Thai Govt Finally Sees The Need For Long-Term Planning

[webfact]

EDITORIAL

Govt finally sees the need for long-term planning

The Nation

It's taken a disaster to force the authorities into action on water management, but will a new committee live up to expectations?

After multiple weeks of uncertainty and the lack of a clear strategic direction amid the flood crisis, the Yingluck government finally seems to be getting its act together. Yesterday, Dr Virabongsa Ramangkura, a former finance minister, was named chairman of a national committee in charge of reconstruction and development in the wake of the worst flooding in more than five decades.

Virabongsa, a widely-respected economist, will have the daunting task of restoring domestic and international confidence in Thailand in the coming months, due to the huge damage inflicted on millions of people and the national economy.

Officially more than two-million people in over 30 provinces have been affected by the massive deluge over the past several months, which has also caused over 500 deaths so far. In addition, over 14,000 firms have been directly or indirectly affected.

At seven industrial estates in Ayutthaya and Pathum Thani provinces, over 1,000 factories, many of which are Japanese or foreign-owned, have been inundated, causing a huge impact not only for Thailand but also the global supply chains of the automotive and electronic industries. Car production in Japan and the US has been suspended due to the lack of certain parts and components previously produced in Thai plants. Even Toyota, whose assembly plants in Thailand are not directly affected by the flooding, has had to suspend its production lines here and abroad due to the shutdown of parts-suppliers in flooded Ayutthaya province. One Toyota executive commented that an average vehicle has 10,000-20,000 parts and if even the supply of only one part is disrupted, the whole production system is affected.

When Japan was struck by the earthquake and tsunami in March this year, there was also a major global supply chain disruption to both the automotive and electronic industries,

In the electronics sector, Western Digital of the US, which produces one third of the world's computer hard disk drives, was badly hit as its plants in Ayutthaya became submerged. This has meant shortages and higher prices of hard disks in the global market.

For Thailand, several hundred thousand workers have been left temporarily out of work, while factory damage is so far estimated to the tune of several hundred billion baht. Repairs will have to be made before these people can return to work. Perhaps more importantly in the long term, Japanese and other foreign investors' confidence in Thailand as a manufacturing hub has been damaged, and many are not yet sure if the country can really prevent a repeat of this massive disaster.

For Virabongsa, his immediate task is to restore this confidence in Thailand. The former deputy premier and finance minister has said he will lead an official delegation to Japan shortly to seek advice and support for rebuilding Thailand's industrial base.

Details are not yet available but Virabongsa has said the Yingluck government will do its best to ensure this year's flooding will not happen again. As head of the high-powered committee for reconstruction and development, he will spearhead projects over the next 12 months to boost the safety and security of the country's industrial parks.

Virabongsa's committee will also formulate long-term strategies to rebuild the country in the wake of this disaster. He was quoted as saying that the country will seek input from the Japanese government and industrial and business groups, including Kaidanren, on measures the country can take to retain international investment.

In the short- and medium-terms, Virabongsa has indicated that all Thai and foreign investors with factories in Ayutthaya and other affected provinces will be helped to return to normalcy.

However, some industrial estate locations will also be reconsidered because they may not be suitable for the long run as far as the downstream flow of floodwater is concerned. Ayutthaya province is a good example, so the government will also consider long-term measures to help investors in this area relocate to safer areas.

In addition, the government has announced plans to invest as much as Bt800 billion in mega-infrastructure projects on water resources management so as to solve the annual flooding problem on a longer-term basis.

-- The Nation 2011-11-09

[Wuffy]

The trouble with this article is that it ignores the fact that thailand has been attempting to do long term planning for quite some time.

There was a very functional plan to manage a flood crisis, I don't know how well it would have worked had it not been tampered with but it was still planned and put in place.

But the main problem against it was the immediate greed of the people who didn't care, the developers who built new structures in the area's marked for water run off or right over and into the Klongs that were designed for water run off in case of flood.

It doesn't matter if the government has finally woken up to needing to plan into the future, unless it's going to start enforcing and double checking it's initiatives are put in palce and that graft isn't eroding at those plans.

[nikster]

actually forming the committee now is good, while it's still high on everyone's agenda. let's hope they do it right and don't leave it at building walls around industrial estates.

I am optimistic as all the elites in Thailand are affected by the floods so (one would think) they'll (have the public money) do the best they can to build proper flood defenses...

[nikster]

The trouble with this article is that it ignores the fact that thailand has been attempting to do long term planning for quite some time.

There was a very functional plan to manage a flood crisis, I don't know how well it would have worked had it not been tampered with but it was still planned and put in place.

But the main problem against it was the immediate greed of the people who didn't care, the developers who built new structures in the area's marked for water run off or right over and into the Klongs that were designed for water run off in case of flood.

It doesn't matter if the government has finally woken up to needing to plan into the future, unless it's going to start enforcing and double checking it's initiatives are put in palce and that graft isn't eroding at those plans.

I suppose the flood plans / planes need to be clearer - but mainly I think the current "plan" whatever it was was not sufficient in any way to handle the amount of water that's currently coming down. This is not about some klongs getting blocked or housing projects in flood planes getting inundated. This is going to require a whole new large scale system of dykes and canals north of BKK and into the central provinces. It's not an easy task.

Given the sheer amount of water I don't think better enforcement of building in run off areas would have made a big difference. What they could have done is drain the dams much more in the beginning of the year when it became clear it was going to be a wet one. It's a tricky call though - drain too much and you'll have droughts. Drain not enough and it's flooding.

[huck]

Bring in Dutch experts on building dikes and water mannagement. Government will have to spend a lot of money.

[givenall]

Wait for about 6 month after the flood, these all thesetalks will be forgotten and the losers will be the Thai workers as thefactories will be located outside of Thailand. This is not only because of theFlood, also because of the government decision to increase the minimum wages by30%

[KKK]

Rather than an expensive, and possibly faulty, patch up job on the existing Bangkok why not move it to higher ground?

[friendphil]

I thought perhaps I was a dummy for not knowing what or who "Kaidanren" is, but a search of this topic and a search of thaivisa forums came up with only one instance, that being in this editorial. So, I still don't know--- not that it is that important, perhaps.

I just appeal to the Nation's journalists to do a better job of offering a little background explanation in such instances, or of identifying what an abbreviation might mean when used in an article: nominal journalistic standards.

Thanks for listening!

[unanimosity]

That must be a misprint. Surely they meant to say long term procrastination.

[chrisinth]

The trouble with this article is that it ignores the fact that thailand has been attempting to do long term planning for quite some time.

There was a very functional plan to manage a flood crisis, I don't know how well it would have worked had it not been tampered with but it was still planned and put in place.

But the main problem against it was the immediate greed of the people who didn't care, the developers who built new structures in the area's marked for water run off or right over and into the Klongs that were designed for water run off in case of flood.

It doesn't matter if the government has finally woken up to needing to plan into the future, unless it's going to start enforcing and double checking it's initiatives are put in palce and that graft isn't eroding at those plans.

I suppose the flood plans / planes need to be clearer - but mainly I think the current "plan" whatever it was was not sufficient in any way to handle the amount of water that's currently coming down. This is not about some klongs getting blocked or housing projects in flood planes getting inundated. This is going to require a whole new large scale system of dykes and canals north of BKK and into the central provinces. It's not an easy task.

Given the sheer amount of water I don't think better enforcement of building in run off areas would have made a big difference. What they could have done is drain the dams much more in the beginning of the year when it became clear it was going to be a wet one. It's a tricky call though - drain too much and you'll have droughts. Drain not enough and it's flooding.

Totally agree Nikster, that it is a tricky call. Part of this problem was that the dams up north had to release the water catchment as the storage areas became full. But to drain the dams and rely on the predictions of the rain patterns, to me anyway, is like reading the tea leaves. If they get this wrong, then they really are in it.

Again, when the "plan" is finalized, what sort of safety factor is going to be added for the control of water given that this year saw the worst for 50 years. If the plan was based on what we have seen now then it would go into overkill. It is one factor of this entire crissis that seems to have been ignored; people were going to get wet feet regardless of what preventions were in place, by whatever government was in power at the time.

[noitom]

And no better dignitary than Virabongsa. His credentials as a leader of the Thai Pulp and Paper Association are legend and he forged the crafting of the Khor Jor Kor in 1991 with the military dictatorship government. This was the notorious decree enforced by the Thai military's Internal Security Operations Command that stripped 2,500 villages, yes that's villages not villagers, of more than 2.3 million hectares of land. Fought tooth and nail to no avail by NGOs and other humanitarian groups. This Khor Jor Kor enabled Thai companies to lease the confiscated land to build cash crop Eucalyptus and Pine plantations. Virabongsa and Plodprasop as head of RFD, the Royal Forestry Department and now your friendly Science and Technology Minister, led these initiatives and alignments with SHS , the parent of Advanced Agro and "invisible" subsidiaries. Other investors included Siam Cement Group and Bangkok Bank. Virabongsa Ramangkura was able to finesse all these relationships and represent numerous other elite business class interests into developing a pulp and paper industry with many international investors such as Asian Development Bank as well as vendors like Finnish and Swedish consulting teams, based on the premise that the Thai Pulp and Paper Industry would serve the Thai people and economic growth in Thailand. In reality, the Thai Pulp and Paper Industry became a predominantly export engine with 75% export rather than a domestic supplier of essential paper needs in developing Thailand. By the way, Advanced Agro is Double A paper, that many of us use to write our notes and papers. You can see their logo on Sathorn, one of the sacrosanct areas of inner Bangkok.

So when the Thai Pulp and Paper Industry and Advanced Agro and SHS, its parent and other scoundrel forest destruction companies, fell on hard times in 1997 and financial default on their loans, it was Virabongsa who rose to the occasion and got everybody a bye on their debt and $200 for passing go. So it's no surprise that Virabongsa again "gets the call" , to run interference among NGOS, humanitarian groups, governments, Thai people, and Thai business interests as they start to develop both a damage control, blame game scenario, as well as tee up that "Thai currying favor style" with foreign agencies like World Bank, ADB and others to attempt to line up future investments in Thailand to build "suitable infrastructure to plan for global climate change."

This flood disaster may in some way be climate change related, but the human culpability goes way back to stripping the land for self interest, isolation of business class elite and the money train in Bangkok, and the advancement of cash flow into the pockets of privileged feudal elite business class. Their focus on safeguarding Bangkok from the floods at the expense of northern provinces, is merely an extension of the attitudes that prevailed in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s and earlier when many of these causes of infrastructure breakdown and cash canaling took place. instead of proper water canaling. Bangkok represents 41% of the Thai economy, according to Thai sources, but overlooked is that 41% wouldn't exist and is dwarfed by what the Thai manufacturing, farming, fishing, rice, and rubber trade does to feed the banking, insurance, and retail centers of Bangkok. The same Thai labor that drives Bangkok's banking, insurance, services, and tourist economy are the folks that Bangkok stuck it to in planning this "protect Bangkok at all costs" approach to flood management. What goes around comes around. Virabongsa to the rescue.

[whybother]

What Thailand needs is a plan on how to deal with flooding, because they aren't going to be able to stop it.

Floods happen every year, but it seems that the governments and the people react like it's never happened before.

[holderness]

Need to reduce concentraton on Ayudthya and Bangkok ,not just better water management / flood control; new economic development zones needed if FDI to be maintained,

[ozsamurai]

new committee

That sums it up. period. Nothing will happen, money will line the pockets of many more 'Officials' contracts will be awarded to buddies to do some arbitrary cover up projects, their companies will be dead and gone by the time the next major floods hits in 20yrs. Its all so clear why do people even bother to go through the motion of pretending to give a dam.

As soon as they get serious, you will have to see heads roll before anything REAL happens.

Oz

Edited November 9, 2011 by metisdead
Posting in all capitals or in all bold, and using large or unusual fonts and colors is bad netiquette.

[KKK]

I thought perhaps I was a dummy for not knowing what or who "Kaidanren" is, but a search of this topic and a search of thaivisa forums came up with only one instance, that being in this editorial. So, I still don't know--- not that it is that important, perhaps.

I just appeal to the Nation's journalists to do a better job of offering a little background explanation in such instances, or of identifying what an abbreviation might mean when used in an article: nominal journalistic standards.

Thanks for listening!

Try looking here http://www.keidanren.or.jp

[jimbeam1]

Rather than an expensive, and possibly faulty, patch up job on the existing Bangkok why not move it to higher ground?

No need. Listen to the Dutch. Cambridgeshire (UK) did, with the fens, most of that area is below sea level.

jb1

[steffi]

Can anybody say "time to get rich off mega projects?"

[yugobrian]

The Nation praises the government for setting up a committee which will protect industrial estates, presumably by building higher dykes around them, to be led by a businessman, and undoubtedly peopled by cronies. Will they order their friends to tear down the hotels and other businesses which have blocked canals in Bangkok (and Pattaya causing the earlier flood there). Will they address deforestation (again their friends)? No mention of this committee addressing the causes of the flooding. Where are the hydrologists and water management people? What is needed is a means to move the water out of the Chao Praya River basin to the sea without flooding inundating the country. It continues to be sad days in Thailand.

[scorecard]

I'm also hoping (keeping my fingers crossed) that there is a proper approach to planning, hopefully including:

- A broad based respected and credible committee which is able to push greed, corruption and collusion to the side, to some extent (totally removing these factors is of course impossible).

- Developing proper / appropriate background & future assumptions.

- Proper study of the correct and applicable historical, current and forecasted weather / water flow / water volume data etc.

- Thailand's economic growth and hopefully incorporating a better (and if needed subsidized) spread of economic development and work opportunities

- Transparency, and proper community / public involvement and debate

- A step by step logical approach to all of the above, and enough time to do it well.

Am I asking too much?

[whybother]

I'm also hoping (keeping my fingers crossed) that there is a proper approach to planning, hopefully including:

- A broad based respected and credible committee which is able to push greed, corruption and collusion to the side, to some extent (totally removing these factors is of course impossible).

- Developing proper / appropriate background & future assumptions.

- Proper study of the correct and applicable historical, current and forecasted weather / water flow / water volume data etc.

- Thailand's economic growth and hopefully incorporating a better (and if needed subsidized) spread of economic development and work opportunities

- Transparency, and proper community / public involvement and debate

- A step by step logical approach to all of the above, and enough time to do it well.

Am I asking too much?

Yes.

[blazes]

And no better dignitary than Virabongsa. His credentials as a leader of the Thai Pulp and Paper Association are legend and he forged the crafting of the Khor Jor Kor in 1991 with the military dictatorship government. This was the notorious decree enforced by the Thai military's Internal Security Operations Command that stripped 2,500 villages, yes that's villages not villagers, of more than 2.3 million hectares of land. Fought tooth and nail to no avail by NGOs and other humanitarian groups. This Khor Jor Kor enabled Thai companies to lease the confiscated land to build cash crop Eucalyptus and Pine plantations. Virabongsa and Plodprasop as head of RFD, the Royal Forestry Department and now your friendly Science and Technology Minister, led these initiatives and alignments with SHS , the parent of Advanced Agro and "invisible" subsidiaries. Other investors included Siam Cement Group and Bangkok Bank. Virabongsa Ramangkura was able to finesse all these relationships and represent numerous other elite business class interests into developing a pulp and paper industry with many international investors such as Asian Development Bank as well as vendors like Finnish and Swedish consulting teams, based on the premise that the Thai Pulp and Paper Industry would serve the Thai people and economic growth in Thailand. In reality, the Thai Pulp and Paper Industry became a predominantly export engine with 75% export rather than a domestic supplier of essential paper needs in developing Thailand. By the way, Advanced Agro is Double A paper, that many of us use to write our notes and papers. You can see their logo on Sathorn, one of the sacrosanct areas of inner Bangkok.

So when the Thai Pulp and Paper Industry and Advanced Agro and SHS, its parent and other scoundrel forest destruction companies, fell on hard times in 1997 and financial default on their loans, it was Virabongsa who rose to the occasion and got everybody a bye on their debt and $200 for passing go. So it's no surprise that Virabongsa again "gets the call" , to run interference among NGOS, humanitarian groups, governments, Thai people, and Thai business interests as they start to develop both a damage control, blame game scenario, as well as tee up that "Thai currying favor style" with foreign agencies like World Bank, ADB and others to attempt to line up future investments in Thailand to build "suitable infrastructure to plan for global climate change."

This flood disaster may in some way be climate change related, but the human culpability goes way back to stripping the land for self interest, isolation of business class elite and the money train in Bangkok, and the advancement of cash flow into the pockets of privileged feudal elite business class. Their focus on safeguarding Bangkok from the floods at the expense of northern provinces, is merely an extension of the attitudes that prevailed in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s and earlier when many of these causes of infrastructure breakdown and cash canaling took place. instead of proper water canaling. Bangkok represents 41% of the Thai economy, according to Thai sources, but overlooked is that 41% wouldn't exist and is dwarfed by what the Thai manufacturing, farming, fishing, rice, and rubber trade does to feed the banking, insurance, and retail centers of Bangkok. The same Thai labor that drives Bangkok's banking, insurance, services, and tourist economy are the folks that Bangkok stuck it to in planning this "protect Bangkok at all costs" approach to flood management. What goes around comes around. Virabongsa to the rescue.

Excellent contribution. So rare, here, to find such informed historical analysis. Thank you.

[Thaddeus]

I'm also hoping (keeping my fingers crossed) that there is a proper approach to planning, hopefully including:

- A broad based respected and credible committee which is able to push greed, corruption and collusion to the side, to some extent (totally removing these factors is of course impossible).

- Developing proper / appropriate background & future assumptions.

- Proper study of the correct and applicable historical, current and forecasted weather / water flow / water volume data etc.

- Thailand's economic growth and hopefully incorporating a better (and if needed subsidized) spread of economic development and work opportunities

- Transparency, and proper community / public involvement and debate

- A step by step logical approach to all of the above, and enough time to do it well.

Am I asking too much?

Yes.

The answer to that was strikingly obvious.

Don't worry, in around six months there will be another committee formed to tackle the drought problem.

[Crushdepth]

A committee of non-experts in this field will not help. It will thrash around randomly, issue a few nonsense recommendations that never get implemented. Keep the politicians out of the process and recruit some people who know what the hell they are doing.

Never happen.

[KKK]

Rather than an expensive, and possibly faulty, patch up job on the existing Bangkok why not move it to higher ground?

No need. Listen to the Dutch. Cambridgeshire (UK) did, with the fens, most of that area is below sea level.

jb1

Listen to the Dutch: sounds like a good idea but the Thais would never follow advice given to them 100%. Somehow they would manage to <deleted> it up....

There was a proposal to move the capital to Chachaengsao province many years ago but it seemed to have died. And the opportunities for ***making money*** in building a new capital would be enormous....

[eslbill]

I couldn't agree more!!

And no better dignitary than Virabongsa. His credentials as a leader of the Thai Pulp and Paper Association are legend and he forged the crafting of the Khor Jor Kor in 1991 with the military dictatorship government. This was the notorious decree enforced by the Thai military's Internal Security Operations Command that stripped 2,500 villages, yes that's villages not villagers, of more than 2.3 million hectares of land. Fought tooth and nail to no avail by NGOs and other humanitarian groups. This Khor Jor Kor enabled Thai companies to lease the confiscated land to build cash crop Eucalyptus and Pine plantations. Virabongsa and Plodprasop as head of RFD, the Royal Forestry Department and now your friendly Science and Technology Minister, led these initiatives and alignments with SHS , the parent of Advanced Agro and "invisible" subsidiaries. Other investors included Siam Cement Group and Bangkok Bank. Virabongsa Ramangkura was able to finesse all these relationships and represent numerous other elite business class interests into developing a pulp and paper industry with many international investors such as Asian Development Bank as well as vendors like Finnish and Swedish consulting teams, based on the premise that the Thai Pulp and Paper Industry would serve the Thai people and economic growth in Thailand. In reality, the Thai Pulp and Paper Industry became a predominantly export engine with 75% export rather than a domestic supplier of essential paper needs in developing Thailand. By the way, Advanced Agro is Double A paper, that many of us use to write our notes and papers. You can see their logo on Sathorn, one of the sacrosanct areas of inner Bangkok.

So when the Thai Pulp and Paper Industry and Advanced Agro and SHS, its parent and other scoundrel forest destruction companies, fell on hard times in 1997 and financial default on their loans, it was Virabongsa who rose to the occasion and got everybody a bye on their debt and $200 for passing go. So it's no surprise that Virabongsa again "gets the call" , to run interference among NGOS, humanitarian groups, governments, Thai people, and Thai business interests as they start to develop both a damage control, blame game scenario, as well as tee up that "Thai currying favor style" with foreign agencies like World Bank, ADB and others to attempt to line up future investments in Thailand to build "suitable infrastructure to plan for global climate change."

This flood disaster may in some way be climate change related, but the human culpability goes way back to stripping the land for self interest, isolation of business class elite and the money train in Bangkok, and the advancement of cash flow into the pockets of privileged feudal elite business class. Their focus on safeguarding Bangkok from the floods at the expense of northern provinces, is merely an extension of the attitudes that prevailed in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s and earlier when many of these causes of infrastructure breakdown and cash canaling took place. instead of proper water canaling. Bangkok represents 41% of the Thai economy, according to Thai sources, but overlooked is that 41% wouldn't exist and is dwarfed by what the Thai manufacturing, farming, fishing, rice, and rubber trade does to feed the banking, insurance, and retail centers of Bangkok. The same Thai labor that drives Bangkok's banking, insurance, services, and tourist economy are the folks that Bangkok stuck it to in planning this "protect Bangkok at all costs" approach to flood management. What goes around comes around. Virabongsa to the rescue.

Excellent contribution. So rare, here, to find such informed historical analysis. Thank you.

[jakhoeblal]

Rather than an expensive, and possibly faulty, patch up job on the existing Bangkok why not move it to higher ground?

No need. Listen to the Dutch. Cambridgeshire (UK) did, with the fens, most of that area is below sea level.

jb1

Listen to the Dutch: sounds like a good idea but the Thais would never follow advice given to them 100%. Somehow they would manage to <deleted> it up....

There was a proposal to move the capital to Chachaengsao province many years ago but it seemed to have died. And the opportunities for ***making money*** in building a new capital would be enormous....

I think we all know that Thai gov need to have experts in watermanagement & planning, like the Ducth. The Dutch 'created' their country by 'winning' from the sea and proper watermanagement and organization (using Dijkgraaf, Waterschappen, Heemraadschappen etc). Below you can see what can happen if we don't manage. Problem, like all times is that Thai are NOT willing to listen to foreign experts, nor they want help from foreigners. To find a solution, this Thai attitude have to change.

[BittersweetFarang]

This flood disaster may in some way be climate change related, but the human culpability goes way back to stripping the land for self interest, isolation of business class elite and the money train in Bangkok, and the advancement of cash flow into the pockets of privileged feudal elite business class. Their focus on safeguarding Bangkok from the floods at the expense of northern provinces, is merely an extension of the attitudes that prevailed in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s and earlier when many of these causes of infrastructure breakdown and cash canaling took place. instead of proper water canaling. Bangkok represents 41% of the Thai economy, according to Thai sources, but overlooked is that 41% wouldn't exist and is dwarfed by what the Thai manufacturing, farming, fishing, rice, and rubber trade does to feed the banking, insurance, and retail centers of Bangkok. The same Thai labor that drives Bangkok's banking, insurance, services, and tourist economy are the folks that Bangkok stuck it to in planning this "protect Bangkok at all costs" approach to flood management. What goes around comes around. Virabongsa to the rescue.

Thanks for this insightful post that has historical references that go much deeper than what we see in the fish wrap journalism on this topic. I agree 100% with your observations. Repeatedly mentioned in the OP article, the government's primary focus seems to be to "restore confidence". We don't hear about real hydrological solutions such as restoring and improving the khlong infrastructure that 60 years ago earned Bangkok the "Venice of Asia" eponym. Graft and greed are the real causes of this flood. Khlongs should be a protected and revered resource in Bangkok. Imposing and enforcing harsh criminal penalties for any developer who EVER cements over a khlong to build a parking lot, a hotel, a new condo or what have you should be immediately instituted. The structures that are blocking the flow of water should be torn down. Of course, there would be howls from the owners of these structures should that gain traction, but where were the protests when these structures were built which systematically destroyed the only outlets that the water had to get to sea from Bangkok? I am not suggesting that restoring the khlong infrastructure is the single silver bullet that will prevent another flood, but it is a vital piece of the puzzle that would certainly have made this flood much more manageable had the khlong infrastructure remained intact. Another key root cause is that Thailand's forests have been annihilated and the Monsoon's rainfall which was previously consumed by them has no where else to go. This all reminds me of an American Indian's proverb: "Not until the last fish has been caught, the last tree has been cut, and the last river has been poisoned, only then will you realize that you cannot eat money".

Edited November 9, 2011 by BittersweetFarang

[spidermike007]

Bring in Dutch experts on building dikes and water mannagement. Government will have to spend a lot of money.

Exactly. Admit that there is not enough talent, intelligence, will, vision, foresight, volition, and ability to come up with a solution here in Thailand. It is simply over the heads of the Thai people. Hopefully this episode will create enough of a sense of humility to admit the wrongs, and attempt to fix them, with outside help. Also, the individuals responsible, such as the people who built on dikes, and canals, should not only have their properties razed to the ground, but should be arrested, tried, and convicted, and sentenced to time in prison, and given massive fines. This will set an example that water management is a serious business, and lives and livelihoods are at stake. Same goes for the politicians that are found to have influenced water management to benefit their regions. They should be ousted from office, publicly shamed, and made to pay. Perhaps a revocation of their Thai passports, and citizenship would be a good place to start. LOL.

[thaimat]

Well written, informative, and spot on! Thank you.

And no better dignitary than Virabongsa. His credentials as a leader of the Thai Pulp and Paper Association are legend and he forged the crafting of the Khor Jor Kor in 1991 with the military dictatorship government. This was the notorious decree enforced by the Thai military's Internal Security Operations Command that stripped 2,500 villages, yes that's villages not villagers, of more than 2.3 million hectares of land. Fought tooth and nail to no avail by NGOs and other humanitarian groups. This Khor Jor Kor enabled Thai companies to lease the confiscated land to build cash crop Eucalyptus and Pine plantations. Virabongsa and Plodprasop as head of RFD, the Royal Forestry Department and now your friendly Science and Technology Minister, led these initiatives and alignments with SHS , the parent of Advanced Agro and "invisible" subsidiaries. Other investors included Siam Cement Group and Bangkok Bank. Virabongsa Ramangkura was able to finesse all these relationships and represent numerous other elite business class interests into developing a pulp and paper industry with many international investors such as Asian Development Bank as well as vendors like Finnish and Swedish consulting teams, based on the premise that the Thai Pulp and Paper Industry would serve the Thai people and economic growth in Thailand. In reality, the Thai Pulp and Paper Industry became a predominantly export engine with 75% export rather than a domestic supplier of essential paper needs in developing Thailand. By the way, Advanced Agro is Double A paper, that many of us use to write our notes and papers. You can see their logo on Sathorn, one of the sacrosanct areas of inner Bangkok.

So when the Thai Pulp and Paper Industry and Advanced Agro and SHS, its parent and other scoundrel forest destruction companies, fell on hard times in 1997 and financial default on their loans, it was Virabongsa who rose to the occasion and got everybody a bye on their debt and $200 for passing go. So it's no surprise that Virabongsa again "gets the call" , to run interference among NGOS, humanitarian groups, governments, Thai people, and Thai business interests as they start to develop both a damage control, blame game scenario, as well as tee up that "Thai currying favor style" with foreign agencies like World Bank, ADB and others to attempt to line up future investments in Thailand to build "suitable infrastructure to plan for global climate change."

This flood disaster may in some way be climate change related, but the human culpability goes way back to stripping the land for self interest, isolation of business class elite and the money train in Bangkok, and the advancement of cash flow into the pockets of privileged feudal elite business class. Their focus on safeguarding Bangkok from the floods at the expense of northern provinces, is merely an extension of the attitudes that prevailed in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s and earlier when many of these causes of infrastructure breakdown and cash canaling took place. instead of proper water canaling. Bangkok represents 41% of the Thai economy, according to Thai sources, but overlooked is that 41% wouldn't exist and is dwarfed by what the Thai manufacturing, farming, fishing, rice, and rubber trade does to feed the banking, insurance, and retail centers of Bangkok. The same Thai labor that drives Bangkok's banking, insurance, services, and tourist economy are the folks that Bangkok stuck it to in planning this "protect Bangkok at all costs" approach to flood management. What goes around comes around. Virabongsa to the rescue.

[ableguy]

I'm also hoping (keeping my fingers crossed) that there is a proper approach to planning, hopefully including:

- A broad based respected and credible committee which is able to push greed, corruption and collusion to the side, to some extent (totally removing these factors is of course impossible).

- Developing proper / appropriate background & future assumptions.

- Proper study of the correct and applicable historical, current and forecasted weather / water flow / water volume data etc.

- Thailand's economic growth and hopefully incorporating a better (and if needed subsidized) spread of economic development and work opportunities

- Transparency, and proper community / public involvement and debate

- A step by step logical approach to all of the above, and enough time to do it well.

Am I asking too much?

YES