrickid]

It's not going to be a happy year for some regions. Looks like Thailand is going to have one heck of a flood of cholera, malaria and dengue once the floods and rains do their job. It's one of those things that you can see coming, slowly, bringing more misery. The government is going to have to prepare an action plan shortly to stay ahead of the expected health crisis.

[LikeHeat]

It is easy to criticise, but my question would be "If this lady is such an EXPERT, why did she not have a plan and why was she not trying to get the Government to do something before there was trouble?" Or could even such a GREAT expert not foresee this happening? Maybe it is more difficult than she thinks.

I bet she is paid full time but does she only earn her wage when there is a disaster and she can criticise the Government? In short, is she a political person with an environmental speciality, or is she an expert who can user her expertise to try and help people. It would be a great shame if she was merely an expert trying to use her great knowledge to make the Government look bad. Such a waste of knowledge if it is.

[samjaidee]

"... "Flooding on a plateau is a difficult occurrence by nature. This shows that the government has done nothing to prevent it," she said."

Never could understand the logic of a woman - so won't even bother! Maybe she thinks the Government is a god and can direct nature.

I think you misread the quote. She said the government had done nothing to prevent flooding not rainfall.

Obviously it is not possible to prevent rainfall but it could be possible to prevent flooding, don't you think?

[Deez]

It is easy to criticise, but my question would be "If this lady is such an EXPERT, why did she not have a plan and why was she not trying to get the Government to do something before there was trouble?" Or could even such a GREAT expert not foresee this happening? Maybe it is more difficult than she thinks.

I bet she is paid full time but does she only earn her wage when there is a disaster and she can criticise the Government? In short, is she a political person with an environmental speciality, or is she an expert who can user her expertise to try and help people. It would be a great shame if she was merely an expert trying to use her great knowledge to make the Government look bad. Such a waste of knowledge if it is.

She doesnt claim to be a "flood expert". She is a researcher which means she does research and reports. If a reporter reports on a murder is it their job to solve it?

[sabai-dee-man]

But when it comes to regulations on handling donated money, the PM's Office Ministry is having problems with the Bt90 million it has in hand.

Too busy worrying about divvying the ฿90m to worry about those truly in need!

[deadbloke]

"despite annual flooding in Thailand. We never learn any lessons, and we let it happen, over and over."

Hardly unexpected.... the latter part being applicable to just about everything here!

[animatic]

I am sure of course that

Phornphilai Lertwicha, a Thailand Research Fund (TRF) researcher

in her research, predicted that

10% of yearly rainfall would come down daily for 6 days running.

Of course she did.

Since it must be the country's governments fault for not predicting this.

Easy to through out sound bites like this, but not so easy to predict the weather....

At equal or greater fault is the man made structures and lack of ANY LOCAL PLANNING and consideration of wetlands usage and drainage run off structures. Who OK'd this sports area in the middle of a catchment reservoir????

An one must wonder who finances the TRF?

Of course no one expected that the world weather system would be going more haywired and simultaneously that human progress would concurrently close off natural drainage to such a global extent, that devastating flooding occurs with less than the usual warning.

Edited October 23, 2010 by animatic

[Foggy Bottom]

She's almost right in one respect ...

Here on the northwest side of Korat City, we're about 5 Km as the crow flies from the edge of the city. Scuttlebut all over the village, and from relatives who live in the city, is that about 6 hours prior to an almost tsunami crashing through the fields and village, the city waterboard opened the flood gates at the big city centre reservoir just out from the south west corner of the moat.

From there to us is downhill all the way, sometimes in manmade channels, sometimes between folds in the land. I've not had contour maps and stuff out to check water paths and stuff, but I do know this much - as a village, we were completely cut off from the city for 24 hours, and even 36 hours after the rain had stopped, several stretches of the primary roads in to us were still under water too deep for anything but a 4x4 with very jacked suspension to get through.

From the end of the rains, it was not until the third day that I could get into town on the motorbike, and many of the fields to the city's side of the country roads looked like lakes - you couldn't even see the rice tips. The main klong from the city out through our district was full to a good 4 metres+ above normal wet season levels, and still overflowing across the bridge that spans it - it's a big klong, well wider than the city moat and five times as deep from bottom to top of the banks.

She got it almost right - it wasn't that the government had no flood relief plans - they did have ONE - save the reservoir's dam at all costs - don't let the water build up enough to collapse or overflow it, and to hel_l with the downstream villages.

If they'd started a gradual water-level easing on the second day of the six-day rains, then maybe our local farmers would still have crops in the fields, and there wouldn't be so many lost or damaged homes.

Fortunately there were no fatalities in our village - they can be a militant bunch when roused.

[animatic]

River delta's such as this flood naturally.

But man has been modifying the routes this natural flooding can take, on the local levels, so much that most exits for the overflow are no blocked. To revers this trend would require massive application of Eminent Domain statutes to reclaim land and then destroy structuresa in the way of noatural drainage. And of course can you imagine the headaches involved and the committee debates to get something like this done?

[rreddin]

It's not going to be a happy year for some regions. Looks like Thailand is going to have one heck of a flood of cholera, malaria and dengue once the floods and rains do their job. It's one of those things that you can see coming, slowly, bringing more misery. The government is going to have to prepare an action plan shortly to stay ahead of the expected health crisis.

If I have read the posts correctly, as well as related threads, The PM is too busy "doing other things", the Deputy PM who had responsibility resigned to fight a bye-election so there is nobody "in charge" of the situation. Added to which, the so called "war room" is only for dealing with floods in BKK. Conclusion: "The government is going to have to prepare an action plan shortly to stay ahead of the expected health crisis" is not going to happen. Two phrases come to mind, "dereliction of duty" and "TIT".

[animatic]

She's almost right in one respect ...

Here on the northwest side of Korat City, we're about 5 Km as the crow flies from the edge of the city. Scuttlebut all over the village, and from relatives who live in the city, is that about 6 hours prior to an almost tsunami crashing through the fields and village, the city waterboard opened the flood gates at the big city centre reservoir just out from the south west corner of the moat.

From there to us is downhill all the way, sometimes in manmade channels, sometimes between folds in the land. I've not had contour maps and stuff out to check water paths and stuff, but I do know this much - as a village, we were completely cut off from the city for 24 hours, and even 36 hours after the rain had stopped, several stretches of the primary roads in to us were still under water too deep for anything but a 4x4 with very jacked suspension to get through.

From the end of the rains, it was not until the third day that I could get into town on the motorbike, and many of the fields to the city's side of the country roads looked like lakes - you couldn't even see the rice tips. The main klong from the city out through our district was full to a good 4 metres+ above normal wet season levels, and still overflowing across the bridge that spans it - it's a big klong, well wider than the city moat and five times as deep from bottom to top of the banks.

She got it almost right - it wasn't that the government had no flood relief plans - they did have ONE - save the reservoir's dam at all costs - don't let the water build up enough to collapse or overflow it, and to hel_l with the downstream villages.

If they'd started a gradual water-level easing on the second day of the six-day rains, then maybe our local farmers would still have crops in the fields, and there wouldn't be so many lost or damaged homes.

Fortunately there were no fatalities in our village - they can be a militant bunch when roused.

That charge has been denied. The water board said this was over flow spillage. 60% of YEARLY water fall arrived in 6 days, far from typical.

Of course if the dams broke the flooding would have been much more devastating. So likely this is scuttlebutt, and not fact.

But it feeds nicely to the sense of village anger.

And one can easily imagine that PTP or red leaders would feed this out

to embarrass the government. Rumors are the cheapest form of free political advertising.

Edited October 23, 2010 by animatic

[animatic]

It's not going to be a happy year for some regions. Looks like Thailand is going to have one heck of a flood of cholera, malaria and dengue once the floods and rains do their job. It's one of those things that you can see coming, slowly, bringing more misery. The government is going to have to prepare an action plan shortly to stay ahead of the expected health crisis.

If I have read the posts correctly, as well as related threads, The PM is too busy "doing other things", the Deputy PM who had responsibility resigned to fight a bye-election so there is nobody "in charge" of the situation. Added to which, the so called "war room" is only for dealing with floods in BKK. Conclusion: "The government is going to have to prepare an action plan shortly to stay ahead of the expected health crisis" is not going to happen. Two phrases come to mind, "dereliction of duty" and "TIT".

Of course the reds say that The Nation is totally pro government,

yet this accusation is in The Nation.

Go figure.

[JetsetBkk]

The main responsibility for flood management had been assigned by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to former deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban, but after his resignation to take part in a by-election campaign, Abhisit was too busy with other tasks.

So the responsibility "fell between two stools".

- "stools" being very apt in this case.

[Buchholz]

It is easy to criticise, but my question would be "If this lady is such an EXPERT, why did she not have a plan and why was she not trying to get the Government to do something before there was trouble?" Or could even such a GREAT expert not foresee this happening? Maybe it is more difficult than she thinks.

I bet she is paid full time but does she only earn her wage when there is a disaster and she can criticise the Government? In short, is she a political person with an environmental speciality, or is she an expert who can user her expertise to try and help people. It would be a great shame if she was merely an expert trying to use her great knowledge to make the Government look bad. Such a waste of knowledge if it is.

She doesnt claim to be a "flood expert". She is a researcher which means she does research and reports. If a reporter reports on a murder is it their job to solve it?

"Researcher" in what field of study? Sociology? Her book isn't on geology or meteorology.

Pornpilai Lertwicha. (1998). Thai Village Culture.

[philhal2]

There isnt a nation on this planet that does not have fatalities and issues from crisis that occur almost daily throughout occupied lands . Yes we can always point the finger , but rarely do we say , I accept responsibility for where I chose to build my house or start my farm or business . I was the one who decided to take my motorbike or car through a flooded waterway or crossover , with no experience or knowledge or even attempting to understand that this might be dangerous . It was me that did not decide that it might be time to travel quickly to a safer place . It would have been good had I made the effort to tell all my neighbours who dont have a TV , Radio or Telephone , that I had heard it might be dangerous for us to stay here , Perhaps if I had experience of this type of thing before , I should go and tell everyone near that it would be a good idea for us to take some preventative action . NO I dont think it is anything to do with me , it is not up to me to do anything or to be responsible for myself or my neighbours safety in any way , I know that it is some one elses responsibility , """ agh yes it must be the GOVERNMENT , everything else is their fault , this must be also .

[billd766]

But of course it would never of happened if Thaksin and the TRT were in charge of the government would it?

Just a minute Issan is the heart of the Red shirts and TRT was in power from 2001 to 2006.

Perhaps they should have done something.

[ibiklaus]

"But we are worried about natural slow progress and red tape through the bureaucracy after it is set up."

What a lovely way to say "corruption".

Thats a good one,i like that!!!!

[Pib]

We need to understand that disaster planing for flooding is a hard thing to do for the govt as the flooding doesn't start on the same day each year...sometimes if varies by weeks...how could anyone plan for that! (Yea, I'm being sarcastic).

Disaster planning takes real effort; therefore, it may be beyond the capacity of the govt.

[BwindiBoy]

There isnt a nation on this planet that does not have fatalities and issues from crisis that occur almost daily throughout occupied lands . Yes we can always point the finger , but rarely do we say , I accept responsibility for where I chose to build my house or start my farm or business . I was the one who decided to take my motorbike or car through a flooded waterway or crossover , with no experience or knowledge or even attempting to understand that this might be dangerous . It was me that did not decide that it might be time to travel quickly to a safer place . It would have been good had I made the effort to tell all my neighbours who dont have a TV , Radio or Telephone , that I had heard it might be dangerous for us to stay here , Perhaps if I had experience of this type of thing before , I should go and tell everyone near that it would be a good idea for us to take some preventative action . NO I dont think it is anything to do with me , it is not up to me to do anything or to be responsible for myself or my neighbours safety in any way , I know that it is some one elses responsibility , """ agh yes it must be the GOVERNMENT , everything else is their fault , this must be also .

Like it - you hit the nail on the head.

The only potential failing is that they now need to ensure an effective relief operation...but we see from delays elsewhere, e.g. Haiti, Pakistan, that is not always immediately achievable.

[tomyummer]

Hey, let's give the government some slack. They're still deciding on the Minister of Floods and Disasters.

[rubl]

There has been flooding in the central plains for ages. With 'progress' and no consistent plan to prevent, floods have increased. Blame the Thai 'mai pen rai' cultural tread.

By December all will be forgotten again. At least by the MP's, Ministry of Interior, etc. There will be another crisis asking for attention, like the 15+ millions tourists taking over Thailand and demanding their beer even on Thai holidays

[seaeagle]

Since Patong has just won a UN award for disaster planning, maybe the Patong mayor and his team should fly up and take control.

[sunanta]

"But we are worried about natural slow progress and red tape through the bureaucracy after it is set up."

What a lovely way to say "corruption".

wow b90 million?? new harleys? for the elected ones

[dighambara]

The rainy season has been occurring for centuries. Yet not one government has done one thing to alleviate the problem of flooding,. Money has never been diverted to this problem and as usual its a great wringing of hands and the wailing and gnashing of teeth when people suffer from flooding.

Crocodile tears from the powers that be. Politicians over the years have lined their pockets at the expense of Somchai and Portip Thai, the average man and woman in the street.

The fault is not of this government, it is the failure of successive politicians over the years to implement plans to alleviate the problems that are to blame.

Of course the kudos gained by the local, ' I paid for my seat M.P.' handing out meagre supplies of food to those affected with a smile or should I say smirk upon his or her face secures his or her place in the seat of corruption and self enrichment for yet another period of time.

No ., the politicians do not want a solution as it may well interfere with their personal cash flow.

However, it seems that everyone has missed the obvious.

For a century, Thailand has been stripping forests, only to now buy trees from Burma and Laos. Deforestation does not allow rain water to seep into the ground, but forces it run off into the rivers. Naturally, with deforestation, the flood season worsens over time. Add in that coastal cities were built on alluvial deposits, often without proper support and that produces a sinking city.

I remember living on the outskirts of Bangkok (1969), in a house that was on posts and stood about 2 feet above the ground. On a return visit in 1973, I was surprised to find the house sitting on the ground.

Combine deforestation with a lack of building codes and floods are a natural byproduct...