Government Bumbling Adds To Anxiety Over Flood Crisis

[Lite Beer]

EDITORIAL

Govt bumbling adds to anxiety over flood crisis

The Nation

Confusing and conflicting reports are not only showing the authorities in poor light but also aggravating the situation

Plodprasob Surassawadee deserved sympathy. But again, he should have known better. Some political heat has been turned up on the science minister, who has been tasked with overseeing flood-relief operations, after his statement on TV on Thursday evening caused widespread panic among Bangkokians. People scrambled to move things out of their homes, phone networks were overloaded and the social media went into a wild frenzy.

To be fair to Plodprasob, everyone has already been jumpy, especially Bangkokians who have been spared the suffering largely at the expense of some neighbouring or nearby northern provinces. When he said flood waters as high as one metre could be heading towards several northern Bangkok districts, it was like pressing the panic button. It turned out that Plodprasob was jumping the gun a little bit. The repair work on the Ban Prao floodgate in the Sam Kok district of Pathum Thani was not going as fast as he wished, and some gushing water apparently prompted him to throw caution to the wind. When he made a statement that people in those districts should start moving their belongings, it was quickly picked up by Twitter and Facebook users. The rest is history.

The whole government came under fire. Justice Minister Pracha Promnok, placed above Plodprasob in the anti-flood chain of command, had to come out to repair the damage. He told the media that no evacuation order had been issued, or even suggested. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra also came out in defence of her science minister. Although she said that Plodprasob had "good intentions", the government conspicuously stated that public announcements concerning the flooding were to come from Pracha alone in the future. To add to the tension between the government and the media, the Information and Communications Technology Ministry warned that rumour-mongers could face a jail term. There was even talk that press releases must have Pracha's signature on them.

It doesn't matter that Plodprasob was acting in good faith. Something needs to be done when it comes to the way the government communicates with the Thai public over the high-tension, fast-changing flood situation. In just two weeks, we have seen public communications responsibility shift from Interior Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit to Plodprasob, and then to Justice Minister Pracha. The prime minister herself did not look comfortable or convincing when she addressed the nation about the flood disaster on TV. Then there is the issue of Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra, who has not quite sung the same tune as the government.

The governor, who is from the Democrat Party, was apparently so upset by Plodprasob's action on Thursday evening that he told Bangkokians to listen to flood updates concerning the capital only from him. Whether the government's "Listen to Pracha only" policy will create jurisdictional or political problems remains to be seen, although, technically, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is supposed to be a part of the government's anti-flood command.

Apart from the Plodprasob misfortune, there are accidents waiting to happen. The government's flood management has flown in the face of leaders of many local communities who have been pressured by their people unhappy with how Bangkokians are having it easy at their expense. These local officials, too, have been talking to the media and many times their information has clashed with that of the government.

Yingluck's second in command in this crisis, as of now, seems to be Pracha. He is anything but a big-picture flood expert. Plodprasob was supposed to be the best she had, but the situation proved to be overwhelming, as it had been for Yongyuth before him.

Can Pracha cut it? His first test came immediately. On Friday, confusion reigned following what appeared to be a statement from the command centre that 17 Bangkok districts are now classified as "disaster areas". Pracha denied knowledge of the statement, making the situation all the more unsettling. It could be yet another misunderstanding, but for Thais already on edge, it only meant continued anxiety and stress.

-- The Nation 2011-10-16

[Buchholz]

"Government Bumbling" and "Plodprasop" go together like ham & cheese....

or, in his case, a tiger steak fillet &... *whatever people put on tiger steak fillets*

.

[whybother]

Plodprasob Surassawadee deserved sympathy.

Why?

[Bakseedaa]

AND THE BAND PLAYED ON................................... the same old tune..!!!!

[OzMick]

He had good intentions...................another paving stone on the road to hell.

It is claimed that his statement did not equate to shouting "Fire!" in a theatre. It was more like a loud "I smell smoke!"

[KKvampire]

The way Thailand has dealt with and dealing with this is a joke, No preparation, Politicians and beauarcrats who are not up to the their jobs, a country where image is everything, substance non exsistent

[Misterwhisper]

There are two main issues playing together here: 1) Too many people are meddling, contradicting each other in the process and thus causing the handling of the crisis to be less effective than it could be; 2) the chain of command is very rigid. The real experts out in the field cannot act without being ordered by their supervising ministers, most of whom are utterly misplaced in their respective portfolios and have actually little or no relevant knowledge about their duties, because they got their posts as a political reward and not because they're the best people for the job.

[OzMick]

Any news on the success, or otherwise, of the boats?

[gl555]

Are we surprised? This is what you get when you appoint friends and family to positions of importance! Well done PTP! Well done Yingluk!

[Thaddeus]

Any news on the success, or otherwise, of the boats?

They float.

[mijan24]

There are two main issues playing together here: 1) Too many people are meddling, contradicting each other in the process and thus causing the handling of the crisis to be less effective than it could be; 2) the chain of command is very rigid. The real experts out in the field cannot act without being ordered by their supervising ministers, most of whom are utterly misplaced in their respective portfolios and have actually little or no relevant knowledge about their duties, because they got their posts as a political reward and not because they're the best people for the job.

Misterwhisper I had to read your post several times to determine if you were talking about Thailand or Australia - having given you the benifit of the doubt since this is a Thai forum the answer being Thailand but believe me what you have said sounds very much like the Australian Government in action or better still inaction.

In Australia we suffer floods followed by bushfires and there are always the armchair pundits who with 20/20 hindsight put forward their magical solutions where were they 3 months ago (wet season is not a new thing) with their advice on Prepare Prepare!! Probably off solving other world problems in hindsight of course. I often think if only my father had had me gelded at birth (Enunickised) I would not have wasted my life chasing women but would be an unhappy old millionaire! (foresight/hindsight) what wonderful gifts they could be in the right quarters.

[OzMick]

Any news on the success, or otherwise, of the boats?

They float.

So far!

[Honkytowner]

In a society that embraces lying, cheating and bribery in order to gain advantage (as several recent surveys have shown), is it any wonder that the country is run by corrupt incompetents?

Edited October 16, 2011 by Honkytowner

[SICHONSTEVE]

He had good intentions...................another paving stone on the road to hell.

It is claimed that his statement did not equate to shouting "Fire!" in a theatre. It was more like a loud "I smell smoke!"

Lets face it, this government is chock full of bumbling amateurs that are well out of their depth when it comes to normal run-of-the-mill government matters let alone when they have to think, organise, plan and execute a sound response to the problems thrown up by a huge natural disaster.

I do sympathise with those affected in the North in their desperate plight, but to a large degree, they are to blame and are now atoning for their foolish collective decision to place the responsibility of governing this country in the hands of people with no experience and without a clue about what they are doing!!!!.

I hope that they will learn from their mistake and leave the running of the country to those who understand how to in the future, once this lot leave the stage with their tail between their legs and are forced to run for cover and head back up North to tend their farms (something they ARE very good at)!!!!:jap:.

Edited October 16, 2011 by SICHONSTEVE

[Misterwhisper]

There are two main issues playing together here: 1) Too many people are meddling, contradicting each other in the process and thus causing the handling of the crisis to be less effective than it could be; 2) the chain of command is very rigid. The real experts out in the field cannot act without being ordered by their supervising ministers, most of whom are utterly misplaced in their respective portfolios and have actually little or no relevant knowledge about their duties, because they got their posts as a political reward and not because they're the best people for the job.

Misterwhisper I had to read your post several times to determine if you were talking about Thailand or Australia - having given you the benifit of the doubt since this is a Thai forum the answer being Thailand but believe me what you have said sounds very much like the Australian Government in action or better still inaction.

In Australia we suffer floods followed by bushfires and there are always the armchair pundits who with 20/20 hindsight put forward their magical solutions where were they 3 months ago (wet season is not a new thing) with their advice on Prepare Prepare!! Probably off solving other world problems in hindsight of course. I often think if only my father had had me gelded at birth (Enunickised) I would not have wasted my life chasing women but would be an unhappy old millionaire! (foresight/hindsight) what wonderful gifts they could be in the right quarters.

I have no doubt that you have similar issues in Oz. Your explanations were clear and reasonable enough. But you're right, my ramblings referred to Thailand, of course, because that is where I live. I also could write about issues in Mozambique or Paraguay, but that wouldn't be relevant, would it. Point is that a good many ministers in any country are absolutely incompetent in their assigned portfolios.

[animatic]

Kuhn P. seems to need a yellow and black striped suit to fit into the Bumble character better. Or a Chicken Little Suit. Yes the sky IS falling,

but not where I said it is.

Edited October 16, 2011 by animatic

[TAWP]

To avoid cross-posting, here is a link to a post with some info on this subject from the sibling-thread:

[metisdead]

A nonsense post and replies have been removed.

[Arkady]

Yingluck doesn't dare take charge of anything herself. Just puts oafs like Plod or Chalerm in charge and after they screw up, she reads out a prepared speech mumbling they had "good intentions", whatever that means in reference to a self serving gangster politician. Thais will still vote for PT anyway. So it doesn't really matter how awful they are in office.