Breached as Pathum Thani struggles on

THE NATION

Officials and residents in Pathum Thani's Muang and Sam Khok districts hastily repaired the eleven broken flood barriers to protect themselves from rising tides.

Later yesterday, the situation became so serious that residents were encouraged to either move their belongings to higher ground or evacuate, while Pathum Thani Hospital moved 28 critical patients to Bangkok and Samut Sakhon.

COLLAPSING WALLS

The flood barrier in Sam Khok district was beyond repair in three spots - Wat Kai Tia, Wat Tamnak and Wat Pa Fai - Pathum Thani Deputy Governor Phanthep Sriwanich said, adding that broken barricades were to blame for the extensive flooding.

Resident Siriporn Srinuan, 53, said she was concerned about where she would go if her home got flooded because her relatives' houses were already inundated.

In Muang district, the barrier at Wat Soparam broke in places and let some water into the temple, while the barrier at Wat Hong Pathummawas collapsed causing the temple to be totally submerged. Soldiers were trying to fix the barrier at Wat Hong Pathummawas yesterday.

Pathum Thani Governor Peerasak Hinmuangkao and Deputy Education Minister Surapong Eungampornwilai led the repair operations at Wat Pa Fai and tried using wooden pillars and sandbags to keep the water out. However, when the rushing tide broke the pillars in half, Surapong instructed officials to get large barrels filled with sand to keep the water out and Peerasak advised the use of concrete pillars.

Torrential floods hit Wat Nak and reportedly swept away a resident's pick-up truck and damaged homes on its way. Some residents parked their cars at the Santisuk Intersection bypass for safety.

-- The Nation 2011-10-12

The smaller breach at Wat Thua Thong has been plugged before the whole area marked was totally inundated Sadly those on the other side of the river have not been so lucky

I live in the Bang Yai district i hope it wont get much worse. It is getting harder and harder to get out of the village. There still are no real great problems but if water keeps flowing there might be in a week or so.

I live in the Bang Yai district i hope it wont get much worse. It is getting harder and harder to get out of the village. There still are no real great problems but if water keeps flowing there might be in a week or so.

6 km down from Bang Yai city in my area many of the older estates are over 1 foot deep. the road is still passable only at 5cm deep, but with this rain and more to come I think all of the areas we stay can expect a drink.

I live in the Bang Yai district i hope it wont get much worse. It is getting harder and harder to get out of the village. There still are no real great problems but if water keeps flowing there might be in a week or so.

6 km down from Bang Yai city in my area many of the older estates are over 1 foot deep. the road is still passable only at 5cm deep, but with this rain and more to come I think all of the areas we stay can expect a drink.

Did they sandbag your village ? Here they sandbagged it and put pumps ready. So far no problem we are one of the estates that are higher then average. Never been a flooding here. But the fact the dams broke + more water to come worries me. Still i think (keeping possitive) that there will be a foot of water in the streets and that is it. (hopefully)

I live in the Bang Yai district i hope it wont get much worse. It is getting harder and harder to get out of the village. There still are no real great problems but if water keeps flowing there might be in a week or so.

6 km down from Bang Yai city in my area many of the older estates are over 1 foot deep. the road is still passable only at 5cm deep, but with this rain and more to come I think all of the areas we stay can expect a drink.

Did they sandbag your village ? Here they sandbagged it and put pumps ready. So far no problem we are one of the estates that are higher then average. Never been a flooding here. But the fact the dams broke + more water to come worries me. Still i think (keeping possitive) that there will be a foot of water in the streets and that is it. (hopefully)

They got the pumps going. Our village is also higher than others as its not 100% finished yet and was built on higher ground than the others. At the moment only water from rain. Got a little concrete wall outside my living room and sandbags on the ready but its the getting in and out of the street that is the worry. I work in BKK and travel 30km to work daily by car. Tomorrow going to leave the car at work as bought new last 2 weeks and do the taxi thing until it gets a bit much.

I live in the Bang Yai district i hope it wont get much worse. It is getting harder and harder to get out of the village. There still are no real great problems but if water keeps flowing there might be in a week or so.

6 km down from Bang Yai city in my area many of the older estates are over 1 foot deep. the road is still passable only at 5cm deep, but with this rain and more to come I think all of the areas we stay can expect a drink.

Did they sandbag your village ? Here they sandbagged it and put pumps ready. So far no problem we are one of the estates that are higher then average. Never been a flooding here. But the fact the dams broke + more water to come worries me. Still i think (keeping possitive) that there will be a foot of water in the streets and that is it. (hopefully)

They got the pumps going. Our village is also higher than others as its not 100% finished yet and was built on higher ground than the others. At the moment only water from rain. Got a little concrete wall outside my living room and sandbags on the ready but its the getting in and out of the street that is the worry. I work in BKK and travel 30km to work daily by car. Tomorrow going to leave the car at work as bought new last 2 weeks and do the taxi thing until it gets a bit much.

Are you guys noticing any significant increase in water around your village? I'm 1.5 km from the river at Pakkret. There's a klong through out village. Our village is quite new and also quite elevated. The water level hasn't really changed much over the last 3 days. We also have a pump running to get the rain water out of the drains. I also don't see much tidal effect here, so I'm hoping it doesn't get much worse. We will (hopefully) be parking our car elsewhere today.

I live in the Bang Yai district i hope it wont get much worse. It is getting harder and harder to get out of the village. There still are no real great problems but if water keeps flowing there might be in a week or so.

6 km down from Bang Yai city in my area many of the older estates are over 1 foot deep. the road is still passable only at 5cm deep, but with this rain and more to come I think all of the areas we stay can expect a drink.

Did they sandbag your village ? Here they sandbagged it and put pumps ready. So far no problem we are one of the estates that are higher then average. Never been a flooding here. But the fact the dams broke + more water to come worries me. Still i think (keeping possitive) that there will be a foot of water in the streets and that is it. (hopefully)

They got the pumps going. Our village is also higher than others as its not 100% finished yet and was built on higher ground than the others. At the moment only water from rain. Got a little concrete wall outside my living room and sandbags on the ready but its the getting in and out of the street that is the worry. I work in BKK and travel 30km to work daily by car. Tomorrow going to leave the car at work as bought new last 2 weeks and do the taxi thing until it gets a bit much.

Are you guys noticing any significant increase in water around your village? I'm 1.5 km from the river at Pakkret. There's a klong through out village. Our village is quite new and also quite elevated. The water level hasn't really changed much over the last 3 days. We also have a pump running to get the rain water out of the drains. I also don't see much tidal effect here, so I'm hoping it doesn't get much worse. We will (hopefully) be parking our car elsewhere today.

I'm surprised that after such a long history of flood control Thailand does not have a large toolbox of flood control tools to handle breaking dikes and the such.

Personally, I am clueless how to stop something as powerful as water and would be fascinated to learn about the things that work.

Sand in bags and concrete walls assume water moves horizontally.

You will find it moves vertically too and comes up everywhere, just slower than the water outside the barriers.

For example, your sewer pipes ...

Any TVF members have any brilliant ideas I'd love to hear them.

Water pressure is so high that water is flowing through the concrete floors of our basement despite "waterproofing".

And we've already had to seal certain "drains" because the area's water table already frequently exceeds the level of the drain.

Edited October 12, 201114 yr by plumeria

I'm surprised that after such a long history of flood control Thailand does not have a large toolbox of flood control tools to handle breaking dikes and the such.

Personally, I am clueless how to stop something as powerful as water and would be fascinated to learn about the things that work.

Sand in bags and concrete walls assume water moves horizontally.

You will find it moves vertically too and comes up everywhere, just slower than the water outside the barriers.

For example, your sewer pipes ...

Any TVF members have any brilliant ideas I'd love to hear them.

Water pressure is so high that water is flowing through the concrete floors of our basement despite "waterproofing".

And we've already had to seal certain "drains" because the area's water table already frequently exceeds the level of the drain.

I saw in Surat 1-1.5 Meter high fountains braking thru 1 meter water above from the "closed" drains on the street.

Maybe 0.5-0.7 Meter in diameter. Pretty impressive

I am due to arrive in Thailand on 15th November and staying in the Chatcuchak area. Can anyone advise as to what kind of flood risk this area is in please? I have looked on Google maps and it does appear to be near some waterways.

Nice big storm coming in off the sea as I type this on the 24th floor. High up enough!

Nice big storm coming in off the sea as I type this on the 24th floor. High up enough!

Would that be Tropical Storm Banyan ?

Nice big storm coming in off the sea as I type this on the 24th floor. High up enough!

Would that be Tropical Storm Banyan ?

Banyan is still over the Philippines. It's predicted to hit Vietnam on the weekend, and then probably into NE Thailand early/mid next week.

Well here in Don Muang I was/am concerned but not as concerned I was few days ago.. I noticed looking at the flood maps that we are completely surrounded by man made tributaries' and I was concerned about that at first but I have been closely watching them and the surrounding locals to see their reactions.

Until today there was no real reaction here except one neighbor that bagged somewhat prematurely. We have inquired about where to get some bags to have on standby but monday was told locally they were all gone but today the neighbor across the street has bagged and I just saw another truck deliver some down the street.

Down the road though there is a military base which doesn't seem at all concerned and is taking no precautions and they have essentially a drainage mote around the backside and it is completely dry and in front across the road there is another drainage khlong that was nearly over full the other day but 2 days ago it was down 2 meters. We are already on high ground here but I see now having looked at the maps and checking on my own that they are obviously managing that water flow and letting as much come through as possible until the water reaches critical levels and then they close the flood gates north of us at some several locations upstream and let it flow out again.

They are obviously allowing as much water as possible and then closing up the gates again, the same thing occurred on the river road (as we call it, turns out that's it's name too in Thai) and the main river there has only come up a bit with about 1.5 meter left to rise if needed before overflowing it obviously being managed but the small khlong across from it was also overflowing into peoples backyards on Saturday but Monday it was down about 2 meters again and all was dry in spite of hard rains..

To back this up for the last several days I've been monitoring the water level in my sewer outside and it has been nearly up to the top about 10cm below and this morning in spite of plenty of rain it is now empty. I'm feeling pretty good about where we're located being well managed but of course this is still early and if it overwhelms the system anything is possible though the surrounding land beyond this bastion is lower so it would go there first so, if anything I don't expect much more then a few centimeters in the street............Hopefully..

Nice big storm coming in off the sea as I type this on the 24th floor. High up enough!

Would that be Tropical Storm Banyan ?

Banyan is still over the Philippines. It's predicted to hit Vietnam on the weekend, and then probably into NE Thailand early/mid next week.

Yep.

Banyan is still over the Philippines. It's predicted to hit Vietnam on the weekend, and then probably into NE Thailand early/mid next week.

Yep.

... yep, forgot to add the link ... http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/wp201123_5day.html

I am due to arrive in Thailand on 15th November and staying in the Chatcuchak area. Can anyone advise as to what kind of flood risk this area is in please? I have looked on Google maps and it does appear to be near some waterways.

Chatuchak Market had some flooding last week already, as I was told by a stall owner, and they are expecting more! Don't know about the area around, because the market itself is on a lower level than the surrounding area.

The smaller breach at Wat Thua Thong has been plugged before the whole area marked was totally inundated Sadly those on the other side of the river have not been so lucky

Thanks for the pics. It is not too difficult to see how these flimsy structures fail.

I live in the Bang Yai district i hope it wont get much worse. It is getting harder and harder to get out of the village. There still are no real great problems but if water keeps flowing there might be in a week or so.

6 km down from Bang Yai city in my area many of the older estates are over 1 foot deep. the road is still passable only at 5cm deep, but with this rain and more to come I think all of the areas we stay can expect a drink.

Did they sandbag your village ? Here they sandbagged it and put pumps ready. So far no problem we are one of the estates that are higher then average. Never been a flooding here. But the fact the dams broke + more water to come worries me. Still i think (keeping possitive) that there will be a foot of water in the streets and that is it. (hopefully)

They got the pumps going. Our village is also higher than others as its not 100% finished yet and was built on higher ground than the others. At the moment only water from rain. Got a little concrete wall outside my living room and sandbags on the ready but its the getting in and out of the street that is the worry. I work in BKK and travel 30km to work daily by car. Tomorrow going to leave the car at work as bought new last 2 weeks and do the taxi thing until it gets a bit much.

I work from home and our car is safely parked in an highrise parking of a friend. I dont worry that much. But if 1,5 meters of water is comming from the river i might start to worry. Every day i am worried only to be a bit reasured when i see that there isnt that much water extra.

Well here in Don Muang I was/am concerned but not as concerned I was few days ago.. I noticed looking at the flood maps that we are completely surrounded by man made tributaries' and I was concerned about that at first but I have been closely watching them and the surrounding locals to see their reactions.

Until today there was no real reaction here except one neighbor that bagged somewhat prematurely. We have inquired about where to get some bags to have on standby but monday was told locally they were all gone but today the neighbor across the street has bagged and I just saw another truck deliver some down the street.

Down the road though there is a military base which doesn't seem at all concerned and is taking no precautions and they have essentially a drainage mote around the backside and it is completely dry and in front across the road there is another drainage khlong that was nearly over full the other day but 2 days ago it was down 2 meters. We are already on high ground here but I see now having looked at the maps and checking on my own that they are obviously managing that water flow and letting as much come through as possible until the water reaches critical levels and then they close the flood gates north of us at some several locations upstream and let it flow out again.

They are obviously allowing as much water as possible and then closing up the gates again, the same thing occurred on the river road (as we call it, turns out that's it's name too in Thai) and the main river there has only come up a bit with about 1.5 meter left to rise if needed before overflowing it obviously being managed but the small khlong across from it was also overflowing into peoples backyards on Saturday but Monday it was down about 2 meters again and all was dry in spite of hard rains..

To back this up for the last several days I've been monitoring the water level in my sewer outside and it has been nearly up to the top about 10cm below and this morning in spite of plenty of rain it is now empty. I'm feeling pretty good about where we're located being well managed but of course this is still early and if it overwhelms the system anything is possible though the surrounding land beyond this bastion is lower so it would go there first so, if anything I don't expect much more then a few centimeters in the street............Hopefully..

Here in Thaveewattana we get a few cm on the street at heavy rain, but on the small "lakes" which are always here, now they come with portable gasoline pumps and drain them in safe times, as well the klong is low. Because we expect troubles and the free swamp areas if get reduced 1/2 meter can help.

Very good management from Bangkok.

I am due to arrive in Thailand on 15th November and staying in the Chatcuchak area. Can anyone advise as to what kind of flood risk this area is in please? I have looked on Google maps and it does appear to be near some waterways.

Chatuchak Market had some flooding last week already, as I was told by a stall owner, and they are expecting more! Don't know about the area around, because the market itself is on a lower level than the surrounding area.

Thanks for the advice. I know I will not be there for another six weeks but I am trying to get some genuine information. I will be there for a month and wondering if I should bring some kind of wet suit and a shed load of antibiotics.

The fact that they are trying to remove sandbags at the cost of other villages is worry some. I hope they police the dams good because it could get real bad otherwise for me.

I am due to arrive in Thailand on 15th November and staying in the Chatcuchak area. Can anyone advise as to what kind of flood risk this area is in please? I have looked on Google maps and it does appear to be near some waterways.

Chatuchak Market had some flooding last week already, as I was told by a stall owner, and they are expecting more! Don't know about the area around, because the market itself is on a lower level than the surrounding area.

Thanks for the advice. I know I will not be there for another six weeks but I am trying to get some genuine information. I will be there for a month and wondering if I should bring some kind of wet suit and a shed load of antibiotics.

IMO you will have no problem in 6 weeks time as the current ( ugh pun) are to do with rainfall and the wet season ends this week, with the high tides equinox which again is this week. The remaining problem is not to do with more water but how to get rid of the stuff here already. Rivers overflowing banks should be ended as 6 weeks is enough to make repairs. Draining existing floods will become more manageable daily and shouyd also be done in 6 weeks.

IMO future problems are to do with clearing up the residual mud. Bangkok will be cleaned very fast. Rurally places will look a bit shi**y until the new seeding is done and crops start growing again. River banks will look terrible as no one beautifies them........

good luck