I am a little confused on how the canals and Klongs in Bangkok normally work ,

are they below the normal river height ?

When it is NOT flood time they all seem to be static water ,

But I am sure they must fill up some in a heavy rain, so are there pumps at the end of them where the reach the river to pump out this extra water ?

And are the canals / klongs tidal like the river ?

thanks for your help understanding whats happening

BK

This may not answer your questions, but made me think about the klongs when I first started coming to Bangkok in the early 70's. In those days, you could take a boat down the klongs to get around. Quite an integral network. All had flowing water, but many over the years got filled in for various reasons. I believe this is part of the reason the water is not draining out like it used to.

Along the same lines, is there anywhere to look for topo maps of the Bangkok area, along with a current level of the water in different locations? I have seen multiple maps showing the general location of the water, but nothing showing the actual MSL (Mean Sea Level) of the water. It would be helpful to compare the MSL of the water with the elevation of various areas- especially where I live and work. That's assuming water doesn't naturally flow uphill here in Thailand.

completely futile question, but then I come from a country which is half below sealevel. There are effective-in normal times, sluices, gates and an enormous water management system-which has indeed been built since 1970-some 40 years ago. But this is mainly built to catch the monsoon rains.

Level on the river-close to sea and thus tides, can vary with up to 2 mtrs in normal days. BMA also has enormous pumps that can clear flooded areas in a few hours-that is sometimes why they know keep waterlevel low in canals when they fear for some area.

I can't answer if all of them are lower than the river, but at least some are.

That's because:

1. Many of the Klongs are blocked and actually lead nowhere.

2. Roads and landfills for building sites have blocked the Klongs.

3. Because of (1) and (2) the Klongs and canals are not really a drainage system like they used to be.

4. And levees have been built raising the banks of the river for "flood protection"...which has left the river potentially higher than the "drainage" canals/Klongs...so when the river is high it can flow INTO the Klongs/canals...not the other way.

5. And in the height of stupidity...during rainy season when the river is already high, centraal Bangkok has a pumping system that removes rain water from the streets and pumps it INTO the already high river UPSTREAM from potential flood areas.

All this was down in the name of "progress". Highways and motorways are "progress".

Unless of course it floods.

Like this year.