Operation Centre Opened At Don Muang As Floods Worsen

[webfact]

Operation centre opened at Don Muang as floods worsen

The Nation

The government has set up an operation centre at Don Mueang Airport as the flooding situation in Ayutthaya worsens, forcing authorities to close a section of the Asian Highway in the province, the country's main route to the North.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra chaired a meeting at Don Mueang Airport at 10am Friday to tackle the flood crisis threatening the capital, Bangkok. The floods have largely shut down Ayutthaya, the former capital.

The centre has been set up to respond to the flooding in 28 provinces, which have claimed at least 244 lives and are affecting 7.5 million rai of land. Currently 1,215 factories in 33 provinces are under water affecting 42,000 workers.

The airport, which functions for some domestic flights, is now offering free parking for the public if their homes are at risk from flooding.

The three-storey parking building for domestic passengers and the five-storey cargo building can serve 3,000 vehicles, said acting president of the Airports of Thailand (AoT) Somchai Sawasdipol.

The floods forced a section of the Asian Highway in Ayutthaya to close yesterday and motorists to the North must use a detour to Bang Bua Thong in Nonthaburi and to Suphan Buri before returning to the Asian Highway in Chai Nat.

The flood situation in Ayutthaya worsened on Friday as more floodwater flowed through damaged dykes.

Meanwhile, flooding hit the tourist city of Pattaya on Friday after heavy rain triggered flooding on the inbound and outbound Sukhumvit Road near Pattaya. Floodwaters flowed into houses along the road and car owners had to park their vehicles on the higher roadside.

Local officials of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department are expediting drainage of the floodwater. Clogged sewers were blamed for flooding.

-- The Nation 2011-10-07

[slapout]

"clogged sewers are blamed for the flooding" With the flooded zone moving north toward the south for the past several weeks. You would think a little of the planning mentioned by the PM last week would have taken place. The 'Operation center' was not required when the north was/is flooding? Its amazing that a casual observer would have noted the use of elevated roadways by property owners for vehicular parking in potentially/flooded zones.

How groups have the foresight to plan for a way to make money on various items price differentials but cannot prepare for the failure of man made flood control procedures/equipment is a testament to the mindset of those responsible.

[culicine]

Just came down Chaiyapreuk road from Pakkret. Took over an hour to go a few kms. The road is very flooded. Fortunately cars have not yet to start breaking down. It's only going to get worse and this road might well become impassable in the next few days.

One would hope the authorities are taking note of areas of road that are being flooded, and build them up suitably. A bit of smart engineering would have stopped the problem, as the road is only a few years old.

[plumeria]

Finally, the PM gets actively involved in trying to solve the problem now that it's at her door.

Well, maybe I should downgrade that to "somewhat" involved.

Not even too little too late.

More like almost nothing, too late.

Of course, my impression could be mistaken.

Glad to see the president of the Airports of Thailand had a practical and useful and helpful suggestion to offer the local population.

[webfact]

Flood war room set to swing into action

The Nation

Representatives of numerous government agencies will start work today at the newly established Flood-Relief Operation Command in a concerted effort to help the country through one of the worst flooding crises in its recent history.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra announced the establishment of the command in a televised address last night.

"This is now a national effort," she said. "We will try to ease the flooding situation before mid-October. We have to improve the situation before another storm hits and before the seawater level rises."

To date, floods have ravaged 28 provinces and affected the lives of more than 2.69 million people. The death toll from the disaster has reached 252, and at least three people are reported missing.

While Yingluck will continue to supervise overall flood-relief operations, Justice Minister Pracha Promnok has been named director of the Flood-Relief Operation Command.

Located at Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok's Don Mueang district, the command centre was scheduled to begin operations at 8am today(Oct8).

"The command will adopt an integrative approach," Yingluck said, adding that its work would be divided between an operations and a support unit.

Science Minister Plodprasob Surassawadee will head the operations unit, working with officials in flooded provinces, the premier said. The unit's main duties are to deliver food and relief items, and to evacuate flood victims.

Transport Minister ACM Sukampol Suwannathat will head the second unit, which will support the operations unit by analysing situations, issuing alerts and taking charge of overall water management.

Yingluck expected all provincial authorities to adopt the same structure as the Flood-Relief Operation Command to facilitate their flood-relief work.

The command was set up in response to the rising floodwater levels, and follows authorities' decision not to try to protect the Asia Highway from inundation. This highway is unarguably the most important route linking the Central region to the upper part of the country.

Floodwater has now covered a long stretch of the highway's outbound lanes in Ayutthaya, which is about a one-hour drive from Bangkok.

"The flooded stretch is more than 10 kilometres long," Sukampol said.

If officials had sought to keep the Asia Highway clear of floodwater, Bangkok would have been affected, he said.

Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra yesterday insisted that his administration was capable of managing the situation in the capital and told the Pheu Thai-led government to focus its attention elsewhere.

An informed source said the decision to stop defending the Asia Highway was also taken to protect a large number of factories in Ayutthaya.

Plodprasob said soldiers and officials had been mobilised to protect the Rojana Industrial Park from inundation. "We have to protect key areas, drain floodwater and minimise the impacts on people," he said.

In the worst-hit spots, the floodwater is now a few metres deep. Many people have been forced to retreat to the second storeys of their homes because the first floor is flooded.

Yingluck yesterday urged people not to ignore evacuation orders when issued in their areas.

"I understand that people are worried about their houses. But at evacuation centres, they will be provided food and care," she said.

Speaking in his capacity as the head of the 24/7 Emergency Operations Centre for Floods, Storms and Landslides, Phranai Suwannarat disclosed that the Bhumibol Dam in Tak was now releasing more than 100 million cubic metres of water each day.

"The water from the dam will reach the lower Central region in the next seven days. Overflows will thus worsen in that area," he said.

He urged officials in provinces along the Chao Phraya River to raise the levels of and reinforce embankments.

Angthong Governor Wissawa Sasisamit said all local administrative bodies in his province now had plans in place to evacuate residents.

-- The Nation 2011-10-08

[webfact]

Thailand Floods Reach Crisis Level, Threaten Bangkok, Prime Minister Says

By Suttinee Yuvejwattana

Thailand’s worst floods in more than half a century have reached a “crisis level” and threaten to swamp the capital, Bangkok, as early as next week, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said.

“This will have a direct impact on Bangkok,” Yingluck said late yesterday in a nationally televised address. “We have to admit that this is more serious than in the past.”

At least 252 people have been killed and millions more displaced over the past two months as seasonal monsoon rains spread across 59 of Thailand’s 77 provinces, Yingluck said. She said her two-month-old administration is struggling to respond to the crisis as the nation’s largest dams approach their capacity and floodwaters threaten factories operated by Honda Motor Co. and Sony Corp.

“The government is just a little more than a month old and it is difficult to cope with this situation because the volume of water is exceptionally high,” Yingluck said.

Bangkok is prone to seasonal flooding because much of the city of more than 6 million people sits less than 2 meters above sea level. Yingluck said flooding in the capital may be worse than in 1995, when a deluge caused almost 12 billion baht ($388 million) of damage, according to government estimates.

Nationwide losses from this year’s floods may reach 130 billion baht and reduce economic growth by as much as 1.3 percentage points, the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, a private institution established by the chamber, said on Oct. 6.

Full story: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-07/thailand-floods-reach-crisis-level-threaten-bangkok-prime-minister-says.html

-- bloomberg.com 2011-10-08

[FOODLOVER]

"This is now a national effort," she said.

You can tell she is Hi-so. Fashionably late

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

It's hard to tell whom to believe here...

The PM saying BKK may be swamped, with flooding worse than 1995.

vs...

The BKK governor saying yesterday the BMA was fully prepared to deal with the water, and didn't need any help from the national government....

[tominbkk]

Yingluck: Oh no, my gucci shoes got wet!

[kurnell]

God help Thailand with these clueless dolts in charge

[kmj]

Christ you lot sound as if the democrats would have stop the water like Mosses, we are still living in the last governments flood prevention planning.

[neboway]

Christ you lot sound as if the democrats would have stop the water like Mosses, we are still living in the last governments flood prevention planning.

.......................

good on you KMJ , tell it as it is .... where was or what has the previous gov done to fix the flooded area's that seems to get it year after year , some of you guy's that stick's it to this new gov make as much sense as the tea party of the U S , you know the bull s about reduce the deficit but forgetting that they created it in the first place , so if you guy's are so right wing as to be blind to the facts ,maybe you should shut it for 6 or 9 months and not insult your own intelligence, let this new gov get it's act together .

[Soutpeel]

Christ you lot sound as if the democrats would have stop the water like Mosses, we are still living in the last governments flood prevention planning.

.......................

good on you KMJ , tell it as it is .... where was or what has the previous gov done to fix the flooded area's that seems to get it year after year

You could ask the same question of the previous gov's, previous gov' etc....and who was in charge then ?....Brother #1 of the current PM...

[scotbeve]

"This is now a national effort," she said.

You can tell she is Hi-so. Fashionably late

Fashionably late as in 100 plus years!!!!

[daboyz1]

Christ you lot sound as if the democrats would have stop the water like Mosses, we are still living in the last governments flood prevention planning.

.......................

good on you KMJ , tell it as it is .... where was or what has the previous gov done to fix the flooded area's that seems to get it year after year

You could ask the same question of the previous gov's, previous gov' etc....and who was in charge then ?....Brother #1 of the current PM...

I wish I could hear that phone call to Dubai. "Help me I have no clue!"

Brother #1. "Sorry shopping Paris"

"I'll be along shortly to help. I need the constitution changed first. As far as the folks in Suphan Buri, let them swim. Banharn screwed me." That will teach them next election.

[scotbeve]

Christ you lot sound as if the democrats would have stop the water like Mosses, we are still living in the last governments flood prevention planning.

Agreed... This administration has been at the helm for one month and a bit and expected to prevent flooding from waters worse seen in 50 years?... Plonkers!!! Okay, smart a_rses, what did the dems actually do during their last APPOINTED government to prevent this (annual) flooding?

[daboyz1]

Christ you lot sound as if the democrats would have stop the water like Mosses, we are still living in the last governments flood prevention planning.

Agreed... This administration has been at the helm for one month and a bit and expected to prevent flooding from waters worse seen in 50 years?... Plonkers!!! Okay, smart a_rses, what did the dems actually do during their last APPOINTED government to prevent this (annual) flooding?

Jeez. Another one that doesn't understand the political system. The people elect the MPs. The MPs ELECT THE PM. THE MPs ELECTED Abhisit as the PM.

[Bpuumike]

Flood war room set to swing into action

The Nation

Representatives of numerous government agencies will start work today at the newly established Flood-Relief Operation Command in a concerted effort to help the country through one of the worst flooding crises in its recent history.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra announced the establishment of the command in a televised address last night.

"This is now a national effort," she said. "We will try to ease the flooding situation before mid-October. We have to improve the situation before another storm hits and before the seawater level rises."

To date, floods have ravaged 28 provinces and affected the lives of more than 2.69 million people. The death toll from the disaster has reached 252, and at least three people are reported missing.

While Yingluck will continue to supervise overall flood-relief operations, Justice Minister Pracha Promnok has been named director of the Flood-Relief Operation Command.

Located at Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok's Don Mueang district, the command centre was scheduled to begin operations at 8am today(Oct8).

"The command will adopt an integrative approach," Yingluck said, adding that its work would be divided between an operations and a support unit.

Science Minister Plodprasob Surassawadee will head the operations unit, working with officials in flooded provinces, the premier said. The unit's main duties are to deliver food and relief items, and to evacuate flood victims.

Transport Minister ACM Sukampol Suwannathat will head the second unit, which will support the operations unit by analysing situations, issuing alerts and taking charge of overall water management.

Yingluck expected all provincial authorities to adopt the same structure as the Flood-Relief Operation Command to facilitate their flood-relief work.

The command was set up in response to the rising floodwater levels, and follows authorities' decision not to try to protect the Asia Highway from inundation. This highway is unarguably the most important route linking the Central region to the upper part of the country.

Floodwater has now covered a long stretch of the highway's outbound lanes in Ayutthaya, which is about a one-hour drive from Bangkok.

"The flooded stretch is more than 10 kilometres long," Sukampol said.

If officials had sought to keep the Asia Highway clear of floodwater, Bangkok would have been affected, he said.

Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra yesterday insisted that his administration was capable of managing the situation in the capital and told the Pheu Thai-led government to focus its attention elsewhere.

An informed source said the decision to stop defending the Asia Highway was also taken to protect a large number of factories in Ayutthaya.

Plodprasob said soldiers and officials had been mobilised to protect the Rojana Industrial Park from inundation. "We have to protect key areas, drain floodwater and minimise the impacts on people," he said.

In the worst-hit spots, the floodwater is now a few metres deep. Many people have been forced to retreat to the second storeys of their homes because the first floor is flooded.

Yingluck yesterday urged people not to ignore evacuation orders when issued in their areas.

"I understand that people are worried about their houses. But at evacuation centres, they will be provided food and care," she said.

Speaking in his capacity as the head of the 24/7 Emergency Operations Centre for Floods, Storms and Landslides, Phranai Suwannarat disclosed that the Bhumibol Dam in Tak was now releasing more than 100 million cubic metres of water each day.

"The water from the dam will reach the lower Central region in the next seven days. Overflows will thus worsen in that area," he said.

He urged officials in provinces along the Chao Phraya River to raise the levels of and reinforce embankments.

Angthong Governor Wissawa Sasisamit said all local administrative bodies in his province now had plans in place to evacuate residents.

-- The Nation 2011-10-08

Hope this flood war room isn't in an underground bunker

[metisdead]

An inflammatory post has been removed.

[catmac]

Christ you lot sound as if the democrats would have stop the water like Mosses, we are still living in the last governments flood prevention planning.

Agreed... This administration has been at the helm for one month and a bit and expected to prevent flooding from waters worse seen in 50 years?... Plonkers!!! Okay, smart a_rses, what did the dems actually do during their last APPOINTED government to prevent this (annual) flooding?

Agree with both of you.

One can't help but feel that if Abhisit and his Government had spent just half the energy and enthusiasm they used in persecuting Thaksin, and just half the money they spent lining the pockets of their military masters and the turncoat politicians who kept them in power, on flood prevention work, maybe we wouldn't be in the sorry mess that we are. After all, they assumed power with the memory of the 2005 floods still fresh in peoples' minds.

To blame the present Government, in office for just a few weeks, shows yet again that the blind hatred of Thaksin makes some posters here look so foolish, or should I say so totally prejudiced.

Edited October 8, 2011 by catmac

[scotbeve]

Christ you lot sound as if the democrats would have stop the water like Mosses, we are still living in the last governments flood prevention planning.

Agreed... This administration has been at the helm for one month and a bit and expected to prevent flooding from waters worse seen in 50 years?... Plonkers!!! Okay, smart a_rses, what did the dems actually do during their last APPOINTED government to prevent this (annual) flooding?

Agree with both of you.

One can't help but feel that if Abhisit and his Government had spent just half the energy and enthusiasm they used in persecuting Thaksin, and just half the money they spent lining the pockets of their military masters and the turncoat politicians who kept them in power, on flood prevention work, maybe we wouldn't be in the sorry mess that we are. After all, they assumed power with the memory of the 2005 floods still fresh in peoples' minds.

To blame the present Government, in office for just a few weeks, shows yet again that the blind hatred of Thaksin makes some posters here look so foolish, or should I say so totally prejudiced.

[firestar]

Christ you lot sound as if the democrats would have stop the water like Mosses, we are still living in the last governments flood prevention planning.

Agreed... This administration has been at the helm for one month and a bit and expected to prevent flooding from waters worse seen in 50 years?... Plonkers!!! Okay, smart a_rses, what did the dems actually do during their last APPOINTED government to prevent this (annual) flooding?

Jeez. Another one that doesn't understand the political system. The people elect the MPs. The MPs ELECT THE PM. THE MPs ELECTED Abhisit as the PM.

Jeez. Another one that conveniently ignores the fact 2007 elections were ordered by the military or that in any democracy dissolving the ruling party would trigger immediate re-elections.

Edited October 8, 2011 by firestar

[TAWP]

Christ you lot sound as if the democrats would have stop the water like Mosses, we are still living in the last governments flood prevention planning.

Agreed... This administration has been at the helm for one month and a bit and expected to prevent flooding from waters worse seen in 50 years?... Plonkers!!! Okay, smart a_rses, what did the dems actually do during their last APPOINTED government to prevent this (annual) flooding?

Jeez. Another one that doesn't understand the political system. The people elect the MPs. The MPs ELECT THE PM. THE MPs ELECTED Abhisit as the PM.

Jeez. Another one that conveniently ignores the fact 2007 elections were ordered by the military or that in any democracy dissolving the ruling party would trigger immediate re-elections.

Are you saying that because the elections of 2007 was ordered by the military (Technically, it wasn't. However the temporary overlords of did atleast stand by their words and only hold only power for 1 year.) that the government elected wasn't valid? Or it was, as long as it was a government you supported? And no, the dissolving of a party - a collection of MPs, where most of the MPs retained their seats - wouldn't per se trigger a new election in most democracies of the same system/setup back west.

In anyway, PPP had the chance to declare the parliament dissolved and order new elections. They choose not to. And then the parliament voted in a new PM and a new cabinet took place.

[cup-O-coffee]

Christ you lot sound as if the democrats would have stop the water like Mosses, we are still living in the last governments flood prevention planning.

.......................

good on you KMJ , tell it as it is .... where was or what has the previous gov done to fix the flooded area's that seems to get it year after year

You could ask the same question of the previous gov's, previous gov' etc....and who was in charge then ?....Brother #1 of the current PM...

I wish I could hear that phone call to Dubai. "Help me I have no clue!"

Brother #1. "Sorry shopping Paris"

"I'll be along shortly to help. I need the constitution changed first. As far as the folks in Suphan Buri, let them swim. Banharn screwed me." That will teach them next election.

What does brother number one have to do with the amount of precipitation at this time of year, and the consequential effects of that precipitation, on land that has been overdeveloped for generations, without suitable drainage installed, and subsequently without regard for the indomitable side effects of enhanced hydrostatic pressure; not to mention tonnes and tonnes of unnameable rubbish clogging the excessive demand of flow on the ancient underground drainage pipes that do exist?

Ah yes! The drainage pipes that were installed long ago. How about let's find the person who had enough foresight to install those drainage pipes at that time, and discover whether it was a foreigner who demanded it to be done, or they would not accept the contract, or if it was a Thai who was educated in the USA, Australia, or the UK.

I thought it interesting and indeed an emphatic point of support in my statement above to have viewed the submerged streets of a Thailand from days gone by.

What, indeed, were they thinking back then; and what would they have done were they to have had a vision of the present? Nothing? Anything?

The disparity of the two classes in this country becomes alarmingly clear, when the upper class has to dirty its hands to assist the downtrodden, because Mother Nature interferes in the greedy affairs of the upper class - and the apathetic ignorance of the poor class - and throws a heavy season of precipitation into their daily lives. If it only had not rained so heavily, then things could have gone on as they had, and no one would bother to glorify the prejudice and ignorance that the two classes view each other with.

This gives cause to my prediction that when the ground is once again dry, and the dirt has been swept out of the houses, and the flotsam and jetsam has been piled back onto the foot paths, that all will be forgotten, and people will flock back into their living rooms and turn the telly back on to catch up on their soaps and clown shows.

Edited October 8, 2011 by cup-O-coffee

[metisdead]

An off topic post has been removed as per forum rules:

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[siampolee]

I find it rather interesting that the man who thinks and then his party acts was indeed happy to offer advice to the Japanese a while back, yet that very same person who styles himself as the savior of the Thai people is indeed silent at the moment. Much as are Jutuporn and his band of Red Shirts.

No wonderful financial gifts unlike in the past when visiting villages up North, no wondrous advice on a par with the Oracles at the Temple of Delphi either, non of his stooges has much to say either.is he, are they losing the touch, his, their minds, or is he or are they just not interested as in their collective views there is no kudos i.e. no political mileage, power or financial recompense in the matter?

Perhaps that old saying, " Empty vessels make the most sound" is as usual true concerning Brother No. 1 and his Red Shirted brown nosing acolytes

Edited October 8, 2011 by siampolee

[philw]

I find it rather interesting that the man who thinks and then his party acts was indeed happy to offer advice to the Japanese a while back, yet that very same person who styles himself as the savior of the Thai people is indeed silent at the moment. Much as are Jutuporn and his band of Red Shirts.

No wonderful financial gifts unlike in the past when visiting villages up North, no wondrous advice on a par with the Oracles at the Temple of Delphi either, non of his stooges has much to say either.is he, are they losing the touch, his, their minds, or is he or are they just not interested as in their collective views there is no kudos i.e. no political mileage, power or financial recompense in the matter?

Perhaps that old saying, " Empty vessels make the most sound" is as usual true concerning Brother No. 1 and his Red Shirted brown nosing acolytes

Maybe you are the empty vessel...............

The country is facing many major problems.

How about trying to be a bit positive and supportive ???

[TAWP]

The country is facing many major problems.

How about trying to be a bit positive and supportive ???

Like you last year?

[philw]

The country is facing many major problems.

How about trying to be a bit positive and supportive ???

Like you last year?

Yes, why not.

Care to defend your statement ??

If able, of course.................

[serenitynow]

The country is facing many major problems.

How about trying to be a bit positive and supportive ???

Like you last year?

Yes, why not.

Care to defend your statement ??

If able, of course.................

I'm pretty sure you're going to sorry you said that.