Thai Government Will Not Declare A National Holiday Or State Of Emergency To Deal With Floods

[BigBikeBKK]

Can someone please post the number for some aid assistance

I have 6 Thais staying with me because their houses are flooded.

I have to feed them 3 times a day and then there's water, electricity, personal items (like for the ladies) etc. Then when the floods subside i have to pay their bus fares back, plus some food water etc. for the trip and possibly a bit more for them to get on their feet. Plus one has an injury and needs medication. All adds up.

THis is a THai issue and a Government issue and so I am wondering where to put my claim in for flood relief or compensation?

You see this is all coming out of my pension money ie i need to prove 65k per month to live on and now with 6 Thais here it is fast eating away my money to support myself to meet the requirements of the retirement visa ext.

I am worried that by spending the money (to prove to immigration) now that when my extension is up for renewal I will not have enough. What will I do?

Are they holding a gun to your head and forcing you to buy them food and water and toiletries and pay for their medical bills?! If you can afford to help them out you should. If you can't afford MaMa and water for 6 homeless Thais, well, I feel rather sorry for you...

[wantan]

Despite Bkk governor's "don't panic" assurance, eastern Bkk canals like Saensaeb and Prawes keep rising. /via@tulsathit

I wonder if this is true? I cross Khlong San Saeb nearly every day and it's high, but the boats are still operating. A couple days ago there was minor flooding of Ramkamhaeng 43 and 53. Today those streets were dry. If anything, the level appears to have fallen...

I would be glad if the water would not come to eastern Bangkok. But it seems it does. The only questions are "when", "how fast" and "which level"?

[kmj]

why don't they call in the armed forces to fix this?

It's almost like the PM has not walked in waist deep sewerage, and doesn't understand the plight of the people up norff.

Oh you mean like all the past PM's 555

I guess you don't watch the news much... The pictures in recent days of former PM Abhisit waist deep in flood water while Taksin's clone gets ankle deep in boots or walks on the water while everyone else swims in it are generating a lot of discussion on Thai forums.

...

Oh I see it's a how deep competition 55, Abhisit has to now as you say he's former PM, one of his I'm really one of and understand the people now.

Edited October 11, 2011 by kmj

[FOODLOVER]

The ideal came from the dems. so a no go zone declaring emergency. Same as the repukians here even if it is a good ideal no way if it comes from a dem.

<deleted> is a "repukian"?! Are you talking about Thailand or somewhere else?

One who spins hay into gold. Will cost you a baby though.

[geriatrickid]

why don't they call in the armed forces to fix this?

It's almost like the PM has not walked in waist deep sewerage, and doesn't understand the plight of the people up norff.

The armed forces are already responding. Just how do you expect the military to "fix this"?

The military is not equipped with heavy earth moving equipment. It has tanks. There are approximately 200 or so heavy military trucks available. That's the inventory.that's all the military has out of the 250 fleet (as some are used as tankers, or are out of service or are necessary to other critical functions.)

The Thai army is basically "manpower" and components have already been deployed. You can't just send troops into the field without a support system in place, i.e. a logistics network. The trucks used to do that are needed for civilian evacuations and the assistance in delivering spplies. It is easy to say send in the army, but that would be causing an even bigger problem in trying to feed and house these people in the flood areas.

The airforce cannot respond since it doesn't have a large fleet of helicopters. The navy doesn't have the vessels appropriate for flood rescues.

Having a PM wade in sewage is not going to change anything. The PM is fully aware of the situation. The flooding is the result of decades of poor water management combined with a more severe than usual monsoon season.

[rametindallas]

Can someone please post the number for some aid assistance

I have 6 Thais staying with me because their houses are flooded.

I have to feed them 3 times a day and then there's water, electricity, personal items (like for the ladies) etc. Then when the floods subside i have to pay their bus fares back, plus some food water etc. for the trip and possibly a bit more for them to get on their feet. Plus one has an injury and needs medication. All adds up.

THis is a THai issue and a Government issue and so I am wondering where to put my claim in for flood relief or compensation?

You see this is all coming out of my pension money ie i need to prove 65k per month to live on and now with 6 Thais here it is fast eating away my money to support myself to meet the requirements of the retirement visa ext.

I am worried that by spending the money (to prove to immigration) now that when my extension is up for renewal I will not have enough. What will I do?

Just think about all the good Kharma you are building up. I hope you get to spend it in this life.

[Thai at Heart]

The armed forces are already responding. Just how do you expect the military to "fix this"?

The military is not equipped with heavy earth moving equipment. It has tanks. There are approximately 200 or so heavy military trucks available. That's the inventory.that's all the military has out of the 250 fleet (as some are used as tankers, or are out of service or are necessary to other critical functions.)

The Thai army is basically "manpower" and components have already been deployed. You can't just send troops into the field without a support system in place, i.e. a logistics network. The trucks used to do that are needed for civilian evacuations and the assistance in delivering spplies. It is easy to say send in the army, but that would be causing an even bigger problem in trying to feed and house these people in the flood areas.

The airforce cannot respond since it doesn't have a large fleet of helicopters. The navy doesn't have the vessels appropriate for flood rescues.

Having a PM wade in sewage is not going to change anything. The PM is fully aware of the situation. The flooding is the result of decades of poor water management combined with a more severe than usual monsoon season.

The sad thing is, that as you say, the plan is, there is no plan. The rainfall data for the North and North East has been known for months, the irrigation and marine department have been aware for months, the various governers have known for months, all of the civil servants sitting in their various roles responsible for administering the cities and outlying regions have known for months and the current government and all MPs sitting in the parliament have known for months.

So considering that Thailand believes it has some kind of functioning system in place, someone presumably among all of these people did once ask? So where is the emergency plan for the country if it happens to rain over the north and north east of the country for an average of 20 days a month, for 2 months for 4 hours a day?

And everyone collectively pointed at the guy next to him and said "Ask him"?, and he said "Flood the villages, it has always worked before".

This mess we are seeing know is a complete tragedy because so much more could have been done to avoid it, there was time and information about potential problems coming up 2 months ago. And yet all most people did was "Ask him?" What all these people have been doing sitting in government offices for the last 20 years I don't know.

[DP25]

The military is not equipped with heavy earth moving equipment. It has tanks. There are approximately 200 or so heavy military trucks available. That's the inventory.that's all the military has out of the 250 fleet (as some are used as tankers, or are out of service or are necessary to other critical functions.)

The army has more than just 250 heavy trucks (M35s), wikipedia isn't accurate. They have a much larger range of vehicles than just those. They recently procured 1,474 heavy Isuzu trucks that are in service. There are others makes as well such as Kia and Mercedes. The army has more trucks than it does tanks despite what wiki says, they have a large amount of equipment.

[CWMcMurray]

PM disagrees with proposed special public holiday

BANGKOK, Oct 11 -- Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Tuesday said she personally disagreed with a proposal to announce a special public holiday from Oct 12-14 to let the public prepare for flooding for fear that the holiday may mean less government workers will be on hand to help flood victims.

I think she misses the point a bit... if a state of emergency or Holiday was announced, that does not mean that all government workers should be given the day off.

It should mean that all private citizens and NON-ESSENTIAL government personnel should remain home. Government employees that would be associated with helping flood victims should remain working.

This helps governments to keep the roads clean and traffic down and avoid problems with citizens being stuck out on the roads and needing to be rescued. This then allows government workers to focus on the problem at hand without needing to waste time.