Thai Officials Give Conflicting Flood Warnings

[george]

Thai Officials Give Conflicting Flood Warnings

By Daniel Ten Kate and Supunnabul Suwannakij

Thailand’s navy downplayed concerns of flooding in inner Bangkok after Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra warned the capital may be at risk, adding to the confusion over the severity of the deluge.

“Now that the water gates have been opened, the pressure will be reduced,” Nirut Hongprasith, head of the Royal Thai Navy’s Hydrographic Department, said yesterday. “So if there are floods, they won’t be as severe as many people thought.”

Bangkok’s canals were opened to relieve pressure on the swollen Chao Phraya river after floodwaters began spilling into the city’s northern suburbs. Conflicting official warnings about the severity of the three-month-old crisis sparked panic buying of water and food in the capital, and banks and hotels have built walls of sandbags to guard against the deluge.

Residents shouldn’t panic, Nirut said. “Bangkok will definitely be safe. Now that water is flowing through water gates, the problem will ease and water will recede.”

Yingluck yesterday said floodwaters may reach inner Bangkok as a deluge from the north threatens to overrun canals. Science Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi urged the government to tell the truth about the crisis, and said all of Bangkok will be flooded for more than a month, the Nation newspaper reported.

“Bangkokians will have some impact as water will flow through canals,” Yingluck said. “It is still unclear how long Bangkok people will be affected as there are many uncontrollable factors.”

Shopping Districts

Floodwaters throughout the capital may reach more than one meter (3.3 feet), Yingluck said in response to questions from reporters. She expressed concern about water levels in Saen Saeb canal, which runs close to shopping districts such as Central World and Sukhumvit Road. The nation’s heaviest flooding in a half century has killed more than 300 people.

Residents in the capital are stocking up on water, canned food and instant noodles after Yingluck warned them to move belongings to high ground. She has vowed to protect the city’s airports, power plants and major transport routes from floodwaters sitting north of Bangkok that may take six weeks to drain through the city’s 1,682 canals.

Bangkok officials warned residents in nine of the capital’s 50 districts to expect flooding as water presses against levies. The threatened areas account for about 20 percent of the capital’s population and 44 percent of the total land area, according to government statistics.

Apple, Toyota Disruptions

Floods north of the capital have swamped thousands of businesses, causing the worst supply disruptions for Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) since the March earthquake that crippled Japan. Thailand makes about a quarter of the world’s hard-disk drives and serves as a production hub for Japanese carmakers and electronics firms.

Pramote Maiklad, a former irrigation chief who is advising Yingluck, told reporters water should be drained out of the eastern part of Bangkok to take pressure off downtown areas. The capital sits on the bottom of a flood plain that has an average elevation of less than two meters above sea level.

“The eastern part of Bangkok has a lot of canals and permanent barriers that can handle certain amounts of water,” he said. “So we should divert the water to that part and pump it out of the sea to protect inner Bangkok.”

Army chief Prayuth Chan-Ocha at the weekend ordered soldiers to strengthen levies around two industrial estates in Eastern Bangkok that are home to factories operated by Honda Motor Co., Unilever and Cadbury Plc.

“We’ll do our best to protect them,” Prayuth said Oct. 22 after visiting the industrial estates. “We can’t guarantee 100 percent that they won’t be flooded.”

Bangkok Airport

Suvarnabhumi, Bangkok’s main international airport, was operating normally along with Don Mueang airport, which mostly handles domestic flights and houses the government’s flood relief operations command. The city will experience a high tide from Oct. 28 to Oct. 30, Yingluck said.

Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra gave “a very strong warning” for 27 communities along the Chao Phraya river to head to government shelters after water levels unexpectedly rose at the weekend before stabilizing, spokesman Jate Sopitpongstorn said by phone.

Tourist boats were still operating along the river near an elevated train station at the weekend. The nearby Shangri-La Hotel had a meter-high stone barrier on top of a retaining wall to protect against flooding. Only a handful of people were seen in the lobby yesterday afternoon.

Hotels, Offices

Elsewhere in Bangkok, major hotels in downtown areas Silom, Sukhumvit and Sathon were operating normally, even as they took precautions. Sandbags were piled near office buildings and hotels, including the St. Regis owned by Minor International Pcl (MINT), the nation’s biggest hotel operator.

Outside central Bangkok, more than 100,000 people are living in about 1,700 government evacuation centers, which can handle as many as 800,000 people, Yingluck said. Toxic water was found in Pathum Thani north of Bangkok, the government said.

Thailand’s central bank, which left the benchmark interest rate unchanged last week at 3.50 percent, signaled Oct. 20 it may consider cutting rates as the disaster threatens to slow growth. The benchmark SET Index fell 4.1 percent last week.

The damage caused by the floods cost as much as 120 billion baht ($3.9 billion), Bank of Thailand Governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul said Oct. 14. Barclays Capital cut its forecast for Thai economic growth this year to 2.9 percent from 3.7 percent because of flood-related losses, it said in a report. Official data last week showed exports rose 19.1 percent in September from a year earlier, the least since June.

Thailand may lose 6 million metric tons of unmilled rice as floods damage key plantation areas, Apichart Jongskul, secretary-general of the Office of Agricultural Economics, said in a phone interview Oct. 21. Communities in parts of Southeast Asia face “serious food shortages,” the United Nations said in a report.

-- Bloomberg 2011-10-24

[Gippy]

As much it is sucks to have my home and business flooded at least it's over with. I think I would have gone nuts sitting in Bangkok listening to the announcements from the shower pretending to be a government. Now we are safely out of town, have water to drink and food to eat.

[w11guy]

As much it is sucks to have my home and business flooded at least it's over with. I think I would have gone nuts sitting in Bangkok listening to the announcements from the shower pretending to be a government. Now we are safely out of town, have water to drink and food to eat.

I live in Bangkok, haven't gone nuts and have plenty of water to drink and food to eat. Stop listening to all the announcements. Don't see why you would have gone nuts. It's business as usual in inner Bangkok. Yes, take some precautions, but no point worrying.

[rogerdee123]

As much it is sucks to have my home and business flooded at least it's over with. I think I would have gone nuts sitting in Bangkok listening to the announcements from the shower pretending to be a government. Now we are safely out of town, have water to drink and food to eat.

I live in Bangkok, haven't gone nuts and have plenty of water to drink and food to eat. Stop listening to all the announcements. Don't see why you would have gone nuts. It's business as usual in inner Bangkok. Yes, take some precautions, but no point worrying.

Don't worry. It won't be long before you've gone nuts like the rest of us

[whybother]

This isn't necessarily the government, but it does add to the chaos.

Various quotes from the daily news thread between about 8:00 and 9:30.

Moving 4,000 evacuees from TU Rangsit to Ratchamankhala Stadium. Many volunteers needed there (via @ktnews & @adisaklive ) /via@Porpich

Thammasat Rangsit requests for 300-400 volunteers to help relocate flood victims to Rajamangala Natl. Stadium in Hua Mak /TAN_Network

Thammasat University to transfer evacuees to Rajamangkala Stadium; Rangsit campus now used as temporary shelter submerged /MCOT

Evacuation's begun for 3,000 at TU shelter to Rajmangkala stadium. Many volunteers needed. @tulsathit @thepchaiyong #ThaiFloodEng

Volunteers needed at Rajmangkala stadium /via@tulsathit

Thammasat Rangsit Shelter Flooded, Evacuees to Be Relocated at 11 AM

The Thammasat Univsersity, Rangsit Campus turned flood shelter is now flooded. With no electricity or running water, officials are forced to relocate over 3,000 flood victims currently taking shelter there to be relocated to Rajamangala National Stadium in Hua Mak.

The center is asking for 300-400 volunteers to help move the flood victims. The relocation effort is expected to start at 11 AM today.

-- Tan Network 2011-10-24

And then at about 9:30.

3,000 evacuees at Thammasat evacuated to National Stadium

About 3,000 flood victims who were taking shelter at the Thammasat University's Rangsit Campus were furtherer evacuated to the Rajamangala National Stadium Monday morning, Thai PBS reported.

The evacuees had to be relocated after floodwaters gushed into the university's compound and kept rising.

Officials called for volunteers to help take care the evacuees at the stadium.

-- The Nation 2011-10-24

Does that mean that the volunteers aren't needed at 11am?

[macjin]

Bkk is surronded by water and there is a sea wating to pass. Science minister knows something thats why he said 1m of water in bkk. Go figure. All my data points to flooding eventually in most of bkk and lets not even discuss tap water , food, transport, supply chains, internet, cell, electricity shutting off purposfully or accidentilly, and the rest of the integrated web nets of the city. Oh and illness from the sitting water. Mosquitos? I heard Dengue also reported in bkk a few weeks ago. Floods are a breedground for mosquitos. Im leaving soon and preping to be gone a month or two in case. Once flooded forget about getting IN or OUT.

[snowgard]

Yesterday evening I was shopping in Pattaya. Tesco Lotus, Big C and Makro doesn't have rice, nudelsoups, drinking water, eggs, ...!!! Looks like it goes all to Bangkok. What what we do eat and drink here?

I want buy a soft ice at KFC but: "Sorry, icecream finish, Not become from Bangkok."

Edited October 24, 2011 by snowgard

[SabaiBKK]

Yesterday evening I was shopping in Pattaya. Tesco Lotus, Big C and Makro doesn't have rice, nudelsoups, drinking water, eggs, ...!!! Looks like it goes all to Bangkok. What what we do eat and drink here?

[/b]I want buy a soft ice at KFC but: "Sorry, icecream finish, Not become from Bangkok."

are you just ngoh or you don't undrestand that the supply chains are broken , it doesnt go to bangkok .... its just not there , in bangkok you cannot find bottled water anywhere anymore except in restaurants , but you cannot buy any for yourself in a 7/11 or bigc. in bangkok the shops are out of food and water for a couple weeks already even cigarettes are getting scarce at seven .

[satiariyan]

As much it is sucks to have my home and business flooded at least it's over with. I think I would have gone nuts sitting in Bangkok listening to the announcements from the shower pretending to be a government. Now we are safely out of town, have water to drink and food to eat.

I live in Bangkok, haven't gone nuts and have plenty of water to drink and food to eat. Stop listening to all the announcements. Don't see why you would have gone nuts. It's business as usual in inner Bangkok. Yes, take some precautions, but no point worrying.

+1 - When (I don't dare say if) central bangkok gets flooded it will do so regardless of any announcements and the level in your neighborhood will be the one you see when looking out your window regardless of what may have been announced. Likewise, the flooding will last as long as it lasts, regardless of what any official may believe. Noone - and I mean NOONE - has the data required to make even probability assesments of how long the between 10 cm and 2 meter flood (if it doesn't rain too much and the tides don't get too high) will last. I stopped taking the announcements seriously early last week, and when they friday afternoon warned that a number of areas (including) mine should move all valuables 1 meter higher (which I already did prior to the 16.th due to the first round of warnings) there were really very little sense in doing anything bur shrugging one shoulders and say - oh well, so there will (may) come water tonight, tomorrow or next week. Still no water Monday noon, but I'm surprized, nevertheless, every morning when i look out my window and see only dry land.

[jimbeam1]

I live in Bangkok. My neighbour has just spent the weekend building this enormous boat. I don't believe it the fools now filling it with animals.

jb1

[metisdead]

An inflammatory post has been removed.

[SabaiBKK]

are you just ngoh or you don't undrestand that the supply chains are broken

I think you are stupid!!! It goes Bangkok. In all big streets you can see donation places for bangkok. There are a lot of drinking water bottles. but not anymore for pattaya people.

If you read the news you must know that mama soups have upgraded the produktion. But where it goes?

What we do in one week? Fight about the food and drink?

First you remain polite

second come to bangkok and see for yourself ... we have no water and no food in the shops . ... ohhh and by the way donations are not for bangkok but for the people who have lost their houses and live in shelters ... sorry that privillegiate people from pattaya ALSO have to suffer to help others ...

Edited October 24, 2011 by SabaiBKK

[animatic]

It seems one hand doesn't know

which foot the other hand

is sticking in which mouth.

[mca]

I think I would have gone nuts sitting in Bangkok listening to the announcements from the shower pretending to be a government.

To be perfectly honest mate if you were listening to announcements from the shower pretending to be a government then I would humbly suggest that you were nuttier than a sackful of squirrel shit anyhow.

" What's that Prime Minister Panasonic Massage Spray? Bangkok's in danger? Prepare to evacuate? O.K. Message received and understood Sir! Come on rubber duckie. Grab the loofah and bar of Parrot soap with the pubic hair stuck to it. We're getting the <deleted> out of here!"

[satiariyan]

Bkk is surronded by water and there is a sea wating to pass. Science minister knows something thats why he said 1m of water in bkk. Go figure. All my data points to flooding eventually in most of bkk and lets not even discuss tap water , food, transport, supply chains, internet, cell, electricity shutting off purposfully or accidentilly, and the rest of the integrated web nets of the city. Oh and illness from the sitting water. Mosquitos? I heard Dengue also reported in bkk a few weeks ago. Floods are a breedground for mosquitos. Im leaving soon and preping to be gone a month or two in case. Once flooded forget about getting IN or OUT.

While i won't dispute the ret of it I'd say the last sentence - "Once flooded forget about getting IN or OUT" - is rather overreacting. Certainly there are floatings things such as boats around. Even if floods rush in with a meter overnight and remain for months, the situation will have stabilised within 1-2 weeks with easily accessible floating devices run by the local entrepereneurs on all levels - worst case would be that one may have to pay a bit more for the transportation than one may like. I have litle doubt that those venders driving up and down my soi offering all kinds of foods and mecandize soon will have rigged up a floating business if the flood situation lasts long enough.

[tlansford]

Floodwaters throughout the capital may reach more than one meter (3.3 feet), Yingluck said in response to questions from reporters. She expressed concern about water levels in Saen Saeb canal, which runs close to shopping districts such as Central World and Sukhumvit Road.

I am not in BKK, but would be interested to know how this area is affected.

This from 2 weeks ago. There were sandbags everywhere already.

[w11guy]

are you just ngoh or you don't undrestand that the supply chains are broken

I think you are stupid!!! It goes Bangkok. In all big streets you can see donation places for bangkok. There are a lot of drinking water bottles. but not anymore for pattaya people.

If you read the news you must know that mama soups have upgraded the produktion. But where it goes?

What we do in one week? Fight about the food and drink?

First you remain polite

second come to bangkok and see for yourself ... we have no water and no food in the shops . ... ohhh and by the way donations are not for bangkok but for the people who have lost their houses and live in shelters ... sorry that privillegiate people from pattaya ALSO have to suffer to help others ...

Come to Silom; there is plenty of food in Tops and Villa Market. I went shopping yesterday and got everything I needed. I don't know about other parts of BKK, but Silom definitely has plenty of food. It's simply not true that Bangkok doesn't have food or water. There is plenty. Everything here is pretty normal.

[alfredthegreat]

I agree. Be prepared as much as possible and accept the fact that it can happen.

As much it is sucks to have my home and business flooded at least it's over with. I think I would have gone nuts sitting in Bangkok listening to the announcements from the shower pretending to be a government. Now we are safely out of town, have water to drink and food to eat.

I live in Bangkok, haven't gone nuts and have plenty of water to drink and food to eat. Stop listening to all the announcements. Don't see why you would have gone nuts. It's business as usual in inner Bangkok. Yes, take some precautions, but no point worrying.

[SabaiBKK]

are you just ngoh or you don't undrestand that the supply chains are broken

I think you are stupid!!! It goes Bangkok. In all big streets you can see donation places for bangkok. There are a lot of drinking water bottles. but not anymore for pattaya people.

If you read the news you must know that mama soups have upgraded the produktion. But where it goes?

What we do in one week? Fight about the food and drink?

First you remain polite

second come to bangkok and see for yourself ... we have no water and no food in the shops . ... ohhh and by the way donations are not for bangkok but for the people who have lost their houses and live in shelters ... sorry that privillegiate people from pattaya ALSO have to suffer to help others ...

Come to Silom; there is plenty of food in Tops and Villa Market. I went shopping yesterday and got everything I needed. I don't know about other parts of BKK, but Silom definitely has plenty of food. It's simply not true that Bangkok doesn't have food or water. There is plenty. Everything here is pretty normal.

didn't try villa market , but what about the seven eleven? all the sevens and tops and big c's around rachada are empty ... i know sevens around sukhumvit are out of water too ... heard makros were out of water too ... so maybe villa market has a special distribution network . what I don't understand is that if tops silom has everything , why tops esplanade is empty ? rachada is still dry and trucks could come deliver .... makes no sense to me

[culicine]

Bkk is surronded by water and there is a sea wating to pass. Science minister knows something thats why he said 1m of water in bkk. Go figure. All my data points to flooding eventually in most of bkk and lets not even discuss tap water , food, transport, supply chains, internet, cell, electricity shutting off purposfully or accidentilly, and the rest of the integrated web nets of the city. Oh and illness from the sitting water. Mosquitos? I heard Dengue also reported in bkk a few weeks ago. Floods are a breedground for mosquitos. Im leaving soon and preping to be gone a month or two in case. Once flooded forget about getting IN or OUT.

Mosquitoes won't be a major problem until the floods start receding and many pools of non-moving water are left in many areas. My house apparently has about 25 cm in it, but left before it got that high. That's Nonthaburi and the mass of water is still moving southwards - the river at Pakkret is also very high, even on today's low-tide. I'm glad to be out of Bangkok - much less worry now.

[rubl]

Come to Silom; there is plenty of food in Tops and Villa Market. I went shopping yesterday and got everything I needed. I don't know about other parts of BKK, but Silom definitely has plenty of food. It's simply not true that Bangkok doesn't have food or water. There is plenty. Everything here is pretty normal.

In my area (khet Dusit) shops look mightily empty, although Thai here still seem to get what they want. Not too many foreigners here, days go by without seeing one (apart from the ugly guy in the mirror that is).

Tomorrow evening passing with BTS I may stop to have a look myself. Foodland, PP2 comes to mind

Edited October 24, 2011 by rubl

[Arkady]

Bkk is surronded by water and there is a sea wating to pass. Science minister knows something thats why he said 1m of water in bkk. Go figure. All my data points to flooding eventually in most of bkk and lets not even discuss tap water , food, transport, supply chains, internet, cell, electricity shutting off purposfully or accidentilly, and the rest of the integrated web nets of the city. Oh and illness from the sitting water. Mosquitos? I heard Dengue also reported in bkk a few weeks ago. Floods are a breedground for mosquitos. Im leaving soon and preping to be gone a month or two in case. Once flooded forget about getting IN or OUT.

Mosquitoes won't be a major problem until the floods start receding and many pools of non-moving water are left in many areas. My house apparently has about 25 cm in it, but left before it got that high. That's Nonthaburi and the mass of water is still moving southwards - the river at Pakkret is also very high, even on today's low-tide. I'm glad to be out of Bangkok - much less worry now.

No water and hardly any canned goods in Lotus and Big C Sukhumvit 50 and 77. We normally tanks of water for water cooler delivered by Sprinkle. On Saturday the truck just didn't show up and no one answers the phone at Sprinkle. We have ordered a consignment of water from Ubon. I hope it can get through. They have to plan a circuitous route via Bang Pakong to get to Bkk. I think we might have a humanitarian crisis almost like Haiti if the whole city is flooded for 4-6 weeks, if it is so hard to get drinking water already.

[Crushdepth]

What absolute kr@p a lot of you post on these forums! They are/have been a useful means of obtaining information from people on the spot in many cases, but it is becoming tedious and time consuming wading through the sheer amount of rubbish to get there. Some of you seem to have nothing better to do than sit at a computer all day, write rubbish and slang each other off. Finding the sensible and useful posts now is like finding hens' teeth!

Open a Twitter account, subscribe to georgebkk, he/they are doing a pretty good job of filtering out the noise.

[TAWP]

@news1005fm: Metro Waterworks increases potassium permanganate and activated charcoal in tap water; water remains safe.

@thai101: Potassium permanganate has antiseptic and odor removing properties; activated charcoal absorbs organic contamination. #ThaiFloodEng

[phetaroi]

As someone who lived in Bangkok for a couple of years fairly recently, but is now back home: If it wasn't so tragic it would be laughable watching the various "officials" say anything that comes to their minds, whether it has any basis of fact, or not. On an almost hourly basis you will learn that the worst is over...or yet to come. It's rare to see such incompetence in a government from a country that thinks it's relatively sophisticated. Most disgusting of all is that a prime concern is tourism and whether international investors will be upset.

Edited October 24, 2011 by phetaroi

[rubl]

@news1005fm: Metro Waterworks increases potassium permanganate and activated charcoal in tap water; water remains safe.

@thai101: Potassium permanganate has antiseptic and odor removing properties; activated charcoal absorbs organic contamination. #ThaiFloodEng

If you have to drink it, boiling first may be a good idea. Especially with (very) young children be very careful.

[slipperx]

Just smell the tap water - unless you have a problem smelling I think it is pretty obvious that it is full of chemicals. I am not sure boiling it will make it smell or taste better but at least it should kill the really bad stuff so I go along with that advice

[rubl]

Just smell the tap water - unless you have a problem smelling I think it is pretty obvious that it is full of chemicals. I am not sure boiling it will make it smell or taste better but at least it should kill the really bad stuff so I go along with that advice

Add some lemon juice or syrup. For drinking switch to beer

[whybother]

Just smell the tap water - unless you have a problem smelling I think it is pretty obvious that it is full of chemicals. I am not sure boiling it will make it smell or taste better but at least it should kill the really bad stuff so I go along with that advice

Add some lemon juice or syrup. For drinking switch to beer

Unfortunately the beer is running low too.

[Scott]

Two post deleted. Please restrict your remarks to English and please treat other posters with respect.