Rain Highest In 100 Years, Bangkok Administration Claims: Floods

[Baerboxer]

It seems to me like an attempted face-saver before the event:

If it floods it's due to the worst rains in 100 years; nothing they could have done;

If it doesn't what a great job they have done preventing flooding despite the worst rains in 100 years.

Yes - that's about the size of it. More concerned with political posturing and face-saving rather than trying to do anything about it.

[pacovl46]

"There need to be at least 16 storms for the floods to return this year."

Well, by my counting we already had 8 since that was published and September is still to come. It's not looking good so far.

[MaxLee]

I'm surprised they havent' invented and anti rain making machine yet???

Good forbid, otherwise the government will let the population fright-starve...

[starkey_rich]

after a crew of inmates from the Corrections Department dredged drainage pipes, rain-induced flooding time had been cut down from three hours to just one hour in many spots in Bangkok.

Isn't it amazing what maintenance on storm drains will do for drainage. Now if the BMA and the rest of Thailand performed regular/scheduled maintenance on all there infrastructure as it should be done, there would be much less property damage, personal injuries, and in some cases loss of life.

Good idea but that would require forward thinking.Don't forget where you are.

T.I.T Totally Incompatant T--ts

[Chads]

Guess BMA decided to "go with the flow" on this one.

[Tanaka]

It doesn't really matter who is being unclear on the amount of rainfall, what is clear is that BKK cannot handle even normal rainfall.

If the drainage system was efficient enough then their wouldn't be the flooding of roads as we have all witnessed, clearly they are not efficient or not up to the job !!

But the drainage system does work efficiently and does clear out the water. The floods from last year are no longer here so it must be efficient. It may take some time, weeks or months for the water to disappear but it will go away. So the system works.

[webfact]

Royal Irrigation Dept: Upstream water to have no impact on key economic areas of Bangkok

BANGKOK, 29 September 2012 (NNT) – The Royal Irrigation Department has assured that the water from upstream will not have any damaging impact on the economic zones of Bangkok and surrounding provinces.

The Royal Irrigation Department Director-General Lertviroj Kowattana revealed on Friday that the combined water volume behind 10 dams upstream of Bangkok stands at 62 percent of their total storage capacity. This means these dams will still be able to accommodate around 9.8 billion cubic meters of water.

At the same time, such major rivers as the Yom River and the Nan River still have more-than-enough room to accommodate future rainfall while the drainage system around downstream areas is still operating efficiently, according to the Royal Irrigation Department.

Accordingly, Mr. Lertviroj assures that the water resources management in the Chao Phraya river basin, from the upstream to the midstream and the downstream areas, has been under control and that no water will ever flow down to hurt the economic areas in Bangkok and surrounding provinces just like in late 2011.

In related news, the Royal Irrigation Department Director-General said that the severe flooding in Prachin Buri Province’s Kabin Buri District is expected to resolve and the situation will return to normal by September 30th or October 1st at the latest.

He added that the drainage of flood water in Kabin Buri District to Bang Pakong River will not have any impact on the drainage work on Bangkok’s western side, which is a part of the downstream area of the Chao Phraya river basin.

-- NNT 2012-09-29

[canuckamuck]

Doesn't Bangkok sink by a couple of centimeters a year? So the drainage system has to be a certain percentage less efficient every year. Eventually it will be totally useless.

Soon to be a hub of pumps or gondolas.

[Bramdaddy]

Do any of the Thai TV readers believe this tripe the BMA is trying to sell?

[asiawatcher]

I would have thought any business who gets flooded is just as important as the behemoths - so why make such a stupid statement as "will have no impact on key economic areas". Go talk that to the people trying to eek a living under water now. Insensitive ignoramuses.

[samjaidee]

This article was a nonsensical childlike transcription of who said what in and out of context regardless of fact or verification.

The problem is there is no way to accurately measure rain fall in Bangkok. here in Chiang Mai we will often get rain in one part of the city and none in another.. Bangkok covers a much larger area and it is easy to get different figures if you measure in different areas.

I know it may be a small thing but with the amount of rain they do get unless some thing is done about the drainage systems the problem can only get worse. As Bangkok sinks the drainage systems also sink.

There is an easy way to accurately measure rainfall in Bangkok. All they need are tens or hundreds maybe even thousands of electronic rain gauges connected through the internet to the mainframe computer at the Meteorological Department. That way they will know the level of rainfall in any given area at any given time.

Of course none of that would help since they don't have, or are unable to maintain, the infrastructure to cope with large quantities of rain anyway. TIT

[khunken]

But don't forget that the water-pushing wizard said that 50mm or less is not a flood. So, presumably there are just some scattered pools of water in Bangkok.

[DocN]

Do any of the Thai TV readers believe this tripe the BMA is trying to sell?

Ooooooooooh, many did last year!

As long as the BMA said the exact opposite of the government...and until we all found out, that the BMA was also talking out of their @sses!

[Arkady]

This article was a nonsensical childlike transcription of who said what in and out of context regardless of fact or verification.

That's exactly how Thai reporters and editors work. The legal structure is partly to blame due to the obsolete criminal libel laws that are used to intimidate journalists and which discourage quality people from entering the industry. Most of the reporters are close to brain dead and the safest thing for the editors to do is just let them print a string of contradictory unverified quotes to fill up the space.

[Skywalker69]

after a crew of inmates from the Corrections Department dredged drainage pipes, rain-induced flooding time had been cut down from three hours to just one hour in many spots in Bangkok.

Isn't it amazing what maintenance on storm drains will do for drainage. Now if the BMA and the rest of Thailand performed regular/scheduled maintenance on all there infrastructure as it should be done, there would be much less property damage, personal injuries, and in some cases loss of life.

Well said, however you have not taken into account that this would require three 4 letter words which rarely exist in the male Thai work place, try rearranging these 4 letter words; Work, Plan, Hard.

[hellodolly]

I'm surprised they havent' invented and anti rain making machine yet???

Good forbid, otherwise the government will let the population fright-starve...

Actually Thaksin would use it as a threat. Let me come to Thailand with no charges against me over turn the convictions and me back all my money and pay homage to me or it will rain on you for 40 days and 40 nights.

[Thai at Heart]

I wait for him to come back to part the waters.

[Bramdaddy]

BMA seem to do a lot of "claiming" when it comes to addressing important issues. I wish they'd just get to work instead of covering their arse.

[SOTIRIOS]

....totally detached from reality.....

[dude007]

both are right. It just depends WHERE and WHEN these measurements are taken. Every place even in he confinement of the city of Bangkok, is different. It just proves once again that all statistics can be interpreted in any way. The main principle is that sheep has to be compared with sheep and dogs with dogs... This is furthermore a pointless discussion and should stop at once. Fact is that flooding still exists despite the repeated promises from the Plodprasop-Yingluck water-and-flood-mitigation-managers-team, despite the brilliant water pushing machines and despite the cleaning of the sewage-pipes by inmates which now eliminates the flooding in just one hour instead of three hours. May I humbly observe that even a five minutes flooding is doing exactly the same damage as a one day or one month flooding?

[dude007]

This article was a nonsensical childlike transcription of who said what in and out of context regardless of fact or verification.

That's exactly how Thai reporters and editors work. The legal structure is partly to blame due to the obsolete criminal libel laws that are used to intimidate journalists and which discourage quality people from entering the industry. Most of the reporters are close to brain dead and the safest thing for the editors to do is just let them print a string of contradictory unverified quotes to fill up the space.

You're so right about it!!! I give it the quote of the day!!!

[robblok]

both are right. It just depends WHERE and WHEN these measurements are taken. Every place even in he confinement of the city of Bangkok, is different. It just proves once again that all statistics can be interpreted in any way. The main principle is that sheep has to be compared with sheep and dogs with dogs... This is furthermore a pointless discussion and should stop at once. Fact is that flooding still exists despite the repeated promises from the Plodprasop-Yingluck water-and-flood-mitigation-managers-team, despite the brilliant water pushing machines and despite the cleaning of the sewage-pipes by inmates which now eliminates the flooding in just one hour instead of three hours. May I humbly observe that even a five minutes flooding is doing exactly the same damage as a one day or one month flooding?

As one who was flooded for 2 months last year may i humbly observe that i disagree. Not only as a private person but even more so for companies.

Every day that they cant produce costs extra every day that products cant be move cost extra too. For private persons its the fact that they cant move freely have to spend more money and get easier sick.

You are right about water damage that will be about the same (except for wood that can rot if its soaked too long but a days flood wont damage it too much)

[skorchio]

BKK is fughed, the world is gonna end ....

[kutjebu]

Sooner or later, the rising sea level will threaten more that 1 million buildings, 90% of which are residential. In the Samunt Prakan harbor, about 15 kilometers away from Bangkok, the suburban houses along the river are already flooded certain months of the year. In a report published by the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency, Bangkok appears on the list of the cities threatened by climate change.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2084358,00.html#ixzz27sX7SVx6

[scotbeve]

The picture at the start of this article says just about everything you really need to know about "flash flooding" in Bangkok.

Note carefully that as this intersection the center of the intersection is LOWER than the pavements on each side....when the pedestrians wait.

And where are the storm drains?

Why there are placed in the side of the pavement....maybe 10 or 15 cm HIGHER than the center of the intersection,

Since, even in Thailand, water does not run uphill, the center of the intersection does not drain....at leat until the water level reaches the level of the storm drains,

Result? Well, obviously the rain runoff water pools in the center of the intersection.

If you're trying to drain some place of water from heavy rains, it makes no sense to have those storm drains slightly higher than the lowest point you're trying to drain, does it?

This not same your country. You not undersatand.

So, Baboon, are you implying that water does, in fact, go up instead of downhill??

[rics21]

I don't think they have the records for rainfall 100 years ago.

BMA gonna stop with the lies.

Sent from my XT910 using Thaivisa Connect App

Edited September 29, 2012 by rics21

[osiboy]

My statistics only go back 5 years. This year, at least in the northern suburbs, it has rained harder, longer and more often than it has in the previous years, including last year.

Last year's problem was runoff from the north, not the localized rain.

I have no statistics to back it up but i agree with you this is the worst in a long time. Worse then last year for sure. I also live in the northern suburbs.

But it is stupid that there is no such thing as cleaning those drains before there are problems. Looks like the BMA either does not want to work or has stolen the money already and cant spend it on maintenance.

Not any different of course of YL and her dams that still have not been build or are failing. All those politicians no matter what color they are skim / steal too much. Too bad there isn't a french style reckoning, but that would only mean that other corrupt people get the job. Too many believe corruption is acceptable.

a chinese style is whats needed ,... a few harsh penalties and these greedy ba*stards would soon refrain from robbing the poor , it's also needed in the west !.. why do the poor always have to suffer the most ?.......b'cos they have the least amount of power that's why ! ,...when everyone you vote for are only interested in gaining more wealth for themselves it makes no difference who you vote for = complacency and apathy ,

most so called democracies are now the same , ..who ever you vote for you still can't clear out the scum and leaches that are now telling us the poorest ppl claiming gov;t help ie unemployed/dissabled are the leaches !....fine to say that if you live in your ivory tower with an eaton education , even if you dont know what the magna carta translates to........now what was that about a new world order ????............... what a load of bol*ox !......nothing changes ,......captalism has failed.......at least justice SEEMS to be done in china among the ruling elite , where else do you see that ??..........Putin's russia are not the only ones that should learn from china , i am more afraid of what the west ignores than whan china recognises ........viva revolution !.......anyone think different ?

Edited September 29, 2012 by osiboy

[baboon]

The picture at the start of this article says just about everything you really need to know about "flash flooding" in Bangkok.

Note carefully that as this intersection the center of the intersection is LOWER than the pavements on each side....when the pedestrians wait.

And where are the storm drains?

Why there are placed in the side of the pavement....maybe 10 or 15 cm HIGHER than the center of the intersection,

Since, even in Thailand, water does not run uphill, the center of the intersection does not drain....at leat until the water level reaches the level of the storm drains,

Result? Well, obviously the rain runoff water pools in the center of the intersection.

If you're trying to drain some place of water from heavy rains, it makes no sense to have those storm drains slightly higher than the lowest point you're trying to drain, does it?

This not same your country. You not undersatand.

So, Baboon, are you implying that water does, in fact, go up instead of downhill??

Why you think so much? No good for you...[Always a good one when faced with an irrefutable argument.]

[belg]

maybe it is time for a highly intelligent person in this country to invent an "anti-raining machine"

[robblok]

My statistics only go back 5 years. This year, at least in the northern suburbs, it has rained harder, longer and more often than it has in the previous years, including last year.

Last year's problem was runoff from the north, not the localized rain.

I have no statistics to back it up but i agree with you this is the worst in a long time. Worse then last year for sure. I also live in the northern suburbs.

But it is stupid that there is no such thing as cleaning those drains before there are problems. Looks like the BMA either does not want to work or has stolen the money already and cant spend it on maintenance.

Not any different of course of YL and her dams that still have not been build or are failing. All those politicians no matter what color they are skim / steal too much. Too bad there isn't a french style reckoning, but that would only mean that other corrupt people get the job. Too many believe corruption is acceptable.

a chinese style is whats needed ,... a few harsh penalties and these greedy ba*stards would soon refrain from robbing the poor , it's also needed in the west !.. why do the poor always have to suffer the most ?.......b'cos they have the least amount of power that's why ! ,...when everyone you vote for are only interested in gaining more wealth for themselves it makes no difference who you vote for = complacency and apathy ,

most so called democracies are now the same , ..who ever you vote for you still can't clear out the scum and leaches that are now telling us the poorest ppl claiming gov;t help ie unemployed/dissabled are the leaches !....fine to say that if you live in your ivory tower with an eaton education , even if you dont know what the magna carta translates to........now what was that about a new world order ????............... what a load of bol*ox !......nothing changes ,......captalism has failed.......at least justice SEEMS to be done in china among the ruling elite , where else do you see that ??..........Putin's russia are not the only ones that should learn from china , i am more afraid of what the west ignores than whan china recognises ........viva revolution !.......anyone think different ?

I think different sorry, i like capitalism where one with a brain and skills can make money. I hate it where everyone has to get paid the same just because it seems fair. People who are smarter and better deserve to get paid more. Russia failed before because people did not want to give it an extra bit because there was no incentive. Why would a simple brick layer get the same pay as a doctor who has studied lots longer and has more responsibility.

I do agree with the part about corruption has to be dealt with harshly.