Flood Measures Unveiled For Short, Long-Term

[Lite Beer]

Flood measures unveiled for short, long-term

The Nation on Sunday

Urgent measures to be taken before next rainy season - including large water-holding areas - will cost Bt13 bn

A series of urgent measures to cope with next year's floods will be implemented within the next five months, according to a key member of the strategic committee for water resource management.

The long-term measures will be executed in the next one to three years.

Pitipong Pungboon na Ayudhaya said the short-term measures include designation of large water-holding areas known as "monkey cheeks" in key provincial locations, as well as compensation for residents of those places.

It will cost the government an estimated Bt13 billion to implement these measures to prevent a repeat of this year's massive flooding.

The amount includes compensation for local residents whose properties are used as water-holding areas during the rainy season, Pitipong said during Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's weekly TV programme, which was broadcast yesterday.

The longer-term measures will be implemented over the next one to three years, according to Kijja Pholphasi, a key member of the Strategic Committee for Reconstruction and Future Development (SCRF).

These measures include construction of more permanent "monkey cheeks", floodways, watergates and dams to balance the water-resource management of the Ping, Wang, Yom and Nan rivers, which come together to form the Chao Phraya.

So far, there have been no water-resource management efforts concerning the Yom River, so the committee will have to come up with reservoir plans and related projects.

Yingluck said the government will implement both urgent and long-term measures to avoid a repeat of this year's massive floods, or at least to minimise the damage.

The government will also try to ensure that there will be enough water during the dry season, she said.

Dr Virabongsa Ramangkura, chairman of SCRF, said he had met with representatives of foreign investors to restore confidence in Thailand following the worst floods in more than five decades.

About 1,000 factories inside seven industrial estates in Ayutthaya and Pathum Thani provinces were badly damaged due to the floods, which also indirectly affected more than 10,000 other firms.

Many of the flooded factories are owned by foreign investors, especially Japanese firms.

Virabongsa earlier visited leaders of Japanese manufacturers and other businesses in Tokyo as well as top executives of Lloyd's and other insurance firms in London.

Major reinsurance firms have expressed concern about the flood damage in Thailand, and some have yet to decide whether to renew insurance contracts for factories in Thailand for 2012.

Both investors and insurance firms are awaiting the government's concrete actions on water-resource management before they make decisions about next year.

According to the government's latest estimate, the flood damage runs to the tune of more than Bt1.4 trillion with a total of 2.3 million households, or nearly 10 million people, affected.

Virabongsa said the government would set aside a total budget of Bt350 billion to implement long-term projects, with details of some these schemes to be unveiled next year.

Pitipong said Thailand faced multiple challenges in managing water resources to prevent floods and drought, including a number of engineering issues as well as an ineffective early warning system for both state agencies and the general public.

He said the urgent measures would have to be completed within five months, ahead of the start of next year's rainy season in August.

-- The Nation 2011-12-25

[anterian]

Will compensation for those who live in "monkey cheek" areas include compensation for the reduction in value of their homes on the property market?

[Pib]

Pitipong Pungboon na Ayudhaya said the short-term measures include designation of large water-holding areas known as "monkey cheeks" in key provincial locations, as well as compensation for residents of those places.

I'm sure the folks living in the designated monkey cheeks areas won't complain because if they would complain the govt might not implement the monkey cheeks policy. So, I'm sure these folks will be quite and gladly agree to getting flooded frequently...why it's great for growing crops, value of the land/house, peace of mind, etc. Plus I'm sure the compensation would be paperwork-free, quick, and generous.

[moe666]

So how big does one of these monkey cheecks need to be. When I flew up to Chiang Mai the whole central planes looked like a monkey cheeck

[w11guy]

The monkey cheeks a big area cover around 1/3 of Thailand. At least they will get compensation nest year. This year they didn't get anything at all. Not even the measly 5,000 baht has been paid.

[theanimaster]

These "monkey cheeks" seem like good ideas. Oh, that's right -- it's not the idea of the government, that's why.

It was actually HR Majesty the King's idea... way back.

It's about time the government paid attention and implemented it... but why do I get the feeling it won't be implemented as per the ORIGINAL plan....

[maidu]

They can designate 'monkey cheeks stretching east and west along the middle of Thailand, but it will only help a bit at best - for the near term. As earlier posts inferred, there are tens of thousands of families living within those 'monkey cheeks' regions, and what happens to them?

According to the government's latest estimate, the flood damage runs to the tune of more than Bt1.4 trillion with a total of 2.3 million households, or nearly 10 million people, affected. Virabongsa said the government would set aside a total budget of Bt350 billion to implement long-term projects, with details of some these schemes to be unveiled next year.

All these large numbers of baht being tossed around like confetti. The article starts with 13 billion number and segues to 350 (third of a trillion) a bit later. Probably the first order of business is to buy more printing presses, to print all those 1,000 baht notes.

Whether it be a third of a trillion or 100 trillion baht is a moot point. No amount of man made efforts will stop mother nature from running its course. Nature works on gravity and water finding its level. Those two forces alone are stronger than a billion trillion baht worth of band-aids. Anyone staying in Bkk is not allowed to complain forthwith. You know the place is flood prone, so either split to higher ground or try to adapt as will as you can to 1 to 2 meters of standing water in your neighborhood. We don't want to hear you complain each year about what the gov't should be doing (more compensation, more flood prevention measures, etc).

If you eat a load of candy for each meal, you'll probably get undernourished and pimples and tooth decay. Are you going to blame the grocery store? People have a choice to move to higher ground, though it's more difficult for the poor. Even so, that's what people and other animals do. If their habitat becomes increasingly uninhabitable, they move to a better place.

[hellodolly]

Well it sounds good. And yes a lot of people are going to be greatly inconvenienced by it.

My questions are

1 what does the government consider fair compensation?

2 Who is going to be making the decisions of where to locate the monkey cheeks?

3 Can the government treat each case on a even base regardless of political beliefs?

So far the government has turned down help from the Dutch who are probably the best in the world at water management. I personally doubt the present Government's ability to carry out a realistic plan to a successful conclusion. I base that on their unwillingness to except help and their poor showing in the recent flood. I also highly doubt that they can do the job properly because they are to much motivated by politics.

Yes thy are capable of keeping water out of certain parts of Bangkok but even that will change as Bangkok sinks lower.

[Pib]

What flood? It's the holidays...lets all forget about the flood (like the govt slowly will)...think happy things...and open up another bottle of 100 Pipers (like the govt will).

[robblok]

Well it sounds good. And yes a lot of people are going to be greatly inconvenienced by it.

My questions are

1 what does the government consider fair compensation?

2 Who is going to be making the decisions of where to locate the monkey cheeks?

3 Can the government treat each case on a even base regardless of political beliefs?

So far the government has turned down help from the Dutch who are probably the best in the world at water management. I personally doubt the present Government's ability to carry out a realistic plan to a successful conclusion. I base that on their unwillingness to except help and their poor showing in the recent flood. I also highly doubt that they can do the job properly because they are to much motivated by politics.

Yes thy are capable of keeping water out of certain parts of Bangkok but even that will change as Bangkok sinks lower.

Thing is many times Thais hate foreigners helping them because it shows that they are not good enough to do it themselves. Its all about loosing face. I don't mind asking for help if im not good at something but for many Thais its a sign of weakness. Besides i doubt the Dutch would like working here and having to deal with the corruption.

The one making the decision on the monkey cheeks is not going to be popular in any case because there is always someone getting hurt. Here where i am from in Bang Yai i seen the problems we got just because they wanted to save BKK.

I feel that BKK should be taxed extra and the money that it gives should go into water management. Water will always flow towards BKK just build some big canals and stuff to drain it. They have closed to many canals, just dig a few new ones. It wont make the inhabitants of BKK happy but its their problem they should solve it. Its unfair for others to hurt for them.

The decision before to safe BKK might be sound, but now things should be planned to avoid sacrificing others for BKK. So clean the canals in BKK install new pumps and dig new canals so more water can be moved. It would also be a good idea to heighten the river banks so the river can hold more water, dredging it would also be a smart plan. So much that can be done without going to crazy unbelievable plans like tunnels. But there is not much glory in normal plans (also not much to steal from)

[maidu]

There's another reason why Thai authorities may not want Dutch experts on the scene. It's possible farang experts might come to one or both of the following conclusions, particularly in lieu of Bkk sinking and sea levels rising:

>>>> the amount of infrastructure needed might be too prohibitive in cost.

or

>>>> saving Bkk from inevitable and worse future floods is not feasible, period.

It's like a family with a dear old house, hear that the foundation is rotting, but not wanting to call in expert engineers, because the family don't want to hear the bad, yet realistic, assessment.

How much are Thais willing to pay - to try to keep Bangkok from year 'round standing water? 60% of national budget? ....80% of national budget? Or, spending like the Greeks, it could be 120% of national budget.

Edited December 27, 2011 by maidu