Signs Of Public Doubting Yingluck's Abilities As Bangkok Braces For Deluge

[webfact]

COMMENT

Lack of government leadership to blame

Achara Deboonme,

Chularat Saengpassa

The Nation

Signs of public doubting Yingluck's abilities as Bangkok braces for deluge

The flood that ravaged many provinces has finally reached Bangkok and all its residents, whether in the suburbs or the inner city, are close to panic. To blame is the lack of leadership at the national level.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra proves that she has a lot to learn as a professional politician. Now, she should realise that even with the prime minister's crown, she has to flex her muscles more to demonstrate her true authority.

Previous governments are to be dammed for neglecting the overall picture of water management - including how the national irrigation system works - but the collapse of dykes here and there shows Yingluck’s inability to keep things under control.

With a historically huge runoff after several storms like this, all provinces erected barriers to protect their cities. But due to limited budgets, most barricades were earthen embankments or sandbag stacks that could not withstand the raging currents.

According to an Irrigation Department source, building a barrier with sandbags is an art - the bags must not be densely packed and they must be placed on a solid surface like a road, or they will collapse along with the ground underneath them.

Taking office in August and busy forming the government and defending her policies, Yingluck was assured by all governors that the protection measures would work. But she became a lame duck following the collapse of the dykes that led to the swamping of cities and industrial estates.

As the deluge now descends on the capital, its residents are not wrong to doubt her ability. Despite her repeated promises that she would do her best to protect the city, failures here and there to win public backing for her water diversion plans have emerged.

Yingluck can share the blame with her brother Thaksin, who is known to have handpicked the Cabinet. New to the scene, she could never know who is capable of what. Without such knowledge, it’s impossible to put the right man in the right job.

Plodprasob Suraswadi’s message to villagers living north of Bangkok was a clear example. The science minister was in charge of operations, but instead of taking care of flood prevention he enjoyed passing comments.

The Flood Relief Operations Centre was a joke in its first week of operation, as nobody in the room had any real knowledge about the matter. Chalit Damrongsak, director-general of the Irrigation Department, was brought in recently, which ably restored FROC's credibility. But that credibility was swept away by Plodprasob’s remarks and then by conflicting reports from the FROC spokesman. All that went on, unchecked.

Yingluck also proved weak when it came to conflicts with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration over the protection of the capital. Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra, who represents the opposition Democrat Party, insisted that Bangkok was his domain and that he needed no help from the national government to save the city. There was little response or reaction to that notion. There was only a gentle message from FROC chief Pracha Promnok that the central government needed to get involved, given the status of Bangkok as the nation's economic centre.would be delivered quickly.

Again, no reaction. The government dutifully delivered the sandbags as requested, as if it was working for the BMA, not the other way around.

Sukhumbhand is elected by Bangkok residents. Yet, Bangkok is not his personal toy, for it is the hub of government and business. This city is not only home to local voters, but also of diplomats, expatriates and foreign tourists. If the city is crippled, the impact would resonate nationwide.

It would be interesting to see how British Prime Minister David Cameron would coordinate with the London mayor to protect that city against a natural disaster like this. Certainly, the mayor would not be left to carry out his work alone and any disagreements would be ironed out at a closed meeting.

Yingluck’s weakness is also echoed following calls for the declaration of a state of emergency. The pictures of Bangkok residents smiling beside military tanks show how familiar they are with military forces in the capital. As the prime minister, she should do better in pointing out that the Army is here to defend the country against outside enemies, not natural disasters like this one. The Army was impotent in diverting the massive amount of water out of the city. It is lending a hand, even without a state of emergency. And despite heavy equipment and legions of manpower, it also failed to safeguard the Nava Nakorn Industrial Estate.

As a matter of fact, the US Army took part in rescuing New Orleans after the disastrous storm there because of the state of emergency.

But unlike Thailand, New Orleans had to declare a state of emergency so that it could access federal resources - which included military support and financial aid from the federal government - as the damage was beyond the state’s ability to cope.

Yingluck has a lot to learn if she wants to hold on to power. First, she needs to assemble a coterie of her own supporters, not those who back her brother. Through these people, she can exercise her power to get things done the way she wants.

Second, with help from these advisers, she can toughen her stance against whatever forces rock the stability of her government. She needs this and she should act fast. Sadly for her, with a disaster of this scale, the honeymoon period is over.

-- The Nation 2011-10-20

[chadintheusa]

What abilities did they think she had? She is a complete political novice, a clone, and a puppet. Seriously there is little any one politician could do in the face of this natural disaster, but the PM's handling of it has been awful. Maybe next time Thais should look for some sort of competence in the people they elect.

[alexakap]

What abilities did they think she had? She is a complete political novice, a clone, and a puppet. Seriously there is little any one politician could do in the face of this natural disaster, but the PM's handling of it has been awful. Maybe next time Thais should look for some sort of competence in the people they elect.

When she comes to TV - she looks completely LOST in the mess. She can only idiotically smile (yet her eyes not smiling at all) and nervously talk to the ppl with lots of her common "kor thod/mai roo/na ja"- and nothing more than just that.

But this is not the answers ppl are waiting from their PM and from the leader of the country.

Edited October 20, 2011 by alexakap

[Buchholz]

What abilities did they think she had? She is a complete political novice, a clone, and a puppet. Seriously there is little any one politician could do in the face of this natural disaster, but the PM's handling of it has been awful. Maybe next time Thais should look for some sort of competence in the people they elect.

When she comes to TV - she looks completely LOST in the mess. She can only idiotically smile (yet her eyes not smiling at all) and nervously talk to the ppl with lots of her common "kor thod/mai roo/na ja"- and nothing more than just that.

But this is not the answers ppl are waiting from their PM and from the leader of the country.

It's reflected in the opinion polls that reveal such a huge majority of people are disappointed in her and her government's abysmal response to the flood.

It's been a rude wake-up call for the populace.

.

[ianf]

What abilities did they think she had? She is a complete political novice, a clone, and a puppet. Seriously there is little any one politician could do in the face of this natural disaster, but the PM's handling of it has been awful. Maybe next time Thais should look for some sort of competence in the people they elect.

Looking at the larger picture, it seems that Thaksin is running the cabinet with Yingluck only a puppet. Perhaps this shows the inability of Thaksin to do anything in an intelligent way - he's great at opening his big mouth and often coming up with nonsensical rubbish, but managing something like this? He's shown that he is absolutely not capable. And once again the poor people of Thailand suffer, losing their jobs and homes. One disaster after another ................

[Galong]

I haven't heard much noise from her supporters about how they feel about her performance. What are the red shirts up north saying?

[zydeco]

What abilities did they think she had? She is a complete political novice, a clone, and a puppet. Seriously there is little any one politician could do in the face of this natural disaster, but the PM's handling of it has been awful. Maybe next time Thais should look for some sort of competence in the people they elect.

Looking at the larger picture, it seems that Thaksin is running the cabinet with Yingluck only a puppet. Perhaps this shows the inability of Thaksin to do anything in an intelligent way - he's great at opening his big mouth and often coming up with nonsensical rubbish, but managing something like this? He's shown that he is absolutely not capable. And once again the poor people of Thailand suffer, losing their jobs and homes. One disaster after another ................

The only question is: when do the real powers that be say they've had enough?

[Deez]

Its ironic that all the big mouth red leaders are completely silent. They are only comfortable when bitching and complaining. Imagine the red sentiment if the dems were in office and handling the crisis like this.

[bkkjames]

Yea their silence is remarkable.

Speaking of FROC I got some sms the other day and because I don't have thai font on my phone I thought it was for free horoscope and automatically binned it.

(This was before I knew what FROC stood for)

Did I miss something important? Didn't think so.

[alexakap]

I haven't heard much noise from her supporters about how they feel about her performance. What are the red shirts up north saying?

They are all busy with their red districts. Better not chanting for them here, or they'll come....

PS: but the flood is color-blind AFAIK. Red districts will be flooded the same way as yellow ones, blue ones or rainbow-colored...They will learn that soon, if not yet.

[ETatBKK]

well, what is the red shirts in Bangkok saying ?

my neighbour is red. just 30hrs back, she said government is doing great to protect us. and bet if Bangkok will be flood she buy me a dinner. yesterday, she is in panic.

some red still in a dream.

I haven't heard much noise from her supporters about how they feel about her performance. What are the red shirts up north saying?

[nocturn]

What abilities did they think she had? She is a complete political novice, a clone, and a puppet. Seriously there is little any one politician could do in the face of this natural disaster, but the PM's handling of it has been awful. Maybe next time Thais should look for some sort of competence in the people they elect.

When she comes to TV - she looks completely LOST in the mess. She can only idiotically smile (yet her eyes not smiling at all) and nervously talk to the ppl with lots of her common "kor thod/mai roo/na ja"- and nothing more than just that.

But this is not the answers ppl are waiting from their PM and from the leader of the country.

It's reflected in the opinion polls that reveal such a huge majority of people are disappointed in her and her government's abysmal response to the flood.

It's been a rude wake-up call for the populace.

in this case, sadly, the populace got not what they deserved, but exactly what they asked for.

[OZEMADE]

It would not matter who was in power, they were not going to stop this flood.

New Orleans natural disaster, could not stop flooding.

Brisbane Queensland natural disaster, could not stop flooding.

Thailand, natural disaster, could not stop flooding.

North Queensland Australia, has just had 14 inches of rain in 24 hours, natural disaster cant stop flooding.

To mention a few recent ones.

Do you think she is GOD, give me a break.

[huanga]

What abilities did they think she had? She is a complete political novice, a clone, and a puppet. Seriously there is little any one politician could do in the face of this natural disaster, but the PM's handling of it has been awful. Maybe next time Thais should look for some sort of competence in the people they elect.

Looking at the larger picture, it seems that Thaksin is running the cabinet with Yingluck only a puppet. Perhaps this shows the inability of Thaksin to do anything in an intelligent way - he's great at opening his big mouth and often coming up with nonsensical rubbish, but managing something like this? He's shown that he is absolutely not capable. And once again the poor people of Thailand suffer, losing their jobs and homes. One disaster after another ................

YS, a political novice with questionable leadership qualities, was well known before the election, but the Thai majority still elected her based on her "image". So, the only things to be said now is "you dealt it and you live with it".

Not only the poor Thai suffered, I believe everyone suffered to a certain degree. But hopefully next time around, the Thai people will get smarter to elect someone that can actually help and lead, not just look good.

Edited October 20, 2011 by huanga

[alexakap]

Do you think she is GOD, give me a break.

You don't have to be a God just to do your duties PROPERLY.

Yes, she (herself) can't stop that.

But can she just organize the whole thing - from information to evacuation? Or just goddamn ORDER those in charge to go their parts PROPERLY as well - and CHECK they following or not. And inform, inform and inform the public over and over - what is happening and what ppl should do. But hey, there are just usual soaps on thai TV channels...Nothing happening in the country, nothing to worry now, eat the soap on common daily basis and be happy...?

If she can't do even that - then what is the purpose of having her in her chair?? Anyone can smile and talk to TV channels - including me and you.

Edited October 20, 2011 by alexakap

[EyesWideOpen]

I suspect there are quite a few red shirt supporters that wish that they had not taken that 500 baht to vote Yingluck into office. As her stated platform during the election was to bring her brother back to Thailand, the red shirts cannot be too surprised that she has proven herself to completely incompetent in the face of an actual crisis. I feel sad for the Thai people......

Edited October 20, 2011 by EyesWideOpen

[OZEMADE]

What abilities did they think she had? She is a complete political novice, a clone, and a puppet. Seriously there is little any one politician could do in the face of this natural disaster, but the PM's handling of it has been awful. Maybe next time Thais should look for some sort of competence in the people they elect.

Looking at the larger picture, it seems that Thaksin is running the cabinet with Yingluck only a puppet. Perhaps this shows the inability of Thaksin to do anything in an intelligent way - he's great at opening his big mouth and often coming up with nonsensical rubbish, but managing something like this? He's shown that he is absolutely not capable. And once again the poor people of Thailand suffer, losing their jobs and homes. One disaster after another ................

YS, a political novice with questionable leadership qualities, was well known before the election, but the Thai majority still elected her based on her "image". So, the only things to be said now is "you dealt it and you live with it".

Not only the poor Thai suffered, I believe everyone suffered to a certain degree. But hopefully next time around, the Thai people will get smarter to elect someone that can actually help and lead, not just look good.

Very constructive critisism, I think NOT. It is a natural disaster that no one was going to stop. The only thing that can be done here is like New Orleans and Queensland! CLEAN UP AFTER IT.

[animatic]

Yes it is a huge amount of rain to assimilate, but it was possible to mitigate it earlier on. They didn't even look.

Not immediately putting the head of irrigation in charge of FROC was beyond idiotic.... Who ever suggested another 'leader' should be canned NOW for mindless incompetence. .

If she had any leadership 'balls', Sukhumbhand would have respected that and let her take the lead, as it was he had to just take the Bangkok reins and deal with the problems, including public announcements.

The US Corp of Engineers is the main large scale dike and water works building in the USA< they get called if there is ANY large scale issue of flooding, but like the army here, can't move until the politicians say go by calling a state of emergency. Certainly there are 'acts of god' bigger than mans abilities to control it fully, but always Man ca act to mitigate the damage. IF he has the will to make the tough decisions. That has proved lacking here.

This government was bound to have a large disaster it mismanaged, a foregone conclusion, but no one imagined it would be this fast and this big. Still maybe 3 Typhoons is karma's way of telling the Thai People; 'You screwed up folks, electing this mess was a fundamental mistake, and I'm now gonna prove it to you.'

NO amount of giving her a personal circle of advisors, rather than big bros circle of lackeys, is going to suddenly give her the power, information and abilities to get the job done as MOST citizens expect.

[MunterHunter]

It would not matter who was in power, they were not going to stop this flood.

New Orleans natural disaster, could not stop flooding.

Brisbane Queensland natural disaster, could not stop flooding.

Thailand, natural disaster, could not stop flooding.

North Queensland Australia, has just had 14 inches of rain in 24 hours, natural disaster cant stop flooding.

To mention a few recent ones.

Do you think she is GOD, give me a break.

Nope she could not prevent the flood, but she had over a month to prepare the flood defenses, she should have made the order 4-6 weeks ago. A lot of preparation and defenses could have been put in place during that time. The canals could have been dredged, the reservoirs could have been drained, flood walls could have been built, action plans could have been drawn up, food supplies could have been prepared, evacuation plans could have been put in place.

Instead she focused on getting her brothers supporters into positions of power, back tracked on her election promises and did basically sweet &lt;deleted&gt; all.

Now that the waters are here, what is she doing? Photo ops, crying on TV, sending donation money to Cambodia and getting Thaksin's brother in law promoted to cheif of police... yay way to go YL, you rock!

[rixalex]

It would not matter who was in power, they were not going to stop this flood.

New Orleans natural disaster, could not stop flooding.

Brisbane Queensland natural disaster, could not stop flooding.

Thailand, natural disaster, could not stop flooding.

North Queensland Australia, has just had 14 inches of rain in 24 hours, natural disaster cant stop flooding.

To mention a few recent ones.

Do you think she is GOD, give me a break.

It would not matter who was in power, they were not going to stop this flood.

Floods can't be stopped - well they can but not at short notice - but they can be controlled, and there are measures that can be taken to help ensure people's safety and minimize damage. How do you think Yingluck and PTP have performed in this regard? And before you say it, no, i'm not asking you how you think the Dems would have faired, or for a list of previous floods under other governments that have been mishandled, i'm asking you what you think of Yingluck and the PTP's handling NOW.

[animatic]

well, what is the red shirts in Bangkok saying ?

my neighbour is red. just 30hrs back, she said government is doing great to protect us. and bet if Bangkok will be flood she buy me a dinner. yesterday, she is in panic.

some red still in a dream.

I haven't heard much noise from her supporters about how they feel about her performance. What are the red shirts up north saying?

ET, When you neighbor stops panicing and things calm down...

pick a REALLY good restaurant for dinner. She deserves it.

[animatic]

It would not matter who was in power, they were not going to stop this flood.

New Orleans natural disaster, could not stop flooding.

Brisbane Queensland natural disaster, could not stop flooding.

Thailand, natural disaster, could not stop flooding.

North Queensland Australia, has just had 14 inches of rain in 24 hours, natural disaster cant stop flooding.

To mention a few recent ones.

Do you think she is GOD, give me a break.

Nope she could not prevent the flood, but she had over a month to prepare the flood defenses, she should have made the order 4-6 weeks ago. A lot of preparation and defenses could have been put in place during that time. The canals could have been dredged, the reservoirs could have been drained, flood walls could have been built, action plans could have been drawn up, food supplies could have been prepared, evacuation plans could have been put in place.

Instead she focused on getting her brothers supporters into positions of power, back tracked on her election promises and did basically sweet &lt;deleted&gt; all.

Now that the waters are here, what is she doing? Photo ops, crying on TV, sending donation money to Cambodia and getting Thaksin's brother in law promoted to cheif of police... yay way to go YL, you rock!

Exactly when typhoon 2 came along that should have been the wake up call. Typhoon 3 and they are only just moving... IDIOCY.

They could have asked Abhisit as caretaker to look at preparations, and even as she is finding office setups etc, telling Head of Irrigation Department to prepare reports and tell what's happening should have been SOP standing orders.

Instead, we don't even hear about it till Typhoon 3 has made the big dams at risk... Then the light bulb goes off in Gov. House. Oopsie!

Edited October 20, 2011 by animatic

[OZEMADE]

Yes it is a huge amount of rain to assimilate, but it was possible to mitigate it earlier on. They didn't even look.

Not immediately putting the head of irrigation in charge of FROC was beyond idiotic.... Who ever suggested another 'leader' should be canned NOW for mindless incompetence. .

If she had any leadership 'balls', Sukhumbhand would have respected that and let her take the lead, as it was he had to just take the Bangkok reins and deal with the problems, including public announcements.

The US Corp of Engineers is the main large scale dike and water works building in the USA< they get called if there is ANY large scale issue of flooding, but like the army here, can't move until the politicians say go by calling a state of emergency. Certainly there are 'acts of god' bigger than mans abilities to control it fully, but always Man ca act to mitigate the damage. IF he has the will to make the tough decisions. That has proved lacking here.

This government was bound to have a large disaster it mismanaged, a foregone conclusion, but no one imagined it would be this fast and this big. Still maybe 3 Typhoons is karma's way of telling the Thai People; 'You screwed up folks, electing this mess was a fundamental mistake, and I'm now gonna prove it to you.'

NO amount of giving her a personal circle of advisors, rather than big bros circle of lackeys, is going to suddenly give her the power, information and abilities to get the job done as MOST citizens expect.

I do remember reading, after the enquiry was released, the U.S. Corp of Engineers admitted that they had not built the wall correctly years before and that is what caused the first breach causing the flooding of New Orleans. They also admitted that they knew the wall would not hold in a disaster like the tidal surges that the hurricane caused.

So here is a Powerfull Government that has all the experts and equipment and manpower, but cant stop a Natural Disaster. :blink:Oopsie !

Edited October 20, 2011 by OZEMADE

[WhizBang]

It would not matter who was in power, they were not going to stop this flood.

New Orleans natural disaster, could not stop flooding.

Brisbane Queensland natural disaster, could not stop flooding.

Thailand, natural disaster, could not stop flooding.

North Queensland Australia, has just had 14 inches of rain in 24 hours, natural disaster cant stop flooding.

To mention a few recent ones.

Do you think she is GOD, give me a break.

No one is talking about STOPPING THE FLOODING.  They are talking about *managing the crisis*, something she appears *incapable* of doing.  Get it now?

[rogerdee123]

Yes it is a huge amount of rain to assimilate, but it was possible to mitigate it earlier on. They didn't even look.

Not immediately putting the head of irrigation in charge of FROC was beyond idiotic.... Who ever suggested another 'leader' should be canned NOW for mindless incompetence. .

If she had any leadership 'balls', Sukhumbhand would have respected that and let her take the lead, as it was he had to just take the Bangkok reins and deal with the problems, including public announcements.

The US Corp of Engineers is the main large scale dike and water works building in the USA< they get called if there is ANY large scale issue of flooding, but like the army here, can't move until the politicians say go by calling a state of emergency. Certainly there are 'acts of god' bigger than mans abilities to control it fully, but always Man ca act to mitigate the damage. IF he has the will to make the tough decisions. That has proved lacking here.

This government was bound to have a large disaster it mismanaged, a foregone conclusion, but no one imagined it would be this fast and this big. Still maybe 3 Typhoons is karma's way of telling the Thai People; 'You screwed up folks, electing this mess was a fundamental mistake, and I'm now gonna prove it to you.'

NO amount of giving her a personal circle of advisors, rather than big bros circle of lackeys, is going to suddenly give her the power, information and abilities to get the job done as MOST citizens expect.

I do remember reading, after the enquiry was released, the U.S. Corp of Engineers admitted that they had not built the wall correctly years before and that is what caused the first breach causing the flooding of New Orleans. They also admitted that they knew the wall would not hold in a disaster like the tidal surges that the hurricane caused.

So here is a Powerfull Government that has all the experts and equipment and manpower, but cant stop a Natural Disaster. :blink:Oopsie !

That's correct both failures of the Corps of Engineers and Bush's Homeland Security monstrosity method of managing the disaster. The Bush Administration correctly took the heat for it and the democrats won the next election.

[OZEMADE]

It would not matter who was in power, they were not going to stop this flood.

New Orleans natural disaster, could not stop flooding.

Brisbane Queensland natural disaster, could not stop flooding.

Thailand, natural disaster, could not stop flooding.

North Queensland Australia, has just had 14 inches of rain in 24 hours, natural disaster cant stop flooding.

To mention a few recent ones.

Do you think she is GOD, give me a break.

No one is talking about STOPPING THE FLOODING. They are talking about *managing the crisis*, something she appears *incapable* of doing. Get it now?

O I see what you are talking about now, MANAGEMENT, like when the last PM managed the floods down south which caused derailments, loss of life and loss of all property. I did not see anything being done by that Government after the disaster to stop it from happening again. I also noticed that the dams were full when he was in power and the monsoon season was approaching and no dam water was released in preperation for possible flooding. But you expect a new Gov that has been in for 3 months to solve the outgoing Governments incompentence.

[animatic]

Yes it is a huge amount of rain to assimilate, but it was possible to mitigate it earlier on. They didn't even look.

Not immediately putting the head of irrigation in charge of FROC was beyond idiotic.... Who ever suggested another 'leader' should be canned NOW for mindless incompetence. .

If she had any leadership 'balls', Sukhumbhand would have respected that and let her take the lead, as it was he had to just take the Bangkok reins and deal with the problems, including public announcements.

The US Corp of Engineers is the main large scale dike and water works building in the USA< they get called if there is ANY large scale issue of flooding, but like the army here, can't move until the politicians say go by calling a state of emergency. Certainly there are 'acts of god' bigger than mans abilities to control it fully, but always Man ca act to mitigate the damage. IF he has the will to make the tough decisions. That has proved lacking here.

This government was bound to have a large disaster it mismanaged, a foregone conclusion, but no one imagined it would be this fast and this big. Still maybe 3 Typhoons is karma's way of telling the Thai People; 'You screwed up folks, electing this mess was a fundamental mistake, and I'm now gonna prove it to you.'

NO amount of giving her a personal circle of advisors, rather than big bros circle of lackeys, is going to suddenly give her the power, information and abilities to get the job done as MOST citizens expect.

I do remember reading, after the enquiry was released, the U.S. Corp of Engineers admitted that they had not built the wall correctly years before and that is what caused the first breach causing the flooding of New Orleans. They also admitted that they knew the wall would not hold in a disaster like the tidal surges that the hurricane caused.

So here is a Powerfull Government that has all the experts and equipment and manpower, but cant stop a Natural Disaster. :blink:Oopsie !

I agree, it comes down to political will to put money in the right place.

The Generals in the Corp Of Engineers are the ones that said they did not build it for the storm of this size.

They were telling congress for 20 years it needed to give them more budget to build it properly for worse case.

A lot different than announcing after the fact, for the inquiry, that they screwed up.

No one took them seriously for decades, ort at least not enough to provide the budget.

Ok for Category 4, but not Cat 5... Oh how often does that happen???

Should be good enough next line item on the budget

Well just takes once, fools. Ask Japan too.

The COE can build anything that is needed, but they are at the whim of political realities as is the case here also.

But here they haven't even gotten to a Cat 1 fix equivalent, the drainage canals here are left over from the pre-automobile canals as transport days, sure maybe widened and dredged some, but essentially the old canals of Rama V's days.

[rogerdee123]

Khun (Khunying?) Sudarat, former close advisor to Thaksin Shinawatra and also the former Minister of Health during that MOH corruption scandal is now advisor to the FROG ... oops I mean FROC .... So we can all relax now knowing that she is helping Khun Yingluck manage the situation.

[SAffer]

What abilities did they think she had? She is a complete political novice, a clone, and a puppet. Seriously there is little any one politician could do in the face of this natural disaster, but the PM's handling of it has been awful. Maybe next time Thais should look for some sort of competence in the people they elect.

When she comes to TV - she looks completely LOST in the mess. She can only idiotically smile (yet her eyes not smiling at all) and nervously talk to the ppl with lots of her common "kor thod/mai roo/na ja"- and nothing more than just that.

But this is not the answers ppl are waiting from their PM and from the leader of the country.

You guys are spaced-out; Yingluck is possibly the prettiest PM in the world today. This is Thailand, being pretty is already enough to get into power. Being pretty and rich... what a bonus for Thais. She is the perfect PM for this country.

[noahvail]

Yes it is a huge amount of rain to assimilate, but it was possible to mitigate it earlier on. They didn't even look.

Not immediately putting the head of irrigation in charge of FROC was beyond idiotic.... Who ever suggested another 'leader' should be canned NOW for mindless incompetence. .

If she had any leadership 'balls', Sukhumbhand would have respected that and let her take the lead, as it was he had to just take the Bangkok reins and deal with the problems, including public announcements.

The US Corp of Engineers is the main large scale dike and water works building in the USA< they get called if there is ANY large scale issue of flooding, but like the army here, can't move until the politicians say go by calling a state of emergency. Certainly there are 'acts of god' bigger than mans abilities to control it fully, but always Man ca act to mitigate the damage. IF he has the will to make the tough decisions. That has proved lacking here.

This government was bound to have a large disaster it mismanaged, a foregone conclusion, but no one imagined it would be this fast and this big. Still maybe 3 Typhoons is karma's way of telling the Thai People; 'You screwed up folks, electing this mess was a fundamental mistake, and I'm now gonna prove it to you.'

NO amount of giving her a personal circle of advisors, rather than big bros circle of lackeys, is going to suddenly give her the power, information and abilities to get the job done as MOST citizens expect.

I do remember reading, after the enquiry was released, the U.S. Corp of Engineers admitted that they had not built the wall correctly years before and that is what caused the first breach causing the flooding of New Orleans. They also admitted that they knew the wall would not hold in a disaster like the tidal surges that the hurricane caused.

So here is a Powerfull Government that has all the experts and equipment and manpower, but cant stop a Natural Disaster. :blink:Oopsie !

That's correct both failures of the Corps of Engineers and Bush's Homeland Security monstrosity method of managing the disaster. The Bush Administration correctly took the heat for it and the democrats won the next election.

It's off-topic, but the Army CoE had asked the Bush administration for $1Billion to shore up New Orleans' flood defenses, Bush refused. $1Billion invested could have saved $6Billion in losses. To put it on topic, sadly, both the USA then and Thailand now had political leaders of the silver spoon variety, who apparently had no regard for the masses.