New Plan To Expedite Water Drainage Put Into Action: Thai Flood

[webfact]

New plan to expedite water drainage put into action

The Nation

The National Flood Relief Centre was on Thursday to expedite water drainage through canals to the main rivers in the east and to the west of the central plain into the Gulf of Thailand to resolve the flood crisis in the central provinces, its spokesman Wim Rungwattanachinda said

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, accompanied by Army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha and officials from water management agencies, boarded a helicopter to inspect waterways from upstream Chainat to the lower central provinces to map out an implementation plan.

For the western part of the Chao Phraya River basin, the new plan is to dredge several canals and to build many canal shortcuts, modelled on the Lad Pho canal in Samut Prakan province, an initiative of His Majesty the King. This will help speed up the draining of water from the Chao Phraya River in Chai Nat into canals and the Tha Chin River into the Gulf of Thailand via Samut Sakhon province.

For the eastern part of the Chao Phraya River basin, the water from the river will be diverted into canals into the Ban Pakong River flowing in the Gulf of Thailand via Chachoengsao province.

The plan to speed up the draining of water from the Chao Phraya River into several canals to relieve floods in hard-hit Ayutthaya and other central provinces came after the Monarch granted an audience to Yingluck on Wednesday evening at Siriraj Hospital and gave his advice on how to tackle the flood crisis.

-- The Nation 2011-10-13

[Crossy]

Far, far too late, talk about shutting the stable door. Why did they not dredge said canals on a regular basis (and prevent or at least reduce) the flooding crisis? This of course assumes that there will be sufficient additional capacity created to have any significant effect.

I'm quite sure that the floods will have receded all by themselves by the time the operation gets under way, then of course it will be halted because it's not needed, until next time.

[GentlemanJim]

Far, far too late, talk about shutting the stable door. Why did they not dredge said canals on a regular basis (and prevent or at least reduce) the flooding crisis? This of course assumes that there will be sufficient additional capacity created to have any significant effect.

I'm quite sure that the floods will have receded all by themselves by the time the operation gets under way, then of course it will be halted because it's not needed, until next time.

Crossy

You hit the nail on the head!

[finnomick1]

At last I can get off my soap box. Someone must have read the comments I've been making since last week to dredge. However, having taken this long to reach sensibility, it's too late.....Just been flashed on the tv channel 7, flood defences washed away so the diluted sewage has hit the fan and it's got 3 more days to rise a possible further 50cms !!!

[aussiebebe]

I think the Thais realize this is a long-standing issue which won't be resolved any time soon; just last November, His Majesty opened the Lad Pho shortcut canal which was really quite ingenious. It linked two bends in the Chao Phra river to allow water to flow in 10 minutes instead of 5 hours. Furthermore it contained hydroturbine generators at His Majesty's suggestions. This seems impressive until you consider that this was devised in 1995! Yingluck's government may have a plan, but the cost and time to implement is another matter. Thaksin is way off with his assessment of the cost of a water management system - it cost the Thais 11 billion baht and 6 years to create the one drainage canal for the new airport.

[jocko]

I think the Thais realize this is a long-standing issue which won't be resolved any time soon; just last November, His Majesty opened the Lad Pho shortcut canal which was really quite ingenious. It linked two bends in the Chao Phra river to allow water to flow in 10 minutes instead of 5 hours. Furthermore it contained hydroturbine generators at His Majesty's suggestions. This seems impressive until you consider that this was devised in 1995! Yingluck's government may have a plan, but the cost and time to implement is another matter. Thaksin is way off with his assessment of the cost of a water management system - it cost the Thais 11 billion baht and 6 years to create the one drainage canal for the new airport.

Get some Dutch experts in they will show you how to do it but dont hold your breath unless you are under water . Tooooooooo Late

[Bagwan]

Of course dredging is a good idea, but - what are you going to do with the spoil? It will stink to high heaven and most probably be a health risk. Where are the barges and lighters to carry it away? Wouldn't the canal bridges prove to be major obstacles for dredgers? There are no simple solutions to the flood problem, and nobody with the balls to even try to ameliorate it. Should somebody try, the first ten years would be spent forming committees.

[geriatrickid]

Far, far too late, talk about shutting the stable door. Why did they not dredge said canals on a regular basis (and prevent or at least reduce) the flooding crisis? This of course assumes that there will be sufficient additional capacity created to have any significant effect.

I'm quite sure that the floods will have receded all by themselves by the time the operation gets under way, then of course it will be halted because it's not needed, until next time.

Do you really think dredging is the answer? Have you considered that widescale disturbances of river beds and the canal sediment would in all likelihood create an environmental catastrophe? It is one of the rreasons why some groups have urged caution when dredging is proposed. Thailand has a serious problem with the high concentration of heavy metals in its sediments. As well, there is a long history of the indiscriminate use of highly poisonous pesticides and herbicides. All of these dangerous materials are found in high concentration in the sediment. Dredging has the potential of stirring up the sediment and realeasing all of these things in the water with the potential to poison everything and everyone that comes in contact with the water.Any aquaculture down stream would be contaminated and effectively destroyed. Can Thailand afford to inflict long term important agricultural sector? As well, disturbances have the potential to cause sufficient clouding to also destroy the aquatic and plant ecosystems in the catchment areas.

More importantly, what would you do with the dredging product? Tons and tons of toxic muck. Where would you send it? It is not as if Thailand has disposal systems to process the byproduct.It would most likely get dumped somewhere, creating a massive stinking toxic heap of sludge.

One shouldn't undertake large scale dredging without an environmental and health impact review. In this case, the cure may be more lethal than the disease.

[ratcatcher]

Far, far too late, talk about shutting the stable door. Why did they not dredge said canals on a regular basis (and prevent or at least reduce) the flooding crisis? This of course assumes that there will be sufficient additional capacity created to have any significant effect.

I'm quite sure that the floods will have receded all by themselves by the time the operation gets under way, then of course it will be halted because it's not needed, until next time.

I live in the klong 7 area of Thanyaburi and have noticed that many of the klongs from klong 2 eastwards have a large amount of water hyacinth infestation which should have been removed months ago.

The district does seem to keep klong Rangsit dredged on a regular basis as well as some of the smaller irrigation canals running north south from klong Rapheepat.

However as usual there's much activity now that the flooding has arrived which should have been done earlier on a regular maintenance basis.

Regular maintenance, is that a normal part of Thai life?

[pitrevie]

Quite apart from the bodies that may be dredged up. A friend of mine told me that a few days ago he witnessed a guy who had dragged the body of a young man out of the river. Later he asked the stall vendor who was working close by what happened to the body. It appears one of the BiB turned up and told the guy who had rescued the body to take it to the other side of the river and let the police that side handle it as he didn't want all the hassle.

My German friend told me that they have a joke about the border police in Austria who coming to the end of the shift discovered a body hanging form the tree their side of the German/Austrian border and not wishing to deal with all the paper work took the body down transported it across the border and hung it from a tree on the German side. Some time later the German border patrol turned up and discovered the body hanging from the tree and were amazed that it had returned to their side.

[lounger]

Of course dredging is a good idea, but - what are you going to do with the spoil? It will stink to high heaven and most probably be a health risk. Where are the barges and lighters to carry it away? Wouldn't the canal bridges prove to be major obstacles for dredgers? There are no simple solutions to the flood problem, and nobody with the balls to even try to ameliorate it. Should somebody try, the first ten years would be spent forming committees.

I believe the solution may be more straightforward. I recall reading that the Chayo Praya is 22metres deep at Wat Arun. This in itself didnt make sense until the possibility occured that the fast flowing water was actually dredging to this amazing depth.

If this is the case then the solution is to build waterways designed to maximise the dredging effect ensuring that the silt at the mouth can be easily dredged to keep the waterway open.

This solution keeps the initial problem of dredgers,lighters,barges etc to a minimum and allows later works to be carried out as required sea.

Another article I read said that barges and lighters form a regular convoy to Singapore for land reclamation, but hey, Thaksin needs the silt to infill his own sea wall off BKK

[BabySun]

Of course dredging is a good idea, but - what are you going to do with the spoil? It will stink to high heaven and most probably be a health risk. Where are the barges and lighters to carry it away? Wouldn't the canal bridges prove to be major obstacles for dredgers? There are no simple solutions to the flood problem, and nobody with the balls to even try to ameliorate it. Should somebody try, the first ten years would be spent forming committees.

I believe the solution may be more straightforward. I recall reading that the Chayo Praya is 22metres deep at Wat Arun. This in itself didnt make sense until the possibility occured that the fast flowing water was actually dredging to this amazing depth.

If this is the case then the solution is to build waterways designed to maximise the dredging effect ensuring that the silt at the mouth can be easily dredged to keep the waterway open.

This solution keeps the initial problem of dredgers,lighters,barges etc to a minimum and allows later works to be carried out as required sea.

Another article I read said that barges and lighters form a regular convoy to Singapore for land reclamation, but hey, Thaksin needs the silt to infill his own sea wall off BKK

Singapore will pay good monies for silt and may be they will supply machinery.Malaysia and Indo dont want to sell sand to Sing even if they have to discard it.

Smuggling of sand is big profit biz. in Straights.The problem is,that tide will hit now,not next year.