Floodwater Spreading Into Inner Bangkok

[sparebox2]

... this is as watching a train wreck, in slow motion ... and billions of m3 of water still to pass ... we evacuated, then returned in the middle of last week.

... now believing only what we see and but half of what we hear, we are preparing to re-evacuate.

... our lives and businesses are suspended in a vacuum of freakish incompetence ... what could possibly sabotage the resources available in this modern age of technology and communication?

... this is all so ... absurd.

Yes, absolutely. Believe only what you see, in this miasma of stunning incompetence. I say the flood is going to slowly creep all the way through downtown: Saphankwai today, Victory Monument two days later, Siam Square within a week, and so on. As to the depth, I've no idea.

Slo-mo tsunami, trickling gradually southwards, day by day.

i agree, it will not be long before lat phrao, ramkhamhaeng and bangkapi are underwater too

Ramkhamhaeng and bangkapi is still high and dry.

I am quite sure it will stay that way.

[bladesama]

... this is as watching a train wreck, in slow motion ... and billions of m3 of water still to pass ... we evacuated, then returned in the middle of last week.

... now believing only what we see and but half of what we hear, we are preparing to re-evacuate.

... our lives and businesses are suspended in a vacuum of freakish incompetence ... what could possibly sabotage the resources available in this modern age of technology and communication?

... this is all so ... absurd.

Yes, absolutely. Believe only what you see, in this miasma of stunning incompetence. I say the flood is going to slowly creep all the way through downtown: Saphankwai today, Victory Monument two days later, Siam Square within a week, and so on. As to the depth, I've no idea.

Slo-mo tsunami, trickling gradually southwards, day by day.

i agree, it will not be long before lat phrao, ramkhamhaeng and bangkapi are underwater too

Ramkhamhaeng and bangkapi is still high and dry.

I am quite sure it will stay that way.

indeed it is... but i the more it goes on, the more i think it will have some water here...

[Spalpeen]

Pattaya - Next capital of Thailand !

[ballpoint]

Look back at the unusually low release of water from the dams March to July. It was only before March that it was at normal level and only from August that it was higher than normal release, when it was a little too late and guranteed to cause flooding.

And if they had have let all the water out in June, and it turned out that it was just an early wet season, leading to a long dry season, you'd be on here right now posting about the sabotage of the farmer's water reserves by the previous government. The complaints against the government are directed at how they are dealing with the crisis - the relevance and coherency of the announcements, the "experts" that were put in place, including having Sudarat flying around in a chopper, taking up valuable resources, the poor support given to those currently under water, etc etc; and not that they caused the flood. On the other hand, the pro government posters are making a concerted effort to undermine the reports from those stuck in the floods, excusing gross incompetency that is mainly affecting the lives of those they pathetically claim to be supporting - the poor, and pointing the finger with tinfoil theories about how the flood was caused by the previous government's attempts to make the current one look bad.

The current government won the election in early July. Even though they didn't take office until August - which is the normal transition time, yet we've seen more conspiracy loonies trying to claim otherwise; they knew they would be running the country. They knew they would be dealing with the annual trade off between storing water and averting fooding. In short, they should have been making preparations for taking control. Did the relevant minister elect's look at the figures from the major dams? If not, why not? If so, then they clearly went along with the previous policy of storage, otherwise we would have heard about it at the time, and certainly by now. My guess is they were too busy arranging football matches in Cambodia, pleading for a Japanese visa for their man in charge, finding ways to go back on their election promises, and trying to work out the alphabetical listing of the ASEAN countries, to actually plan on running the country. They didn't even have names pencilled in for many of the important ministries, including finance and foreign affairs, until weeks after the election (rather making a mockery of the pre election policies made affecting these areas). Not that they were worried, after all, their man in Dubai told them he'd do all the thinking. Did they cause the flooding? No - unless you want to argue that by ignoring, or going along with the previous government's measures, did cause it, in which case the blame must be apportioned evenly. Were they prepared for it? No. Have they come out with a coherent response to it? No. Is one out of three bad? Yes.

[churtz]

When the crises is over, the government should resign to take responsibility for poor planning and mismanagement.

[ScouseTommy]

A meeting at 10am TODAY, to provide water pumps!!! Unbelievable really why werent water pumps being bought in bulk for all of bkk 3 weeks ago!!! Pervious governments did nothing to prepare for this, BUT the current government have been absolutely useless trying to score political points at the expense of the Thai people!!! Please forget about losing face and start asking for international help before more people start to starve!!!

[thaiedward]

Agreed more scare mongering over man made Global Warming/Climate Change, and you keep seeing it mentioned over and over. The Man Made Global Warming threat/scare is a big hoax that made Al Gore of USA and many others rich. The scare saying Global Warming is causing sea level to rise, is just the same. Over the past 1000 years, sea levels have been rising, but over the past 10 years, sea levels have gone down. The people in the press are spreading this hoax because of their own stupidity and lack of true journalistic professionalism.

Global Warming/Climate Change-name changed because there was no Global Warming, was suppose to cause world wide droughts, yet we are seeing world wide record rain and snowfall which has and is resulting in world wide flooding of many countries.

If you believe it a hoax read this first: http://www.berkeleye...g/resources.php And no it's not a yet another Al Gore etc. study but rather a study from some of the more vocal climate change critics.

Two years ago, on a 14-hour flight from Bejing to NYC, we flew continuously in daylight through an unclouded atmosphere which afforded remarkable views of the North Pole; and, the fractures throughout the polar ice cap were clearly visible.

Whether or not it's the result of 'global warming' or 'climate change' is somewhat irrelevant...and, I descry reports from the nay-bobs and their conspiracy theories.

Thank you for your post.

[hammered]

Look back at the unusually low release of water from the dams March to July. It was only before March that it was at normal level and only from August that it was higher than normal release, when it was a little too late and guranteed to cause flooding.

And if they had have let all the water out in June, and it turned out that it was just an early wet season, leading to a long dry season, you'd be on here right now posting about the sabotage of the farmer's water reserves by the previous government. The complaints against the government are directed at how they are dealing with the crisis - the relevance and coherency of the announcements, the "experts" that were put in place, including having Sudarat flying around in a chopper, taking up valuable resources, the poor support given to those currently under water, etc etc; and not that they caused the flood. On the other hand, the pro government posters are making a concerted effort to undermine the reports from those stuck in the floods, excusing gross incompetency that is mainly affecting the lives of those they pathetically claim to be supporting - the poor, and pointing the finger with tinfoil theories about how the flood was caused by the previous government's attempts to make the current one look bad.

The current government won the election in early July. Even though they didn't take office until August - which is the normal transition time, yet we've seen more conspiracy loonies trying to claim otherwise; they knew they would be running the country. They knew they would be dealing with the annual trade off between storing water and averting fooding. In short, they should have been making preparations for taking control. Did the relevant minister elect's look at the figures from the major dams? If not, why not? If so, then they clearly went along with the previous policy of storage, otherwise we would have heard about it at the time, and certainly by now. My guess is they were too busy arranging football matches in Cambodia, pleading for a Japanese visa for their man in charge, finding ways to go back on their election promises, and trying to work out the alphabetical listing of the ASEAN countries, to actually plan on running the country. They didn't even have names pencilled in for many of the important ministries, including finance and foreign affairs, until weeks after the election (rather making a mockery of the pre election policies made affecting these areas). Not that they were worried, after all, their man in Dubai told them he'd do all the thinking. Did they cause the flooding? No - unless you want to argue that by ignoring, or going along with the previous government's measures, did cause it, in which case the blame must be apportioned evenly. Were they prepared for it? No. Have they come out with a coherent response to it? No. Is one out of three bad? Yes.

I have posted this point before and I will again. It isnt the two parties ministers who were at fault for the release. It is as many other problems have been the rigid structure of the infrastructure. In this case with an election announced, taking place and then an incoming government taking time (as it always does) to form, the bureaucracy went into neutral as it always does as there was nobody they were taking orders from until the whole election oputcome was made and the rotations made. That is a tragedy of its own different making along with the lack of a national water management body that has power over all local ones. The bureaucracy itself is a bigger problem than either government in dealing with these things.

This flood could not have been avoided but it could have been handled better and decisions on where would and wouldnt be allowed to flood could have also been handled better. The tragedy is that it is in lack of a single national body combined with the lets go into neutral until we know exactly who is boss and what they want attitude have meant the two things that could have been handled better and alleviated some suffering were never going to happen

Of course people will look at role of government, party, elected dudes etc, but will any change actually happen in water management and attitiude of bureaucracy? I doubt it as it will get bogged down in the usual meaning that next time around it will all be the same whoever is in power. Oh and the government will come up with a grandiose plan to build a channel or two and it will get bogged down in corruption allegation (real or not) and never come to fruition or after a government change will be replaced with a new grandiose plan to build a different channel or two, which will get bogged down in allegations of corruption (real or unreal) and never come to fruition, so that next time it happens, whoever is in power...

It is relatively easy to change government but what needs changing more is somewhere else and is not at all easy to change.

[bladesama]

Agreed more scare mongering over man made Global Warming/Climate Change, and you keep seeing it mentioned over and over. The Man Made Global Warming threat/scare is a big hoax that made Al Gore of USA and many others rich. The scare saying Global Warming is causing sea level to rise, is just the same. Over the past 1000 years, sea levels have been rising, but over the past 10 years, sea levels have gone down. The people in the press are spreading this hoax because of their own stupidity and lack of true journalistic professionalism.

Global Warming/Climate Change-name changed because there was no Global Warming, was suppose to cause world wide droughts, yet we are seeing world wide record rain and snowfall which has and is resulting in world wide flooding of many countries.

If you believe it a hoax read this first: http://www.berkeleye...g/resources.php And no it's not a yet another Al Gore etc. study but rather a study from some of the more vocal climate change critics.

Two years ago, on a 14-hour flight from Bejing to NYC, we flew continuously in daylight through an unclouded atmosphere which afforded remarkable views of the North Pole; and, the fractures throughout the polar ice cap were clearly visible.

Whether or not it's the result of 'global warming' or 'climate change' is somewhat irrelevant...and, I descry reports from the nay-bobs and their conspiracy theories.

Thank you for your post.

global warming would create more rainfall, not drought, hence why humid tropical areas receive heavier, constant rain and wild weather conditions then non topical areas with low humidity.

climate change is real and is a natural occurrence that has happened many times in earths history. global warming is a farce in regards to it being man made, we emit less then 2% of total emissions, not enough to effect anything

[GamLing]

Ramkhamhaeng and bangkapi is still high and dry.

I am quite sure it will stay that way.

Sparebox posted at 11.47 today. It is now 13.35 and I have just received a call from a friend who lives on Ramkhamhaeng Road in Bang Kapi. The water is in sight now. Thanon Seri Thai looks as though it will be flooded also.

[samuiwonder]

A lot of you people a totally psychopathic. You discuss making political points in the midst of national emergency caused by mother nature! No government can prevent natural disasters. What you need to do is pull together during an emergency and then afterwards you do an honest analysis of what went wrong and when it went wrong.

The fact is Bangkok will have to be moved. Your forefathers built it on a flood plain and then it kept sinking because you sucked out the groundwater. No one and everyone is to blame for this, so stop the silly bickering. Really useless waste of time and resources.

[david555]

Give it to the Dutch , they know what to do , their country has big surfaces UNDER sea level , great water managing experts.

Good idea. We are famous for our water management! But that also takes time. And now that is something Bangkok doesnt have. The longer this take the more damage this gives. We see the water as a problem now, but what problems will you see when the water is gone. Houses that are so damaged that they should be rebuild. I feel sorry for all the people who will go back home when the water is gone and they will face all the things they lost.

I think it's now time to put the hands together for Yellow and Red to become Orange, to show they love Thailand and that they are Real Thai persons. Yellow is now already shouting that the New Goverment is doing so much wrong, but face it, all problems are not from the last 3 or 4 months. Problems started because of lack of service or wrong constructions, or no construction at all. The last years the Goverment did nothing to solve this kind of problems. And yes Thaksin is now the leader, but she had this as a goodbye present from the incompetent goverment who has been in power for the last years.

In my area there is a budget for service, milions of baths going through hands. I guess the money runs like water, but only to the wrong places.

by "give it to the Dutch " i mean the long term solution for future water handling , i know your DeltaPlan took years , (also started after an major flooding Holland expierianced before ) but is an amazing concept as i saw those gigantic doors closing and opening ...... amazing

PS ; but the other water idea to put it in bottles, and label it Heineken is only a joke

[bladesama]

Ramkhamhaeng and bangkapi is still high and dry.

I am quite sure it will stay that way.

Sparebox posted at 11.47 today. It is now 13.35 and I have just received a call from a friend who lives on Ramkhamhaeng Road in Bang Kapi. The water is in sight now. Thanon Seri Thai looks as though it will be flooded also.

i havent been outside yet.. but i might go for a walk and see it... so water coming from ratchadapisek, will eventually get to lat phrao and bangkapi is lower then lat phrao so it will cop it too...

then we got water which will come from sukhumvit too

i have been asked why i am still here in bkk by many thai people, because of the large amounts of water...

my reply was where i am from, it floods every year, sometimes twice a year, and we get massive bushfires too.. so to me, its normal

[Jingthing]

The fact is Bangkok will have to be moved.

I totally agree with that but what are the chances this will happen in a rational, planned way? People say this current crisis is a 50 year event. That will prove to be totally wrong given current global climate PLUS the mostly man made problems in Thailand. More like 5 year event or less in the current reality.

[ScouseTommy]

A lot of you people a totally psychopathic. You discuss making political points in the midst of national emergency caused by mother nature! No government can prevent natural disasters. What you need to do is pull together during an emergency and then afterwards you do an honest analysis of what went wrong and when it went wrong.

The fact is Bangkok will have to be moved. Your forefathers built it on a flood plain and then it kept sinking because you sucked out the groundwater. No one and everyone is to blame for this, so stop the silly bickering. Really useless waste of time and resources.

Although i agree with the sentiment this is a forum for discussing these issues!!! It is definately not Psychopathic to discuss the ineptitude of previous governments in making preparations for floods which after all happened in 1992 and 1995. Even HM the King has come out twice and made recommendations that have been completely ignored. Plus the current administrations lack of idea's and complete ambiguity is a disgrace. Yes everyone has to pull together, but people (Farang and Thai) are rightfully angry. I would rather see people vent in a rational discussion on a forum, than take it to the streets or the flood barriers as has been seen recently!

[EastSaxCol]

my reply was where i am from, it floods every year, sometimes twice a year, and we get massive bushfires too.. so to me, its normal

I'm sure that you are quite toughened to these things. But do you have the same things which are worrying me - the consequence of a poor sewerage system , compounded by years of almost callous human pollution ?

[hammered]

A lot of you people a totally psychopathic. You discuss making political points in the midst of national emergency caused by mother nature! No government can prevent natural disasters. What you need to do is pull together during an emergency and then afterwards you do an honest analysis of what went wrong and when it went wrong.

The fact is Bangkok will have to be moved. Your forefathers built it on a flood plain and then it kept sinking because you sucked out the groundwater. No one and everyone is to blame for this, so stop the silly bickering. Really useless waste of time and resources.

Although i agree with the sentiment this is a forum for discussing these issues!!! It is definately not Psychopathic to discuss the ineptitude of previous governments in making preparations for floods which after all happened in 1992 and 1995. Even HM the King has come out twice and made recommendations that have been completely ignored. Plus the current administrations lack of idea's and complete ambiguity is a disgrace. Yes everyone has to pull together, but people (Farang and Thai) are rightfully angry. I would rather see people vent in a rational discussion on a forum, than take it to the streets or the flood barriers as has been seen recently!

Most of the people taking it out on barriers are not posting on message boards. Different classes in general and on here different nationality usually

[nosatisfaction]

reading again and knowing all this,wouldn't it be an interesting idea to study the possibilities of installing a system to pump this water to Isan where there is always a shortage of water.

too late this year but it happened and will happen again, yes it's going to be expensive and complicated, I know Isan is higher but that's why pumps were invented.

let's think about it.

ps: according to official figures BKK doesn't sink 1 but 3cm/year.

truly yours: nosatisfaction

[ScouseTommy]

A lot of you people a totally psychopathic. You discuss making political points in the midst of national emergency caused by mother nature! No government can prevent natural disasters. What you need to do is pull together during an emergency and then afterwards you do an honest analysis of what went wrong and when it went wrong.

The fact is Bangkok will have to be moved. Your forefathers built it on a flood plain and then it kept sinking because you sucked out the groundwater. No one and everyone is to blame for this, so stop the silly bickering. Really useless waste of time and resources.

Although i agree with the sentiment this is a forum for discussing these issues!!! It is definately not Psychopathic to discuss the ineptitude of previous governments in making preparations for floods which after all happened in 1992 and 1995. Even HM the King has come out twice and made recommendations that have been completely ignored. Plus the current administrations lack of idea's and complete ambiguity is a disgrace. Yes everyone has to pull together, but people (Farang and Thai) are rightfully angry. I would rather see people vent in a rational discussion on a forum, than take it to the streets or the flood barriers as has been seen recently!

Most of the people taking it out on barriers are not posting on message boards. Different classes in general and on here different nationality usually

True, I was simply trying to point out that a forum is for discussion and therefore we are not psychopathic to want to discuss the issues that surround the flooding, Humanitarian and Political.

[hammered]

A lot of you people a totally psychopathic. You discuss making political points in the midst of national emergency caused by mother nature! No government can prevent natural disasters. What you need to do is pull together during an emergency and then afterwards you do an honest analysis of what went wrong and when it went wrong.

The fact is Bangkok will have to be moved. Your forefathers built it on a flood plain and then it kept sinking because you sucked out the groundwater. No one and everyone is to blame for this, so stop the silly bickering. Really useless waste of time and resources.

Although i agree with the sentiment this is a forum for discussing these issues!!! It is definately not Psychopathic to discuss the ineptitude of previous governments in making preparations for floods which after all happened in 1992 and 1995. Even HM the King has come out twice and made recommendations that have been completely ignored. Plus the current administrations lack of idea's and complete ambiguity is a disgrace. Yes everyone has to pull together, but people (Farang and Thai) are rightfully angry. I would rather see people vent in a rational discussion on a forum, than take it to the streets or the flood barriers as has been seen recently!

Most of the people taking it out on barriers are not posting on message boards. Different classes in general and on here different nationality usually

True, I was simply trying to point out that a forum is for discussion and therefore we are not psychopathic to want to discuss the issues that surround the flooding, Humanitarian and Political.

True too.

[KRS1]

A meeting at 10am TODAY, to provide water pumps!!! Unbelievable really why werent water pumps being bought in bulk for all of bkk 3 weeks ago!!! Pervious governments did nothing to prepare for this, BUT the current government have been absolutely useless trying to score political points at the expense of the Thai people!!! Please forget about losing face and start asking for international help before more people start to starve!!!

Seriously? Why would the previous government prepare for this when they had no knowledge it was going to happen?

[samuiwonder]

So now racial slurs are added to the mix? Fantastically useful!

[KRS1]

Agreed more scare mongering over man made Global Warming/Climate Change, and you keep seeing it mentioned over and over. The Man Made Global Warming threat/scare is a big hoax that made Al Gore of USA and many others rich. The scare saying Global Warming is causing sea level to rise, is just the same. Over the past 1000 years, sea levels have been rising, but over the past 10 years, sea levels have gone down. The people in the press are spreading this hoax because of their own stupidity and lack of true journalistic professionalism.

Global Warming/Climate Change-name changed because there was no Global Warming, was suppose to cause world wide droughts, yet we are seeing world wide record rain and snowfall which has and is resulting in world wide flooding of many countries.

If you believe it a hoax read this first: http://www.berkeleye...g/resources.php And no it's not a yet another Al Gore etc. study but rather a study from some of the more vocal climate change critics.

Two years ago, on a 14-hour flight from Bejing to NYC, we flew continuously in daylight through an unclouded atmosphere which afforded remarkable views of the North Pole; and, the fractures throughout the polar ice cap were clearly visible.

Whether or not it's the result of 'global warming' or 'climate change' is somewhat irrelevant...and, I descry reports from the nay-bobs and their conspiracy theories.

Thank you for your post.

Seems that ALOT of the pictures involving global warming were actually taken during the summertime, gotta give it to Gore for pulling that one over people's eyes.

[KRS1]

So now racial slurs are added to the mix? Fantastically useful!

Is it not true?

[ScouseTommy]

A meeting at 10am TODAY, to provide water pumps!!! Unbelievable really why werent water pumps being bought in bulk for all of bkk 3 weeks ago!!! Pervious governments did nothing to prepare for this, BUT the current government have been absolutely useless trying to score political points at the expense of the Thai people!!! Please forget about losing face and start asking for international help before more people start to starve!!!

Seriously? Why would the previous government prepare for this when they had no knowledge it was going to happen?

In all seriousness, because it has happened in 1992 and 1995 mate!!! Also BKK is sinking and directly in the way of the Northern water run off!! Also because they have been advised to by Professors at the top Universities and By the HM King himself!! Oh and also the influx of fat farang to sukhumvit doesnt help either

[pkspeaker]

lol I did the same thing; more than a week ago someone told me about this great convergence of 2 massive water flows coming into bangkok and it was gonna hit Sunday, I said 'oh shit it's good you told me, I rushed home and made a reservation for a hotel in pattaya, I told my GF, "we gotta get out of here, floods!' she said she wasn't going because she had to work and her boss wouldn't give her a day off, I tried to convince her, she said it no big deal shes from the village or whatever, i said OK make sure you have plenty of water and noodles we're on the 15th floor anyways, i took off on friday, just in time, whew!, I called everyday, no floods, high tide came in, no floods, went down, after a week i came home it was getting kinda expensive, now they're saying we gotta get out of here!

I think we're all over reacting a little bit, so there'll be 30-100cm of water on the street , even a meter or more in some lowlying areas..its not the end of the world, just walk and drive thru the flooded streets that are still open and boat thru the ones that are closed, get our feet wet for a month big deal; time to just deal with it and wait until it receded 'sometime next month'

... this is as watching a train wreck, in slow motion ... and billions of m3 of water still to pass ... we evacuated, then returned in the middle of last week.

... now believing only what we see and but half of what we hear, we are preparing to re-evacuate.

... our lives and businesses are suspended in a vacuum of freakish incompetence ... what could possibly sabotage the resources available in this modern age of technology and communication?

... this is all so ... absurd.

[Thai at Heart]

Look back at the unusually low release of water from the dams March to July. It was only before March that it was at normal level and only from August that it was higher than normal release, when it was a little too late and guranteed to cause flooding.

And if they had have let all the water out in June, and it turned out that it was just an early wet season, leading to a long dry season, you'd be on here right now posting about the sabotage of the farmer's water reserves by the previous government. The complaints against the government are directed at how they are dealing with the crisis - the relevance and coherency of the announcements, the "experts" that were put in place, including having Sudarat flying around in a chopper, taking up valuable resources, the poor support given to those currently under water, etc etc; and not that they caused the flood. On the other hand, the pro government posters are making a concerted effort to undermine the reports from those stuck in the floods, excusing gross incompetency that is mainly affecting the lives of those they pathetically claim to be supporting - the poor, and pointing the finger with tinfoil theories about how the flood was caused by the previous government's attempts to make the current one look bad.

The current government won the election in early July. Even though they didn't take office until August - which is the normal transition time, yet we've seen more conspiracy loonies trying to claim otherwise; they knew they would be running the country. They knew they would be dealing with the annual trade off between storing water and averting fooding. In short, they should have been making preparations for taking control. Did the relevant minister elect's look at the figures from the major dams? If not, why not? If so, then they clearly went along with the previous policy of storage, otherwise we would have heard about it at the time, and certainly by now. My guess is they were too busy arranging football matches in Cambodia, pleading for a Japanese visa for their man in charge, finding ways to go back on their election promises, and trying to work out the alphabetical listing of the ASEAN countries, to actually plan on running the country. They didn't even have names pencilled in for many of the important ministries, including finance and foreign affairs, until weeks after the election (rather making a mockery of the pre election policies made affecting these areas). Not that they were worried, after all, their man in Dubai told them he'd do all the thinking. Did they cause the flooding? No - unless you want to argue that by ignoring, or going along with the previous government's measures, did cause it, in which case the blame must be apportioned evenly. Were they prepared for it? No. Have they come out with a coherent response to it? No. Is one out of three bad? Yes.

I have posted this point before and I will again. It isnt the two parties ministers who were at fault for the release. It is as many other problems have been the rigid structure of the infrastructure. In this case with an election announced, taking place and then an incoming government taking time (as it always does) to form, the bureaucracy went into neutral as it always does as there was nobody they were taking orders from until the whole election oputcome was made and the rotations made. That is a tragedy of its own different making along with the lack of a national water management body that has power over all local ones. The bureaucracy itself is a bigger problem than either government in dealing with these things.

This flood could not have been avoided but it could have been handled better and decisions on where would and wouldnt be allowed to flood could have also been handled better. The tragedy is that it is in lack of a single national body combined with the lets go into neutral until we know exactly who is boss and what they want attitude have meant the two things that could have been handled better and alleviated some suffering were never going to happen

Of course people will look at role of government, party, elected dudes etc, but will any change actually happen in water management and attitiude of bureaucracy? I doubt it as it will get bogged down in the usual meaning that next time around it will all be the same whoever is in power. Oh and the government will come up with a grandiose plan to build a channel or two and it will get bogged down in corruption allegation (real or not) and never come to fruition or after a government change will be replaced with a new grandiose plan to build a different channel or two, which will get bogged down in allegations of corruption (real or unreal) and never come to fruition, so that next time it happens, whoever is in power...

It is relatively easy to change government but what needs changing more is somewhere else and is not at all easy to change.

Indeed since when does a group of people responsible for running the country's water resources have to wait for orders from an elected minister? The plan should be so set in concrete that no elected official should be anywhere near being able to meddle with it. Lets not pretend that the people running the dams simply sat on their thumbs waiting for someone to tell them to press the button. Someone, somewhere, somehow came up with this plan, and it could have been on paper for years for all we know. Who knows, maybe Somchai Simpson at the dam_n is the brothers, uncles, nephew of his aunt with a bought degree from some dodgy university and he is completely up to the job.

Blaming the elected bunch only is treating the sickness without understanding the illness.

The bureaucracy in this country is run by largely ineffectual powerbrokers who continue to stifle good, honest, hard working smart people to the point that their voice is never heard. Plenty of people must have known what was coming, but their voice didn't get up the line. It is a bit like the nerdy guy in the disaster movie who discovers that the world is about to end, but nobody listens. Eventually however, the president has a hunch and listens and he saves the world and becomes a hero. Unfortunately this time, no one listened, and we have a man made catastrophe and everyone hiding in the corner with no balls to admit what happened.

In any other country by now the irrigation, marine department, and agriculture heads would have resigned, and there would be a promise of a massive investigation that would work out who screwed up. Of course that won't happen.

Of course the aim should be to catch as much water as possible and avoid flooding, and no politician should be ever able to interfere with that. As we can see, their attempt to push water out with boats etc proves absolutely that they are not remotely qualified to run most things, let alone complex engineering and planning processes like water management. This is what the bureaucracy is for, but it is completely infected with mai bpen arai, and "don't you know who I am", and "please leave the envelope on the table".

[KRS1]

A meeting at 10am TODAY, to provide water pumps!!! Unbelievable really why werent water pumps being bought in bulk for all of bkk 3 weeks ago!!! Pervious governments did nothing to prepare for this, BUT the current government have been absolutely useless trying to score political points at the expense of the Thai people!!! Please forget about losing face and start asking for international help before more people start to starve!!!

Seriously? Why would the previous government prepare for this when they had no knowledge it was going to happen?

In all seriousness, because it has happened in 1992 and 1995 mate!!! Also BKK is sinking and directly in the way of the Northern water run off!! Also because they have been advised to by Professors at the top Universities and By the HM King himself!! Oh and also the influx of fat farang to sukhumvit doesnt help either

In that case blame it on the Thaksin regime and every other government in power beforehand. You'd also have to blame it on beer singha, leo and others respectively for fueling the fat which is leading to sinkage.

[bigbamboo]

The fact is Bangkok will have to be moved.

I totally agree with that but what are the chances this will happen in a rational, planned way? People say this current crisis is a 50 year event. That will prove to be totally wrong given current global climate PLUS the mostly man made problems in Thailand. More like 5 year event or less in the current reality.

That'll be a blinding removal contract. Where do you suggest they move it to?

[samuiwonder]

Not sure, but Hua Hin comes to mind. I don't think it is in the flood plain.