Thai floods leave 181 dead

BANGKOK, November 9, 2010 (AFP) - Severe flooding in Thailand has left 181 people dead over the past month, the authorities said Tuesday.

The government estimates that 7.8 million people have been affected, mainly in the northeast and south, with homes submerged and farmland damaged in what Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has described as "a huge natural calamity".

Fifty-one of Thailand's 76 provinces have been hit but the waters have now subsided in many areas, officials said.

In southern Songkhla province, where waters several metres high in places swept through the major city of Hat Yai last week, 26 people were killed.

Thousands of soldiers were dispatched to the area to help people stranded in their homes in the city of more than 150,000 people, popular with tourists from Singapore and Malaysia.

Bangkok has been on standby but has so far avoided major flooding.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2010-11-09

Uhhhhhhhh  I seem to recall that it floods every year here in Thailand, just some years worse than others. Hmmmm let see, how about  A FLOOD RESPONSE PLAN !!! Perhaps government officials should take some time off from selecting a new mia noi, and get to work on that plan before the floods of next year... 

  What a senseless tragedy, my sympathies to all those affected. Cynic that I am, I suppose if the mansions of the wealthy elite in Bangkok were being flooded, the scope of the response by the government would no doubt would be amazing !!  

Considering the fact that approx. 50% of the country experienced flooding, the mortality reported is excellent, Obviously, it is not excellent in respect to the suffering and pain that has occurred, but it is excellent when compared to events in similar catastrophes elsewhere. Bear in mind that deaths attached to the flooding events are not necessarily a direct result of drowning, electrocution injury etc. Some of those that have died were vulnerable and at high risk to start with. Compare the current situation to that seen in Pakistan or Haiti. Can Thailand really be criticized? Yes, some of the planning and the response was deficient, but in terms of wholesale negligence or dereliction of responsibilities, I think not. Again, I point to how the Thai people have carried themselves in this catastrophe, Has anyone seen the selfishness, panic, ingratitude, and mob savagery as has been seen in Pakistan or Haiti? It hasn't been a perfect response, but I think Thailand has done okay so far.

The big battle will start with the looming public health crisis and of course the environmental disaster unfolding that no one wants to recognize. All the petrochemicals, waste and poisonous sustances that have been floating around and that will now contaminate the water table and farmland. The flooding will leave a poisonous legacy.