Ocean Surges Slowing Down Flood Drainage: Expert

[webfact]

Ocean surges slowing down flood drainage: expert

THE NATION

Flood run-offs from Bangkok and other provinces in the Central region are moving south toward the estuaries of Chao Phraya River at a slower speed because there is a mild ocean surge, a water-management expert told a seminar in the capital yesterday.

Royol Jitdon, member of a government water-management committee, said data collected at the Chulachomklao Fort showed that the surge was 40 centimetres above sea level.

He said he had known about these surges all along but had chosen not to speak about it publicly because he did not wish to cause panic.

Phisit Phiboolsiri, an official with the Samut Sakhon irrigation department, also said that news about the ocean surges had been kept under wraps for fear it would scare away foreign investors thinking of setting up operations in the coastal province.

He said one of the factors contributing to the higher surge is a monsoon - the first in recent years - travelling north from the Gulf of Thailand and hitting winter winds from China. "The surges and this monsoon will make flood and water management more difficult," Phisit said.

The monsoon, which might return next year, would have a greater effect in coastal areas that do not have mangroves to absorb ocean surges, Royol said, adding that many government agencies were aware of this natural phenomenon but could do nothing to prevent it.

He said that due to the surges, flood drainage would take longer and might even be extended to the third week of December.

Meanwhile, the government's flood-prevention committee yesterday urged the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to speed up the clearing of canals in eastern Bangkok and on the Thon Buri side.

Committee member Uthen Chartphinyo also said that the BMA should dredge up canals linking western Bangkok with Tha Chin River to speed up the flow of water.

-- The Nation 2011-11-23

[whybother]

Is there a monsoon in the gulf?

[Buchholz]

He said he had known about these surges all along but had chosen not to speak about it publicly because he did not wish to cause panic.

And yet another instance of the lack of transparency and hiding of reality from the

government water-management committee

.

Edited November 23, 2011 by Buchholz

[hellodolly]

Now let me get this rite.

The Government is telling us that

"He said that due to the surges, flood drainage would take longer and might even be extended to the third week of December."

Who is doing the extending?

[Soutpeel]

Said water management expert appears to have no clue about what he is talking about...currently there is bad weather in the gulf with maximum sea conditions of up to 4.5m mid gulf....so the "40 cm surge" is absolute <deleted>.

Thailand does see a SW monsoon every year at this time, which runs late october into Jan follwing year..... so it will return next year....so seeing I can say this with certainty can be a water managment expert as well?....please

The whole piece is full of BS and misinformation....the so called expert is trying to make this sound like unexpected conditions or something new.....same same every year...

[Soutpeel]

He said he had known about these surges all along but had chosen not to speak about it publicly because he did not wish to cause panic.

And yet another instance of the lack of transparency and hiding of reality from the

government water-management committee

.

They are not hiding reality.....the guy is talking BS....there is not reality in anything he has said...so it cant be hidden

[londonthai]

"there is a mild ocean surge"

yes, it's called high tide. BTW the ocean is far away, the expert should talk about the gulf of thailand.

"one of the factors contributing to the higher surge is a monsoon - the first in recent years - travelling north from the Gulf of Thailand and hitting winter winds from China"

there are 2 monsoons in thailand - from the south-west bringing moist air from the indian ocean and bringing the rainy season, and from the north-east, bringing dry seasons.

Monsoons were here for ever, but each year coming earlier or later, for a different length of time and with a different strength.

Edited November 23, 2011 by londonthai

[ARGUSEYE]

"there is a mild ocean surge"

yes, it's called high tide. BTW the ocean is far away, the expert should talk about the gulf of thailand.

"one of the factors contributing to the higher surge is a monsoon - the first in recent years - travelling north from the Gulf of Thailand and hitting winter winds from China"

there are 2 monsoons in thailand - from the south-west bringing moist air from the indian ocean and bringing the rainy season, and from the north-east, bringing dry seasons.

Monsoons were here for ever, but each year coming earlier or later, for a different length of time and with a different strength.

Exactly, that's how it is, period. Nothing new either. What kind of "expert" has The Nation dug out here?

But in a country where the head of the Meteorological Department announces that with a new weather

radar system he would be able to predict the rainfall of a whole monsoon season (He did a few weeks ago)...

What can you expect??

[cloudhopper]

The ignorance of government experts here is truly astonishing.

[Buchholz]

He said he had known about these surges all along but had chosen not to speak about it publicly because he did not wish to cause panic.

And yet another instance of the lack of transparency and hiding of reality from the

government water-management committee

.

They are not hiding reality.....the guy is talking BS....there is not reality in anything he has said...so it cant be hidden

Ahhhh.. ok, so he's bullshitting rather than concealing... much better.

A tip of the hat then to FROC and Irrigation Dept. personnel.

.

Edited November 23, 2011 by Buchholz

[Ponbkk]

there is a mild ocean surge"yes, it's called high tide.

duhhh, we are in a low tide trend right now

BTW the ocean is far away, the expert should talk about the gulf of thailand.

the gulf is sufficiently connected into the ocean system it can be talked about as ocean

one of the factors contributing to the higher surge is a monsoon - the first in recent years - travelling north from the Gulf of Thailand and hitting winter winds from China"

there are 2 monsoons in thailand - from the south-west bringing moist air from the indian ocean and bringing the rainy season, and from the north-east, bringing dry seasons.

Monsoons were here for ever, but each year coming earlier or later, for a different length of time and with a different strength.

and the tides have been here forever as well.

The first overflow that caused the twitter night of flurry was due to a surge. The surges can overwhelm the effects of tides. We are now in a low tide trend but the river is high because of a surge.

The weather pattern offshore is strange right now but whatever it is it is causing a surge.

The river seeks its own level. Tides are nearly insignificant. It's low tide trend but the river is still overflowing its west bank. because of the surge.

The whole weekend after PMs alarmist speech and global frenzy that resulted was the most idiotic example of misinformed news I've ever seen. The problem is now because the flood waters are here. I hope I never see worse.

Where is the link the the SEASCSSW?

Edited November 23, 2011 by Scott
formatting

[DocN]

...and THAT is exactly why I stopped listening to all of these "experts"! Said it before: put a glass of beer and a glass of water in front of me...in 2 out of 3 cases, I will be able to avoid the water...I guess, I am a water- expert as well!

[Soutpeel]

The weather pattern offshore is strange right now but whatever it is it is causing a surge.

The weather patterns offshore are not "strange" right now.....the rough weather has gone on a bit longer this year thats all, you normally see the 4.0m+ seas from July to around September, but this is not written in stone.

[kutjebu]

Is there a monsoon in the gulf?

Yes, of course,This is a good time table with the surges: http://easytide.ukho.gov.uk/EASYTIDE/EasyTide/ShowPrediction.aspx?PortID=6878&PredictionLength=7

[kutjebu]

...and THAT is exactly why I stopped listening to all of these "experts"! Said it before: put a glass of beer and a glass of water in front of me...in 2 out of 3 cases, I will be able to avoid the water...I guess, I am a water- expert as well!

Your comments show that you must be a beer expert.

[metisdead]

Off topic post and replies have been removed.

[DocN]

...and THAT is exactly why I stopped listening to all of these "experts"! Said it before: put a glass of beer and a glass of water in front of me...in 2 out of 3 cases, I will be able to avoid the water...I guess, I am a water- expert as well!

Your comments show that you must be a beer expert.

I am German! We grow up on it!

[Ponbkk]

Is there a monsoon in the gulf?

Yes, of course,This is a good time table with the surges: http://easytide.ukho...dictionLength=7

Those are TIDES not surges. See the url even says TIDES. Try the dictionary.

And yes look at the left of the chart where we are at the end of a LOW TIDE TREND.

Now come the high tides Now the trapping of south west weather by the monsoonal trough from the north ... Anything else common for this time of year??????

[MaxYakov]

Phisit Phiboolsiri, an official with the Samut Sakhon irrigation department, also said that news about the ocean surges had been kept under wraps for fear it would scare away foreign investors thinking of setting up operations in the coastal province.

So now that the Japanese are already 'panicked' by the flooding of how many industrial estates, it's OK to let the surge out of the bag? I'm wondering if there really is a monsoon-caused surge at all. Real or contrived, wouldn't it make a convenient excuse for the poor drainage that has resulted from neglected canal and pump maintenance, when the tidal surges would not suffice?

Edited November 23, 2011 by MaxYakov

[noitom]

This is clearly an excellent illustration of "the gang that couldn't shoot straight." The government water expert is telling the newspaper that he knew about this surge all along but didn't want to say anything for fear of scaring foreign investors away. And then the newspaper goes on aimless diatribe. Does The Nation know the meaning of 'investigative journalism?" Honestly, it's time that readers started questioning the professionalism of the newspaper. Shouldn't the reporter be questioning and verifying sources?

How could Phisit, an official of the irrigation dept in Samut Sakhon, be making a claim that "news about the surge had been kept under wraps' so as not to scare away foreign investors without it being challenged? Other than the most amateur newspapers, this is inexcusable. Not challenging an obvious admission and outright lying to foreign investors so as to falsely represent the soundness of investment in the region is preposterous. Foreign investors should run, run as fast as they can and keep running faster.

[whybother]

This is clearly an excellent illustration of "the gang that couldn't shoot straight." The government water expert is telling the newspaper that he knew about this surge all along but didn't want to say anything for fear of scaring foreign investors away. And then the newspaper goes on aimless diatribe. Does The Nation know the meaning of 'investigative journalism?" Honestly, it's time that readers started questioning the professionalism of the newspaper. Shouldn't the reporter be questioning and verifying sources?

How could Phisit, an official of the irrigation dept in Samut Sakhon, be making a claim that "news about the surge had been kept under wraps' so as not to scare away foreign investors without it being challenged? Other than the most amateur newspapers, this is inexcusable. Not challenging an obvious admission and outright lying to foreign investors so as to falsely represent the soundness of investment in the region is preposterous. Foreign investors should run, run as fast as they can and keep running faster.

"Does The Nation know the meaning of 'investigative journalism?"

NO.

[Ponbkk]

Let us not forget the representative from the meteorological department stating 1 hour after the boxing day earthquake that to send out an alert over it might scare away tourists and they could 'lose face' with the Taksin governmant.

Edited November 23, 2011 by Ponbkk

[Buchholz]

The weather pattern offshore is strange right now but whatever it is it is causing a surge.

The weather patterns offshore are not "strange" right now.....the rough weather has gone on a bit longer this year thats all, you normally see the 4.0m+ seas from July to around September, but this is not written in stone.

I think the government's FROC is trying to get written into one the government-sponsored constitutional amendments so that it is.

.

[Thaddeus]

Are the 1,000 boats now pointing in the wrong direction?

[MaxYakov]

Is there a monsoon in the gulf?

Yes, of course,This is a good time table with the surges: http://easytide.ukho...dictionLength=7

How is a 40 cm monsoon-caused surge seen/confirmed in the tide table? What is the cyclical nature of such a surge? Is it cyclical or is it represented by an offset of the tidal surges?

[Soutpeel]

Are the 1,000 boats now pointing in the wrong direction?

....maybe its an effect from all the EM balls

[maidu]

Quick, get another 1,000 boats tethered out in the Gulf of Thailand, revving their engines - that should do help alleviate the problem.

Oh, and while we're at it, let's start building another city on some mud flats - I'm sure there are still a lot of mud flats out there, particularly where the mangroves used to be.

[whybother]

Is there a monsoon in the gulf?

Yes, of course,This is a good time table with the surges: http://easytide.ukho...dictionLength=7

I don't think the tide tables would show the tide levels in relation to surges caused by the weather.

[elcent]

they're talking as if nobody was talking about the higher tides this year, just renamed it Funny and sad

[elcent]

Quick, get another 1,000 boats tethered out in the Gulf of Thailand, revving their engines - that should do help alleviate the problem.

Oh, and while we're at it, let's start building another city on some mud flats - I'm sure there are still a lot of mud flats out there, particularly where the mangroves used to be.

Hey, but it's the farangs that buy condos