Poor City Planning Blamed For Aggravating Thailand Flood Crisis

[webfact]

FLOOD CHAOS

Poor city planning blamed for aggravating flood crisis

By Chularat Saengpassa,

Pongphon Sarnsamak

The Nation

With many provinces hit by the worst flooding in decades, analysts have pointed to many flaws that - if removed - could have averted or reduced the scale of the disaster.

Poor coordination among relevant authorities and inefficient city planning were named as key flaws.

"A provincial governor should have synchronised efforts to prevent floods," Dr Seree Supharatid, head of the Sirindhorn International Environmental Park's Energy for Environment Centre, said yesterday.

Seree said three agencies - the Meteorological Department, the Royal Irrigation Department and the Hydrographic Department - had information that could be used in planning to prevent floods.

"Provincial governors should bring them together and determine the risk. If the risk is high, people should be warned well in advance," Seree said. "The provincial governors know best about their provinces. They must be key men in this aspect."

Seree said poor town planning should take some of the blame for the ongoing flooding also. Urban development in many cities like Chiang Mai and Nakhon Ratchasima had spilt out in a disorderly manner.

"Many structures block water flow," Seree said, explaining why floodwater could not quickly drain after heavy downpours.

He said the heart of Chiang Mai could stay dry even if there was close 100 millimetres of rain two decades ago.

"But that's not the case anymore. Now, with just 60 millimetres of rain, the city of Chiang Mai is under water."

Seree said the problem was not restricted to Chiang Mai - it was the same in many other big cities.

Hydro and Agro Infomatics Institute's director Dr Royon Jitdorn also pointed out that Nakhon Ratchasima town used to have moats and canals to accommodate rainfall and facilitate rainfall.

"But today, the physical landscape in the town has completely changed," he said. "Now, Nakhon Ratchasima is full of floodwater."

Seree said the government should get a particular agency to seriously study the links between town planning and flooding. "A study is necessary to tackle the problem in the long run," he said.

Asst Prof Sombat Yomoung, director of Chulalongkorn University's Geo Informatics for Thailand, believed the government should take into account water management in small river basins also.

"It's not adequate to look at just big basins. We need to look at the overall picture," he said.

"If we had all information about the amount of water from each area like when rain falls in Nakhon Ratchasima or somewhere else, we can send early warning messages to alert people immediately [of problems] and they would have time to evacuate and protect themselves from flooding," he said.

For example, heavy rain had fallen in Nakhon Ratchasima over the past two weeks and there was information about the total amount of water in two dams located in the province - Lam Ta Khong and Lam Phra Ploeng - but no one could tell the public when floods might occur or when and where water from flash floods might flow.

"We had nothing and it was very hard to make a plan to stop people's homes being flooded," he said.

The flood that hit Nakhon Ratchasima, especially the downtown area, occurred, Sombat said "because of the location" and the poor provincial plan which saw the city built in an area that was vulnerable to flooding. Also, the Lam Ta Khong River passed through the downtown area.

However, this was rebutted by Anukool Saengthongchai of the Department of Public Works and Town and Country Planning, who rejected that poor town planning was a cause of the ongoing serious flooding.

"The main cause of the floods is a very huge amount of rainfall," he said.

He believed the construction of a stadium in Nakhon Ratchasima's Muang district, which blocked water flow, was just a minor factor.

Anukool revealed that his agency would develop a 3D map of Nakhon Ratchasima within a year in a bid to better regulate urban development in the future.

-- The Nation 2010-10-26

[hkt83100]

If only the people would stop covering every square inch of free terrain around their houses with concrete it would help tremendously. In addition stop to cover the hills (for example here it Phuket) and cut down all vegetation, which holds on the ground and keep the earth from sliding, it might be even better. Once all hills are used to fill the land, Thailand will be one flat area covered with muddy water. I don't want to see this happen.

[marquess]

[font="Book Antiqua"]However, this was rebutted by Anukool Saengthongchai of the Department of Public Works and Town and Country Planning, who rejected that poor town planning was a cause of the ongoing serious flooding.

"The main cause of the floods is a very huge amount of rainfall," he said.[/font]

The above to some extent is true, but I think that Anukook has missed the point the article stated that Chaing Mai receive 40% more rainfall two decades ago and did not flood. But I suppose that planning and management are perhaps slightly obnxious words to the Work Dept, the probaly just do things and think later!

Edited October 26, 2010 by marquess

[geriatrickid]

If only the people would stop covering every square inch of free terrain around their houses with concrete it would help tremendously. In addition stop to cover the hills (for example here it Phuket) and cut down all vegetation, which holds on the ground and keep the earth from sliding, it might be even better. Once all hills are used to fill the land, Thailand will be one flat area covered with muddy water. I don't want to see this happen.

Your heart is in the right place, but it's futile hoping the governments do something substantive. Remember the landslides on Nanai? First was 27-Oct-2007, then 15-July-2008 killing 3 Burmese workers, and then this thread http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/282902-heavy-rains-in-phuket-cause-landslide/ It's deja-vu all over again. Once these floods are over, it will be business as usual.

[rubl]

Poor city planning blamed for aggravating flood crisis

This suggests there WAS planning. Are we talking about the same Thailand ?

[Thai at Heart]

With land having to be raised for construction, but often the lowest lying land being the cheapest, it is a race to the highest point for new construction, which then changes the path of flood water.

Plopping moobhans onto low lying land with 2 or 3 metres of land fill will continue to cause problems unless it is planned correctly.

So who is going to tell the constructors that they can't build their new moobhans on the land that they have in their hands already because it will flood their neighbours?

[Zolt]

Poor city planning blamed for aggravating flood crisis

I have yet to see evidence of any planning being done in the first place.