Thai Flood Victims Learned Hard Lesson In March Devastation

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Flood victims learned hard lesson in March devastation

By Pongphon Sarnsamak

The Nation

Nakhon Srithmmarat - Krabi

Since a flash flood and severe landslide hit the Southern provinces five months ago - damaging houses, farms and public facilities - villagers have begun to learn how to live in harmony with nature and prepare for its disasters.

In March, heavy torrential rain led to severe flash flooding and landslides which destroyed hundred of homes in Krabi province's Ban Ton Harn village, located near Phanom Benja mountain.

"They came very quickly. I fled the flash flood to save my life but I could not save my home," Pranee Rakbamrung, a 62-year-old villager in Tambon Nha Khao's Ban Ton Harn village said.

She ran to a higher place and was stranded on the hill for eight hours.The flooding and landslides swallowed her house and destroyed 136 other dwellings in the village within an hour.

" I just stood still and could not do anything to save my home," she said. "It was totally submerged in flood water."

Roads, bridges, and public facilities, rubber and palm oil farms were totally destroyed. Even though the destruction took place five months ago, the horror of that night still haunts Pranee every time the rain begins to fall.

" I am still not sure about what will happen," she said. "I am so scared."

Sujin Lianloi, 49, resident of Nakhon Si Thammarat province's Ban Phian Bon village, also saw her house ruined in March, and she too still fears the sound of rain.

Flooding and landslides from Dai Mountain, near Ban Phian Bon, destroyed her kitchen and eroded 3 rai of her land.

According to the Mineral Resources Department, Ban Phian Bon is listed as one of eight villages in Nakhon Si Thammarat located in landslide risk areas.

" I have to tell my children to run away as fast as they can when heavy rain begins to fall and threaten flash floods," she said.

Since the floods in March, many damaged houses and public facilities -- including roads and bridges- have yet to be restored. Thousands of huge stones cannot be moved.

The authorities reported the flooding and landslides were caused by torrential heavy rain deluging large areas of deforested lands on a mountain near the villages.

To avoid future casualties, local authorities have asked some villagers to relocate to less threatened areas.

Pranee has moved to a village three kilometres from her old home - while Sujin decided to pay out Bt150,00 to build a concrete embankment around her house near the river.

" I just want to spend one more year living here. If the situation gets worse, I will make my decision whether to stay here or move away," Sujin said.

Lerdsin Raksasakulwong, director of the Mineral Resources Department's Geology Office, admitted it was difficult to persuade local villagers to relocate to safer areas as they worried about their old lands.

The only thing his agency can do is teach villagers how to watch for landslides by using gauges to measure rainfall.

" If the amount of rainfall exceeds 45 millilitres within 24 hours, that means they have to evacuate to safer places," he said.

The agency also gave them a landslide risk area map which shows them where to evacuate to.

Aree Kiddee, 46, from Ban Phian Bon, is a volunteer who measures rainfall. She said even though her bottle gauge can tell her about the amount of rainfall and the alert level, when heavy rain begins to fall there are no mobile phones to send out early warning messages to villagers.

"In a practical way, I could not inform anybody in village," she said.

-- The Nation 2011-07-22

[animatic]

There is a reason so many homes are traditionally built off the ground, and it's not just for snakes. It seems the historical ways of doing things are ignored more these days. Not to mention bad logging and land use practices.

[jaltsc]

I live in the north, but if the practices here are any indication of what is done in the rest of Thailand, it is not too difficult to see why the devastation was worse than it should have been. The local villagers wait to sandbag the rivers and streams until the water has risen over the banks and has started flooding the land. It would make more sense to do this in the dry season when an adequate foundation could be established in preparation for the wet season. This happens every single year, and every year there are the same results...Maximum flooding.

Also...For some reason it seems that eliminating all signs of natural vegetation is aesthetic and practical. The first thing that is done when building a guest house/resort is to rip out all the trees, grasses, and other vegetation. Then the structures are built upon nothing but loose soil. At the first torrential downpour, the whole side of the property is washed down the gully.

Again, these are standard practices and I doubt very much that the flood victims have learned their "hard" lesson this year since this was not the first time that this lesson has been taught. It appears that a lack of learning and willingness to change traditional practices is the main culprit here.

[edgarfriendly]

its the rains fault.

how dare anyone blame the poor hardworking diligent hard lesson learning locals....?

shame on you....

ef