Teary-Eyed Pm Yingluck Pledges To Fight Bangkok Flood

[webfact]

Teary-eyed PM pledges to fight Bangkok flood

BANGKOK, Oct 27 - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Thursday pledged to continue fighting the country's worst flooding in decades as Bangkok is now entering a critical point. Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra urged immediate evacuation of residents of Sai Mai district in northern Bangkok as the flood crisis worsens.

Floodwaters are spreading to larger areas of the capital with residents of Don Mueang, Bang Phlad and Thawi Wattana districts already urged to evacuate to safer places of refuge, higher ground or temporary shelters provided by City Hall.

The governor declared Wang Thong Lang and Lat Phrao districts close-watch zones.

As a massive volume of deluge from the North is looming to flood all the capital's 50 districts in combination with high tide from Oct 28-31, and large numbers of Bangkokians flocked to bus terminals and crowed Suvarnabhumi Airport, the country's main airport, to abandon the capital for upcountry and abroad.

Don Mueang Airport, the city's former international airport housing the government's flood centre, was forced to all domestic flight services due to flooding on Tuesday.

Today, Thursday, is the first of a 5-day official holiday the government declared for 21 flood-torn provinces including Bangkok to allow city dwellers to leave or prepare to deal with the deluge. Banks and financial markets will remain open from Thursday to Monday.

The notorious traffic snarl in the capital has become a thing of the past as the mass exodus left city streets with a few cars but public buses, taxis and motorcycle taxis.

Many city dwellers have opted to take public transportation after parking their own vehicles at safe places for fear of the worsening flooding. Triple parking could be seen at tollways and expressways.

Many hotels offered budget prices to help the flood-affected. Some companies also booked hotel rooms for their staff whose homes are being submerged.

The teary-eyed premier remained steadfast that there was no need to move the Flooding Relief Operations Centre (FROC) located in inundated Don Mueang Airport.

We must evacuate people who are staying in Don Mueang Airport to safer areas first, Ms Yingluck said. FROC will be the last agency to move out.

Ms Yingluck said Don Mueang Airport can still be reached via the elevated tollway but she expressed concern for workers who may face obstacles getting to the centre. She has tasked government officials to facilitate such travel by providing transport and shelters.

The premier noted that the relocation of FROC also depends on the electrical system at Don Mueang and that she will consider other options. She said she does not want to move the centre as all working systems have already been settled there.

The prime minister conceded Bangkok is entering a critical level. She said it's impossible to divert flow floodwater and that floodwater will pass through every part of the capital but whether or how long it will persist in particular areas depends on level of the land.

Ms Yingluck said that temporary shelters have been prepared in Lop Buri, Chonburi and a number of other provinces and urged Bangkokians to evacuate to ease burden of officials in emergency cases.

Following criticism of FROC’s performance, the premier called on the public with teary eyes to feel sympathy for FROC officials as they may feel tired while others have now become flood victims themselves.

“Today we ask for mutual support as officials have fought flooding for nearly two weeks. Many are exhausted and some problems cannot be controlled and were not caused by FROC,” said Ms Yingluck.

In other developments, Britain's Foreign Office on Wednesday urged against all but essential travel to Bangkok and 26 flood-hit provinces in Thailand.(MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2011-10-27

[george]

PM Yingluck Thur ordered Irrigation and Highway Dept to consider breaking up major roads to allow floods to flow out from Bangkok /The Nation

[Who, me ?]

Teary eyed PM....Again?

[Roachiebkk]

Teary eyed? Can't be good for the mascara.

[Roachiebkk]

Let's be like Miss Piggy and get the FROC outa here!

[SunDaRi]

So FROC is tired, no wonder.

[DocN]

You can not let it be, huh?! Teary eyed, yes! Maybe because she feels sad for her herself...but maybe...just maybe, she also feels sad for people dieing, drowning, loosing their possessions, being in horrible situations....

It is called "compassion"- something that most of you are obviously lacking!

[JetsetBkk]

You can not let it be, huh?! Teary eyed, yes! Maybe because she feels sad for her herself...but maybe...just maybe, she also feels sad for people dieing, drowning, loosing their possessions, being in horrible situations....

It is called "compassion"- something that most of you are obviously lacking!

+1

I feel pretty teary eyed just watching the news from my bone dry place in Phuket. We are so lucky down here.

[blackthorn2005]

You can not let it be, huh?! Teary eyed, yes! Maybe because she feels sad for her herself...but maybe...just maybe, she also feels sad for people dieing, drowning, loosing their possessions, being in horrible situations....

It is called "compassion"- something that most of you are obviously lacking!

She should have felt compassion weeks ago, instead of being worried about saving face. The US Navy would be very useful now, maybe bring in some kleenex for the PM, there is enough water in Bangkok without her tears being added to it.

[Lifer]

You can not let it be, huh?! Teary eyed, yes! Maybe because she feels sad for her herself...but maybe...just maybe, she also feels sad for people dieing, drowning, loosing their possessions, being in horrible situations....

It is called "compassion"- something that most of you are obviously lacking!

I agree wholeheartedly. Whenever there is news, the Baboons come out to make light and criticize everything said or ask on this site. Isn't it time the super duper moderators delete a lot of the BS? The country is being torn apart and the same people trying to live here on a penny are the same ones making stupid comments about everything. It's no wonder TV is slowly getting a bad rap reputation.

I have to believe, politics aside, that everyone's doing their best to help the people and save the infrastructure. Long hours, little food, no sleep, and many losing everything. Give them a break! Their are a lot of humanitarians their sacrificing for their people. What are all the wiseacres and sideline pundits doing to help? Mostly nothing!

[Raindancer]

You can not let it be, huh?! Teary eyed, yes! Maybe because she feels sad for her herself...but maybe...just maybe, she also feels sad for people dieing, drowning, loosing their possessions, being in horrible situations....

It is called "compassion"- something that most of you are obviously lacking!

Well said "DocN" These poor people keep smiling despite their woes. I think the PM has been overwhelmed by her lack of experience to deal with this type of scenario and the bad advice received from her government aides who are like headless chickens. I just wish that she had called in Marine and water irriagtion engineers to discuss the problem. But sadly she was ill advised and lacks the experience. My heart goes out to the Thai people for this disaster.

It is a time for support not inane criticisms from armchair experts.

[Villy1111]

Yeah, give her a break people. It's not like shes intending to sink Bkk.

Trying her best to save it. Sometimes lucks just against people.

Edited October 27, 2011 by Villy1111

[LoongJohn]

Good policy that: when faced with an emergency, have a bit of a cry. It helps no end.

[laomei]

So looking at that picture, is it safe to assume that the grand palace *is* actually closed?

[wallswod]

What is the term FROC short for? Never heard of it.

[LTGTR]

Crying can fix any disaster.

Teary eyed PM....Again?

[xthAi76s]

Like some here, I immediately transfixed on the 'teary-eyed' bit as well. (I did read the rest of the article).

There are a couple things going on here that at least some of us know about.

Crying or being teary-eyed can be a political play. If used strategically, it can be interpreted as a showing of compassion, sincerity, empathy, etc.

BUT, she has done this several times now! It starts to look like weakness. Leaders of nations don't have the luxury of crying in front of the public on a regular basis whether or not they are sincere.

[KKvampire]

We dont need the B*****T about Yinglucks feelings now, Fact is the Thai people voted for someone in July with absolutely no experience in Politics or Public life Let alone making important decisions , maybe you can count deciding how to promote the next brand of Mobile phones in a previous executive role

[sfbandung]

Despite all the surrounding politics she seems genuinely upset to me.

This is looking like being a disastrous weekend for Bangkokians and it would be nice to see politics put aside for a while.

[DocN]

You can not let it be, huh?! Teary eyed, yes! Maybe because she feels sad for her herself...but maybe...just maybe, she also feels sad for people dieing, drowning, loosing their possessions, being in horrible situations....

It is called "compassion"- something that most of you are obviously lacking!

Of course we feel compassion for the Thai's who are suffering thru this terrible tragedy, but Yingluck....she, due to her incompetence along with her compatriots, are to blame for this catastrophe. Late September flooding in Chiangmai, where I live...did they begin to prepare for what was to come....NO. "Bangkok is safe!" How many times The dingy governor with all his photo ops, never getting his hands dirty and the rest of the ministers: total incompetence, no contingency plans about where all the water from the north was going to go....hello...it flows south! And then as things get worse they all rush around like chickens with their heads chopped off......lying to the people on a daily basis. Yeah she feels compassion, but she created the mess.

And...ahm...that makes her what?

Oh yeah...I guess the word is HUMAN!

[aaacorp]

If i remember well the one who didn t opened the gates first even after the government asked for it wad the Bkk governor which is far than red

[Villy1111]

Flood relief operation center i think

[whybother]

What is the term FROC short for? Never heard of it.

A search on the internet brings up ... Federated Russian Orthodox Clubs

Or it could be: Flood Relief Operation Center

[whybother]

If i remember well the one who didn t opened the gates first even after the government asked for it wad the Bkk governor which is far than red

Have the gates been opened since the government took over control? The Bangkok canals don't seem to have changed much in the last couple of weeks.

Also, Yingluck has repeated the governor's actions and statements in "Protecting Bangkok at all costs".

[aaacorp]

If i remember well the one who didn t opened the gates first even after the government asked for it wad the Bkk governor which is far than red

Have the gates been opened since the government took over control? The Bangkok canals don't seem to have changed much in the last couple of weeks.

Also, Yingluck has repeated the governor's actions and statements in "Protecting Bangkok at all costs".

Maybe now the water is higher it s too risky to open the gates...anyway, personnaly, i am not an expert of flooding, but it seems a lot of thaivisa posters are

[whybother]

If i remember well the one who didn t opened the gates first even after the government asked for it wad the Bkk governor which is far than red

Have the gates been opened since the government took over control? The Bangkok canals don't seem to have changed much in the last couple of weeks.

Also, Yingluck has repeated the governor's actions and statements in "Protecting Bangkok at all costs".

Maybe now the water is higher it s too risky to open the gates...anyway, personnaly, i am not an expert of flooding, but it seems a lot of thaivisa posters are

From the moment Yingluck took control when declaring the Disaster Act she said the gates were going to be opened and warned that there were going to be metre high floods. So there was plenty of risk then, which seems to be the reason that it hasn't been done.

[whybother]

Yeah who cares if the majority of Thailand is flooded? as long as bkk is dry ....

There are currently 2.5 million (about a week ago) people affected by the flooding.

If Bangkok is severely flooded, you can add at least another 5 million to that (not counting the other 5 million that would either get out or be spared).

[thaigold]

You can not let it be, huh?! Teary eyed, yes! Maybe because she feels sad for her herself...but maybe...just maybe, she also feels sad for people dieing, drowning, loosing their possessions, being in horrible situations....

It is called "compassion"- something that most of you are obviously lacking!

Thanks for a bit of decency. This flood is no more a political failure than the flooding of the Mississippi River or Australia earlier this year. Some posters are just self centered mules.

[billd766]

*Deleted quote edited out*

I am far from being a PTP supporter and IMPO I think that the Democrats are a far better party.

Having said that I feel truly sorry you Yingluck as shew was selected form a very short list, elected and most probably given a list of PTP people who were also selected and put into their current positions with little or any thought of how to be a Minister and run a department.

In a "normal" Thai world this wouldn't matter a lot but the current situation is far from normal and nobody at the top has any idea of what to do or how to cope with it.

The people with the best ideas and knowledge are a long way down the pecking list and would not be allowed to take control.

So the PM has a small crying session and everybody picks on her for that.

She is probably putting in a lot of time and emotion into actually trying to do something and it seems to me that few people have given her any credit at all.

She probably sees little of her son and partner and misses their love and support and they know her better than most people including her big brother who also seems very quiet at the moment.

I suspect that most people would not want to be in her position at the moment

I haven't heard much from the other PT ministers or Red Shirt bigwigs and certainly nothing that would do much good.

There are many people detracting her and very few actively helping her so of course she is a bit emotional, it is just that the publicity, spotlight and camera or on her for what must seem like 24/7 with few places for her to take a break and relax even for 30 minutes or so.

She is doing the best she can under circumstance way beyond her control with a bunch of people allegedly behind her all the way whilst they try to blame everybody else.

Edited October 27, 2011 by Scott
deleted quote edited out

[FarangBuddha]

You can not let it be, huh?! Teary eyed, yes! Maybe because she feels sad for her herself...but maybe...just maybe, she also feels sad for people dieing, drowning, loosing their possessions, being in horrible situations....

It is called "compassion"- something that most of you are obviously lacking!

Well said "DocN" These poor people keep smiling despite their woes. I think the PM has been overwhelmed by her lack of experience to deal with this type of scenario and the bad advice received from her government aides who are like headless chickens. I just wish that she had called in Marine and water irriagtion engineers to discuss the problem. But sadly she was ill advised and lacks the experience. My heart goes out to the Thai people for this disaster.

It is a time for support not inane criticisms from armchair experts.

People get the government they deserve...what were they thinking electing a totally inexperienced person to be prime minister...I guess only thinking about their free tablets and B 300 per day salaries...som num na!