Could Thailand Withstand Another Flood?

Written by Our Correspondent

Probably this time because the weather's better but if they took the same hit, look out

BANGKOK: -- A year ago, central Thailand was inundated with what may have been the worst floods in the country’s history, covering the Ayutthaya plain with up to three meters of water and drowning a major segment of the multinational car and electronics industries that had settled there.

The question today is whether it could happen again. Although the Thai government has developed a reconstruction plan focused on immediate relief and recovery and as well as projected long-term solutions including raising dykes, extensive reforestation and other solutions, there are reasons to be concerned whether the government is moving fast enough.

Certainly, as climate change has grown more severe, severe weather incidents have been picking up all over the region. Although there have been no signs so far that Thailand might take another hit like the country got from last year’s Tropical Storm Nock Ten, which inundated 20 Thai provinces, at least 85,000 people in Myanmar next door to Thailand were forced out of their homes this month by what has been described as the worst flooding since 2004. [more...]

Full story: http://www.asiasenti...4770&Itemid=437

-- Asia Sentinel 2012-08-29

I have every confidence in the flood management skills of Khun Yingluck and the expertise of Science Minister Plodrasop.

Climate change is in full effect and unpredictable. The recent floods were a once in 50 years event, but could be part of a much smaller cycle now.

Climate change is in full effect and unpredictable. The recent floods were a once in 50 years event, but could be part of a much smaller cycle now.

Climate change has been going on for billions of years. Climate change is normal.

Could it happen again? Sure.

Will it happen again? Sure.

When will it happen again? Sooner or later.

But I sure hope it don't happen this year or within 5 or so years as that would be simply devastating to Thailand's export driven economy. Affected foreign manufacturing companies would relocate out of Thailand faster than a speeding Thai passenger van.

Can it happen again? Yes.

Will Thailand survive? Hope so.

Will I be used a political football? Maybe.

Will it cause damage? I am afraid so.

I blame God if he is alive.

Climate change is in full effect and unpredictable. The recent floods were a once in 50 years event, but could be part of a much smaller cycle now.

Climate change has been going on for billions of years. Climate change is normal.

Yes climate change is normal. But it's the speed of the current cycle of climate change that is very abnormal and therein lies the concern. Most previous climatic shifts have been played out slowly over many thousands or tens of thousands of years.. This is a climatic shift being played out in (possibly) hundreds of years.

Current data maybe a 'climatic blip' and lets hope so. But to assume it is and that it will disappear so lets do nothing is foolish and short sighted.

Climate change is in full effect and unpredictable. The recent floods were a once in 50 years event, but could be part of a much smaller cycle now.

Climate change has been going on for billions of years. Climate change is normal.

And so are floods. It gets worse because the forests are cut down and a lot land covered, natural floodways blocked.

BUT: It is much more fashionable to speak about global warming and CO2. Which has between nothing and almost nothing to do with it, but it sounds good.

Climate change is in full effect and unpredictable. The recent floods were a once in 50 years event, but could be part of a much smaller cycle now.

Climate change has been going on for billions of years. Climate change is normal.

Tell that the people who were affected last year, ok? Bring your own tar and feathers. Maybe you can also tell them that the couple of weeks of flooding are non significant in a billion year time frame, mathematically that is!

no problem...buy more tug boats..

Well, probably not the right thread to respond. But somehow I wonder? Thailand faces almost every year some kind of deasaster. Let it be the bird flu; Tsunami; Yellow shirt size of airport; Red shirt size of central bangkok; (and a lot of other blockades (road blocks) through the country (most farangs don't know about)). So now we discussing the last year flood, and probably floods which will come in the years to come.

What makes me wonder is that all this, (more or less disasters seem to have no, or very minor impact on their economy). Thai bath is sky rocket high, I'm not really involved in their stock market, but it seems also to be irrational.

At the very end I wonder if it's not the huge amount of farang money (may it be business, or relationships) who keeps the bubble going (continous money flow), and that will probablly last not for too long anymore, considering the global economic situation....

Of course it could, but economically it will not be easy, just as it wasn't easy last time.

Another similar disaster and no significant improvement in protecting infrastructure and

job creating investment properties will have a longer term knock on effect that might be harder to get past.

It could destroy all hopes of Thialand becoming a Transportation FLUB of Asia!!

I have every confidence in the flood management skills of Khun Yingluck and the expertise of Science Minister Plodrasop.

why dont you pop to rangsit and tell the people that are flooded out this morning,money is on the way,well someone has it.

Climate change is in full effect and unpredictable. The recent floods were a once in 50 years event, but could be part of a much smaller cycle now.

Climate change has been going on for billions of years. Climate change is normal.

Tell that the people who were affected last year, ok? Bring your own tar and feathers. Maybe you can also tell them that the couple of weeks of flooding are non significant in a billion year time frame, mathematically that is!

Unless global warming gave the entire management structure of the damns heat stroke for 6 months that prevented them from opening the damns correctly, it was not global warming that made last year's flood.

In fact it would be interesting to see a model of how bad the flooding would have been if there were no damns and Bangkok wasn't in the way. That issue is definitely man made, and but I would hazard a guess that floods like that have been coming to down this delta for millions of years.

Sorry to disappoint, but man's contribution to last year's flood ws our stupidity in building damns and a major city barely above sea level. The type Our co2 represented nothing in the ebband flow of rain in millions of years of rain in South East asia

Hardly anything to do with climate change (as already pointed out as happening for millions of years), more to do with industrialised invasion/expansion stripping natural ground cover and altering water course runoff. In addition, concrete jungles and huge weight of these structures compressing the flood plain and the inability of the ground to absorb water, means the problem, no matter what the stupidity of Govt promises say, will continue. Unless drainage canals are built and engineers such as the Dutch experts who know and understand structures of dykes, are brought in, a repeat of last years floods will be only a matter of time.

Climate change is in full effect and unpredictable. The recent floods were a once in 50 years event, but could be part of a much smaller cycle now.

Climate change has been going on for billions of years. Climate change is normal.

Indeed it has, The Atlantic goes through a 70 year cycle affecting the polar ice cap. It is claimed by a university research in the UK (Oxford I think) 30% of the ice disappearing is down to a natural cycle. The rest is down to us.

I think Thailand can withstand it. I mean, look at how long Bangladesh has been going through it.

I think that Thailand would survive although there would be much greivous suffering. I hope and pray that this (mis) Government wouldn't survive another flood though.

no problem...buy more tug boats..

The super big pumps from Korea should be here any day now.