Ayutthaya Only Reachable By Boat

[webfact]

Ayutthaya only reachable by boat

The Nation

Heavily inundated Ayutthaya appeared all but unreachable by land last night as water levels there made roads impassable even to military trucks - the only vehicles that had still been able to make it through.

Flooding was expected to peak last night, preventing trooptransport trucks from using Route 32 - the main road linking Ayutthaya with neighbouring provinces and Bangkok - which has long been closed to smaller vehicles. Authorities were considering transporting relief supplies and people to and from Ayutthaya by boat.

People travelling from Bangkok to Chai Nat via Ayutthaya are advised to use Route 340 through Suphan Buri, which is now the only route still open.

-- The Nation 2011-10-10

[webfact]

Ayutthaya hospital patients airlifted

The Nation

An emergency evacuation of patients from the heavily flooded Ayutthaya general hospital is underway and expected to be completed within two days. Hospital outpatient services have been suspended.

Thirty ambulances and military trucks were used yesterday to transport 100 patients to government hospitals safe from flooding in Saraburi and Pathum Thani, after water 2.2metres deep surrounded the Ayutthaya hospital. Twenty seriously ill patients were airlifted by helicopter to Bangkok on Saturday night.

The hospital was treating 320 patients, including 33 dependent on lifesupport systems, before it was flooded over the weekend. It now relies on electricity generated from power supply units and on twoday rations. For emergency treatment, patients are admitted at two adhoc facilities - a site across from city hall and Maha Raj Vocational Education College. Local people needing urgent help should call 1669.

Traffic radio station Jor Sor 100 said late yesterday four of its workers had been electrocuted in the heavily flooded Rojana industrial estate, while a fifth died in an urban part of Muang district.

Five paramotors were being used for aerial patrols over areas in Ayutthaya, Ang Thong and Sing Buri to locate people stranded in their homes and needing to be picked up or given assistance.

The Public Health Ministry reported that nearly 9,000 people were suffering severe stress, with 574 at risk of suicide.

Former Royal Irrigation Department directorgeneral Pramote Maiklad called for the volume of water released from Bhumibhol and Sirikit dams, in Tak and Uttaradit provinces, to be eased to reduce water levels in Nakhon Sawan.

He said that flood warnings in Bangkok should be made more specific and only target areas at greatest risk, as widespread warnings could cause distress among residents. "The flood peak in Bangkok should not last more than six hours and the situation could return to normal within six days," he said.

A Chulalongkorn University academic said flood and water management by the authorities had failed because agencies worked separately, utilising their own different criteria and sets of doctrines.

Dr Thaweewong Sriburi, director of CU's Environmental Research Institute, said the use of vessels and their propellers to drive water in the Chao Phraya River out of estuaries could have affected residents living by the river in Samut Prakan. They should have been warned of risks linked to the practice.

Harnnarong Yaowalert, chairman of Thai Water Partnership, said 30 departments under 13 ministries were involved in the national flood management levels. Each agency was independent from each other and not authorised to impose orders on others.

A government flood update yesterday said 261 people had drowned since the flooding began and four were missing. More than 2.3 million live in the 30 provinces that are inundated.

More than 60,000 calls had been made to a newly setup government information centre in the three days since it was established, said Information and Communications Technology Minister Anudith Nakornthap.

The 1111 Dial 5 hotline had been flooded with calls and another 100 lines added to the original 500. Anudith said a request for help had been made to operators of mobile phone services to help answer questions and receive petitions and requests for help.

-- The Nation 2011-10-10

[tjansen]

We are planning to drive from Ban Pong, Ratchaburi, on Route 323, to a retreat center in the hills in Sangkaburi Province near the Mynmar border. We plan to go tomorrow and be there for ten days. Any thoughts on our odds of being wiped out by floods or landslides?

Thanks

Tom

[apetley]

We are planning to drive from Ban Pong, Ratchaburi, on Route 323, to a retreat center in the hills in Sangkaburi Province near the Mynmar border. We plan to go tomorrow and be there for ten days. Any thoughts on our odds of being wiped out by floods or landslides?

Thanks

Tom

Kan to Tongpaphum is clear so think you'll be ok road wise. Best to give the resort a call to make sure they are not flooded out though, several are.

[webfact]

Evacuation in Ayutthaya Because of Flooding

The flood situation in Ayutthaya Province remains worrisome with flood barriers being enforced at the Rojana Industrial Park while patients have been relocated out of Ayutthaya Hospital.

Officials have reinforced the earthern dyke around Rojana Industrial Park in Uthai District of Ayutthaya Province as the floodwater has risen rapidly.

They are not sure how long they will be able to keep out the floodwater as some of the embankment has collapsed and flooding is seen in some areas of the industrial park.

Pumps are being used to drain the water as inundation of the industrial estate means at least hundreds of billions of baht in damages and repercussion on the Maptapud Industrial Estate in Rayong as well.

Flooding has hit Ayutthaya Hospital causing a blackout which disrupted the oxygen distribution for patients who need oxygen masks.

Portable units are being used instead while patients are being evacuated.

Around 70 critical patients and 100 non-critical patients have been evacuated while the remaining 30 critical patients and 200 non-critical ones are being transferred today.

The province has set up an evacuation center at the city hall.

Elsewhere in the province, Koh Muang, which is the downtown area, is still totally submerged, with two meter deep floodwater in some areas.

Evacuation is also being carried out here by administrative officials and soldiers.

The province has asked outsiders not to try to travel through the province and on Asia Highway as evacuation is the priority for all traffic right now.

-- Tan Network 2011-10-10

[webfact]

10 patients at Ayutthaya Hospital died while awaiting evacuation

/TAN_Network

[tjansen]

Thanks for the feedback.

We are planning to drive from Ban Pong, Ratchaburi, on Route 323, to a retreat center in the hills in Sangkaburi Province near the Mynmar border. We plan to go tomorrow and be there for ten days. Any thoughts on our odds of being wiped out by floods or landslides?

Thanks

Tom

Kan to Tongpaphum is clear so think you'll be ok road wise. Best to give the resort a call to make sure they are not flooded out though, several are.

[webfact]

Ayutthaya Poised for Mass Flood Evacuation

Ayutthaya Province now shifts its focus from flood prevention to evacuation efforts as the situation there remains critical.

All 16 districts in Ayutthaya, particularly the downtown, have been completely swamped with floodwater, but its level has already stabilized after the Lop Buri River tide has ceased rising while the Pasak River tide has gone up slightly.

Meanwhile, the last group of some 70 inpatients of Phranakhon Si Ayutthaya Hospital were evacuated to the flood shelter at the Woraburi Hotel.

Seriously ill patients were transferred by helicopters to hospitals in nearby provinces, including Bangkok.

Authorities continue to rescue and help residents trapped in their flooded homes and those who want to leave their neighborhoods.

Hundreds of vehicles parked on the road near Pridi Phanomyong Bridge to avoid flooding have been removed to ease traffic congestion around and facilitate rescue teams' access to flooded areas.

At the same time, authorities need to pump out floodwater from Rojana Industrial Estate after its 1,000 factories have already been swamped.

The prime minister and related agencies will visit the estate today and consider measures to salvage it from floods.

Ayutthaya authorities have designated the provincial hall and Mahachulalongkorn Rajavidyalai as two main evacuation centers.

Both of them can hold up to 2,000 people.

In case the number of evacuees exceeds their combined capacity, some of them will be transferred to another flood shelter at a gymnasium of Thammasat University's Rangsit Campus.

The university has prepared equipment and students to help flood evacuees.

-- Tan Network 2011-10-10

[NCFC]

Why don't they requisition the boats from the san seab canal to provide releif transport for Ayuddhya? When the water levels rise in the klongs they can't use it anymore because of low bridges, so instead of 100+ boats lying idle at their moorings- get them up river to where they can be put to good use. Just a thought...

[KKvampire]

As someone who lives in Ayutthaya , or did up to 5 days ago, I had no water, then 4 feet high in my home in 24 hours, I tell you the Government response has been as disastrous as event it self, This was always going to happen , the Chaopraya has been rising inexorably in the last month and there was just a wait and see happen attitude, Well now they can wait and see as major foreign manufacturing companies will move away from Rojana/ Ayutthaya and Thailand because they were not warned or had any help protecting their factories, Now many thousands of Thai workers will be out of work when the floods recede and the factories will not reopen except to recover products/ equipment etc,

[BigBikeBKK]

Why don't they requisition the boats from the san seab canal to provide releif transport for Ayuddhya? When the water levels rise in the klongs they can't use it anymore because of low bridges, so instead of 100+ boats lying idle at their moorings- get them up river to where they can be put to good use. Just a thought...

I crossed Khlong San Saeb at Ramkamhaeng 43 today and the boats are still operating. The water level looks higher than normal but hasn't risen to the point where they suspend service. I haven't read anywhere that there is a shortage of boats for rescue and relief efforts. And anyway, those boats on San Saeb are privately owned and are set up for the canal, not open river.

[John1012]

As someone who lives in Ayutthaya , or did up to 5 days ago, I had no water, then 4 feet high in my home in 24 hours, I tell you the Government response has been as disastrous as event it self, This was always going to happen , the Chaopraya has been rising inexorably in the last month and there was just a wait and see happen attitude, Well now they can wait and see as major foreign manufacturing companies will move away from Rojana/ Ayutthaya and Thailand because they were not warned or had any help protecting their factories, Now many thousands of Thai workers will be out of work when the floods recede and the factories will not reopen except to recover products/ equipment etc,

What puzzles me is why major foreign companies even bother to invest in a country that is run so incompetently, where money is invested in un-needed military hardware (air craft caffier, submarines)and not in the basic infrastructure that will protect the functions of farming and manufacture, the lifeblood of the economy. The process of due dilligence needs to be followed more closely before expanding/initiating investment in Thailand.

[pedro01]

As someone who lives in Ayutthaya , or did up to 5 days ago, I had no water, then 4 feet high in my home in 24 hours, I tell you the Government response has been as disastrous as event it self, This was always going to happen , the Chaopraya has been rising inexorably in the last month and there was just a wait and see happen attitude, Well now they can wait and see as major foreign manufacturing companies will move away from Rojana/ Ayutthaya and Thailand because they were not warned or had any help protecting their factories, Now many thousands of Thai workers will be out of work when the floods recede and the factories will not reopen except to recover products/ equipment etc,

What puzzles me is why major foreign companies even bother to invest in a country that is run so incompetently, where money is invested in un-needed military hardware (air craft caffier, submarines)and not in the basic infrastructure that will protect the functions of farming and manufacture, the lifeblood of the economy. The process of due dilligence needs to be followed more closely before expanding/initiating investment in Thailand.

You really don't know?

Fact is, one of the reasons that so many Japanese MNCs here is the 'nightlife'. They don't call it Thailand the "Pussy Economy" for nothing.

[edwinchester]

As someone who lives in Ayutthaya , or did up to 5 days ago, I had no water, then 4 feet high in my home in 24 hours, I tell you the Government response has been as disastrous as event it self, This was always going to happen , the Chaopraya has been rising inexorably in the last month and there was just a wait and see happen attitude, Well now they can wait and see as major foreign manufacturing companies will move away from Rojana/ Ayutthaya and Thailand because they were not warned or had any help protecting their factories, Now many thousands of Thai workers will be out of work when the floods recede and the factories will not reopen except to recover products/ equipment etc,

What puzzles me is why major foreign companies even bother to invest in a country that is run so incompetently, where money is invested in un-needed military hardware (air craft caffier, submarines)and not in the basic infrastructure that will protect the functions of farming and manufacture, the lifeblood of the economy. The process of due dilligence needs to be followed more closely before expanding/initiating investment in Thailand.

You really don't know?

Fact is, one of the reasons that so many Japanese MNCs here is the 'nightlife'. They don't call it Thailand the "Pussy Economy" for nothing.

Fact is investing in Thailand is good for the bottom line. Just ask Honda, Toyota et al. The Japanese do not invest billions to lose money or watch a few pole dancers they are here to make money and are doing so.

[John1012]

As someone who lives in Ayutthaya , or did up to 5 days ago, I had no water, then 4 feet high in my home in 24 hours, I tell you the Government response has been as disastrous as event it self, This was always going to happen , the Chaopraya has been rising inexorably in the last month and there was just a wait and see happen attitude, Well now they can wait and see as major foreign manufacturing companies will move away from Rojana/ Ayutthaya and Thailand because they were not warned or had any help protecting their factories, Now many thousands of Thai workers will be out of work when the floods recede and the factories will not reopen except to recover products/ equipment etc,

What puzzles me is why major foreign companies even bother to invest in a country that is run so incompetently, where money is invested in un-needed military hardware (air craft caffier, submarines)and not in the basic infrastructure that will protect the functions of farming and manufacture, the lifeblood of the economy. The process of due dilligence needs to be followed more closely before expanding/initiating investment in Thailand.

You really don't know?

Fact is, one of the reasons that so many Japanese MNCs here is the 'nightlife'. They don't call it Thailand the "Pussy Economy" for nothing.

Fact is investing in Thailand is good for the bottom line. Just ask Honda, Toyota et al. The Japanese do not invest billions to lose money or watch a few pole dancers they are here to make money and are doing so.

Not if their production faclities are under water for 2 or 3 weeks this year and maybe next year and so on. How much does a company lose when all the cars produced that are in the parking area waiting to be shipped are under water? How long does it take to restart production? How do they work a just-in-time production system when the road/rail infrastructure is not functioning due to flooding and water damage? How much does it cost to make good the water damaged vehicles so that they are marketable?They will soon up sticks and relocate to a safer better managed country.

[slapout]

Honda has already mentioned that they have insurance against loses. Thus the individuals who are customers of said insures will eventually pay the claims via premiums, reduced dividends, etc, via their insurance coverage to cover claims.

[Arkady]

Not if their production faclities are under water for 2 or 3 weeks this year and maybe next year and so on. How much does a company lose when all the cars produced that are in the parking area waiting to be shipped are under water? How long does it take to restart production? How do they work a just-in-time production system when the road/rail infrastructure is not functioning due to flooding and water damage? How much does it cost to make good the water damaged vehicles so that they are marketable?They will soon up sticks and relocate to a safer better managed country.

Fukishima, Japan, for example?

[Crushdepth]

10 patients at Ayutthaya Hospital died while awaiting evacuation

/TAN_Network

That sucks.