Bangkok Floods 'Still Serious': City Governor

[Lite Beer]

Bangkok floods 'still serious': city governor

BANGKOK, October 30, 2011 (AFP) - Residents living along canals in parts of northern Bangkok were warned Sunday to be ready to evacuate if needed because of the spread of floods that have so far spared most of the Thai capital.

Emergency barriers along Bangkok's swollen Chao Phraya River prevented a major overflow during a spring high tide over the weekend, easing fears that the waterway might burst its banks and engulf the city of 12 million people.

The majority of the capital, including the business and shopping districts, remains dry and weeks of heavy rain have given way to mostly sunny skies.

But a mass of runoff water continues to creep into the capital's outskirts, with several residential areas in the north submerged by waist-deep brown liquid, while the western side of the Chao Phraya has also been inundated.

"The problem is not yet over. It's still serious," said Bangkok governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra.

"People who live on both sides of canals in Lak Si, Lad Prao, Chatuchak and Bang Khen: be ready to evacuate to safer areas," he said, referring to four northern Bangkok districts.

The three-month crisis -- triggered by unusually heavy monsoon rains -- has left at least 381 people dead around the kingdom and damaged millions of homes and livelihoods, mostly in northern and central Thailand.

Thousands of residents have left Bangkok, with many heading to coastal resorts away from the path of the water, after the government declared a five-day holiday through Monday. The break will not be extended, it said.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who previously warned the floods could last for weeks, now says the waters are likely to start receding soon because the end of the seasonal high tide will make it easier to drain water out to sea.

"After October 31 the situation is likely to improve if there is no rain," she told reporters.

The government hopes to channel billions of cubic metres of water from the central plains through canals and rivers in and around Bangkok and into the Gulf of Thailand.

Many people in the capital have been stockpiling food and residents in the west of the city have been told to store tap water because supplies will be limited at times as a result of contamination from rubbish and industry.

Countries including the United States and Britain have advised against all but essential travel to Bangkok, but most top tourist attractions and destinations have been unaffected and the main airport is operating normally.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2011-10-30

[londonthai]

such contradicting info and opinions just in one article.

[Payboy]

such contradicting info and opinions just in one article.

It's the water goddess guy against the 1000 boat propellor team.

[TomJoad]

"...most top tourist attractions and destinations have been unaffected and the main airport is operating normally."

True. Here on Koh Tao it's hard to tell there's a problem further north. I left BKK last week when I went into a Tesco and couldn't find any bottled water on the shelves.

[RickBradford]

There's going to be (probably already is) a huge number of p*ssed-off vendors of tacky artefacts who rent stalls at Jatujak Market and have seen a weekend's business knocked out for nothing.

[DocN]

such contradicting info and opinions just in one article.

It's the water goddess guy against the 1000 boat propellor team.

with all due respect: a good joke is still a good joke!

[tlansford]

"...most top tourist attractions and destinations have been unaffected and the main airport is operating normally."

True. Here on Koh Tao it's hard to tell there's a problem further north. I left BKK last week when I went into a Tesco and couldn't find any bottled water on the shelves.

spread the word so that the Christmas tourist season doesn't go down the drain !

[philw]

such contradicting info and opinions just in one article.

It's the water goddess guy against the 1000 boat propellor team.

Nice one.

[philw]

such contradicting info and opinions just in one article.

It's the water goddess guy against the 1000 boat propellor team.

with all due respect: a good joke is still a good joke!

Yep!!!!!

[tlansford]

"...most top tourist attractions and destinations have been unaffected and the main airport is operating normally."

True. Here on Koh Tao it's hard to tell there's a problem further north. I left BKK last week when I went into a Tesco and couldn't find any bottled water on the shelves.

please ... be kind !

1) The tourist industry is very important in Thailand and the Christmas season is an important part of that. The fact is that news like this in BKK will scare tourists away from all of Thailand and for months. We could easily see a miserable holiday tourist season.

2) Whether TomJoad is a divemaster or not is irrelevant. As well as is the fact that people on the island could be Thai or foreigners.

3) Koh Tao had it's own share of flooding in March. It killed business for 3 months. People there know what a flood looks like and what it does to their livelihoods. There's been enough water to go around this year.

So, again, please take it easy. OK?

EDIT: removed deleted post. craigt3365

[craigt3365]

A post was removed and another was edited to remove this deleted post.

Craig

[Payboy]

such contradicting info and opinions just in one article.

It's the water goddess guy against the 1000 boat propellor team.

with all due respect: a good joke is still a good joke!

Yep!!!!!

[TAWP]

Moving posts from the flood-thread since it evoked debate:

GM Link

I would like to thank the nice folks at Nimit Mai for tearing down the flood gate.

Nice of them to send the water racing down the khlong to Khu Bon.

Just saw the report on Spring News of people tearing down the embankments that I think, if I don't mix up the several embankments that was being torn down, that allows water to flow into Min Buri.

Is it too much to wish everyone that took part of this to have their houses full of mold and their possessions stolen?

Typical selfish behavior, 10 people suffer so they make sure that 20 others will too...

Depends how you look at it, if dykes keep the water from going somewhere and prolong your suffering for a few weeks. While if they are gone everyone is done in half a week. Then who is selfish. The ones keeping the dykes up.. or the ones tearing them down.

No, it doesn't.

Many of my co-workers are re-located due to their areas being flooded. If their relatives places our those of us that aren't flooded yet get flooded, where do the rest of us re-locate? If you don't under stand that putting one area under 2m while the other is at 0m is better than both at 1m, then I am afraid you have a lot to learn in term of disaster management.