Plodprasop: Overall flooding situation is not worrisome

[MESmith]

The existing dams do not hold 80% of the rainfall for the whole of Thailand as one TV poster has stated. In 2011, much of the rain fell in the Yom River basin, most of the existing dams did not receive excessive storm flows. A major dam was recommend to be built to regulate the flow of Yom River under the King's Master Plan, put forward by J.I.C.A., 30 years ago. Because of aggressive action by locals and so called environmentalists, there is still no dam to control major flows coming from the Yom river catchment area. Until this dam is completed they will not control the excessive flows during prolonged monsoon conditions. When Plodprasop says that the overall flood situation is not worrisome, he means the following:

1. His constituency is unaffected. 2. His home is not affected. 3. His brother has opened a boat factory

Hi,

Just go to Bangkok pundit that is where i got my information from there they state how much water these dams hold. I am not trying to make Plop look good here. I am quite anti him and the PTP but as someone who was affected by the last flood bad its hard to get any accurate news.

I liked to contribute so those that could get affected could get some good news. i know that now I am a bit more relaxed.. its not good being on edge based on incomplete news.

Bear in mind there wont be excessive runoff from the Chiang Mai area this time. In 2011 Chiang Mai flooded and all that water hit central Thailand & BKK later. No flooding this year up north. Reservoirs are low. No release from the dams. I think there will only be serious flooding if the muppets try to block the flow of water. Wouldn't put it past them

[sunshine51]

"Plodprasop: Overall flooding situation is not worrisome"...

Unless you live in the flooded areas Plod, you flippin idiot.

[ResX]

Eastern Bangkok susceptible to flood, following release of huge volumes of water from dams in the North, Bangkok Gov. Sukhumbhand warned /The Nation

Govt rushing to dig drainage canals around Bangkok to tackle potential floods /The Nation

I can't see any reason for excessive releases from dams in the North. I mean Bhumibol & Sirkit. At least not now. Anyway I have predicted this approach will be used eventually long ago. The reason is simple. The authrorities in water management and flood control are really unclear about what to expect.

As far as I can see they have not expected anything. They just try to potray as if the are doing something positive.

[kuiburi]

Its raining for weeks , the soil is saturated , every drop of rain will stay on top , and eventually go to bkk .

Just wonder what ploddy's reaction is if bkk gets a little flooding .

[tingtongteesood]

Is this one of those infamous little 'white lies' to make everyone feel better ? 25+ provinces flooded in some places up to 4 meters of water !? Nothing to worry about !? WHAT AN IDIOT !!!!! He wouldn't be saying that if he was wading through water up to his neck now would he !

[Bagwan]

its always hard to know if they tell the truth or not ......

Many would say not really. Plodprasop has zero credibility.

[Local Drunk]

"Plodprasop: Overall flooding situation is not worrisome"

Not worrisome to who Mr. Plodprasop? To you perhaps? You're not up to your neck in water, much less your axle. You are however in very hot water with the public.

Edited September 28, 2013 by Local Drunk

[GentlemanJim]

I understand that after the dismal failure of the boat fiasco, his next plan is to get 5000 people by the banks of the Dams with hairdryers to blow hot air on the water, there bye evaporating the water and making room for more rain fall, therefore flooding will be averted in Bangkok. SImple eh !

[ResX]

Those two dams in the north shall not make excessive releases. Otherwise Thialnd is going to see many small floods like this in return for less frequent occurence of major floods.

[NeverSure]

-snip-

When Plodprasop says that the overall flood situation is not worrisome, he means the following:

1. His constituency is unaffected. 2. His home is not affected. 3. His brother has opened a boat factory

Too funny.

[noitom]

its always hard to know if they tell the truth or not ...... alt=whistling.gif width=19 height=18>

They rare know, and hardly even tell the truth, because they don't know.

[BillyBobThai]

Plod is no different from any politician we have in the west.

[Thai at Heart]

The existing dams do not hold 80% of the rainfall for the whole of Thailand as one TV poster has stated. In 2011, much of the rain fell in the Yom River basin, most of the existing dams did not receive excessive storm flows. A major dam was recommend to be built to regulate the flow of Yom River under the King's Master Plan, put forward by J.I.C.A., 30 years ago. Because of aggressive action by locals and so called environmentalists, there is still no dam to control major flows coming from the Yom river catchment area. Until this dam is completed they will not control the excessive flows during prolonged monsoon conditions. When Plodprasop says that the overall flood situation is not worrisome, he means the following:

1. His constituency is unaffected. 2. His home is not affected. 3. His brother has opened a boat factory

Hi,

Just go to Bangkok pundit that is where i got my information from there they state how much water these dams hold. I am not trying to make Plop look good here. I am quite anti him and the PTP but as someone who was affected by the last flood bad its hard to get any accurate news.

I liked to contribute so those that could get affected could get some good news. i know that now I am a bit more relaxed.. its not good being on edge based on incomplete news.

It's not 80% of the rainfall, it's 80% of the total storage capacity. Ie they are massive dams, the rest are small. There is capacity, but it doesn't mean much if there is enormous rain and they don't organise to get the water out. Getting it out appears problematic in itself anyway.

Bizarrely, it appears that simply draining the dams at full speed is enough to overflow the river downstream. The flow of the rivers appears to be regularly way below the amount of water flowing into the dams and rivers through rain.

Thus it floods.

Edited September 28, 2013 by Thai at Heart

[Baloo22]

Plod is no different from any politician we have in the west.

That may be a very cute pic that you have there but no, Plod is very different than the norm that we have in the west. I have lived in a region that is subject to earthquakes and a region that is subject to hurricanes. The major import of the instructions that I remember coming from the government is basically "We will be doing the best we can to assist you but you should prepare an emergency kit with water, food, and other needed supplies for three days." There were sources providing recommended items to put in your emergency kit. It was stressed that you should be able to take care of yourself for three days.

When hurricanes were approaching, I never heard any government official saying anything remotely like "Don't worry about it!" It was always "Be prepared!". And I always remember the news reports and government reports being as accurate as possible as to storm tracking.

I also must state that I did not live in any area that the incompetent, piece of crap, buffoon Ray Nagin, had anything to do with. I suppose that, yes, he could be compared with Plod.

[Phatcharanan]

Plod will be made to eat his words big time....

And that's something to rejoice about?

[LuckyLew]

HE should go tour isaan and ayyathuya and tell them the flood situation is not worrisome

Pretty sure they will not agree with hiim

[GeorgeO]

its always hard to know if they tell the truth or not ......

It's also hard to know if they know the truth.

It's become pretty clear that Plod makes up his own "truth" on a daily basis, and this 'out-of-its-depth' government ought to be considering gagging him, and certainly not letting him nowhere near a press conference.

I foresee this guy becoming a great asset to the Democrats, as he he has the capability of single-handedly turning the 'up-country' faithful against their beloved PM, whichever country he she currently happens to be in.

[ignis]

HE should go tour isaan and ayyathuya and tell them the flood situation is not worrisome

Pretty sure they will not agree with hiim

Thought they always talk about Bangkok, 2011 was worrisome, so guess not worrisome for those in BKK this time.. just for the millions of use that do not live in BKK..

As for what they spent the money on, well around were I live they have/ are still making all the roads 50 cm higher, so all the houses should be flooded 50 cm deeper this time as the water so say cannot pass

How many balloons do I need to make a 4 bedroom house float ?

[bangon04]

" Deputy Prime Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi said the overall flooding situation in Thailand is not worrisome "

What he probably means is that the important parts of Bangkok will be protected, and there are already detailed plans to flood the peasants again / more whenever it becomes necessary.

Why don't they just tell him not to speak at all - it would be less damaging for the government if he said/ did nothing at all.

Can't they send him on a shopping trip somewhere to keep him out of the media?

[timber]

I am not sure I understand there is a warning about Tropical Storm Wutip and we are being told not to worry. If the weatherman is saying we should worry and the politician says not, what do I do. Working in the environment on the west coast of North American showed me that to ignore weather warnings left you looking for a job no matter how small.

[ResX]

its always hard to know if they tell the truth or not ...... alt=whistling.gif width=19 height=18>

They rare know, and hardly even tell the truth, because they don't know.

I think you are not far from the truth. I'm not joking.

[sunshine51]

HE should go tour isaan and ayyathuya and tell them the flood situation is not worrisome

Pretty sure they will not agree with hiim

Thought they always talk about Bangkok, 2011 was worrisome, so guess not worrisome for those in BKK this time.. just for the millions of use that do not live in BKK..

As for what they spent the money on, well around were I live they have/ are still making all the roads 50 cm higher, so all the houses should be flooded 50 cm deeper this time as the water so say cannot pass

How many balloons do I need to make a 4 bedroom house float ?

Quite a few etans loaded to the gills with uninflated baloons would be my estimate.

Is your house wooden or cement block? If cement constructed then more etans

will be needed....Any family members in the baloon factory biz?

[slapout]

"Plod" may be as close to being a modern day 'carpetbagger' as I have heard of or seen, in my approaching 3 decades of roaming this earth.

In my reading/studies these types of individuals were dealt with in a very deserving way by the local people who had experienced the results of the accused's wayward ways.

It consisted of hot tar, lots of feathers, and transport out of town via 'rideing the rail'. Just a few examples in this light may get the attention, of other potential canidates, as well as giving the locals another avenue of entertainment.

[Lite Beer]

PM Yingluck visits Pathum Thani, follows up on flood situation

BANGKOK, 29 September 2013 (NNT) – Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has visited Pathum Thani Province to check up on the flood situation.

During her trip to Pathum Thani, Miss Yingluck visited Wat Bot in Sam Khok District of the province. She then took a boat ride along Chao Phraya River to inspect the areas where water level was high. She also presented 360 rescue boats and water machines to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.

In the meantime, Deputy Prime Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi said the amount of water this year is less than last year, adding that the 2 major dams, including Bhumibol and Sirikit, are still able to hold up more water, while urging Thais to brace for more rain in the next 3-5 days.

In Ayutthaya Province, Minister of the PM’s Office Warathep Rattanakorn gave out flood relief packages to over 800 families hit by heavy flooding on September 17. Assistance units were also in the area to help the flood victims.

-- NNT 2013-09-29

[jbrain]

She also presented 360 rescue boats and water machines to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.

Do the boats have the " For red reds only " inscription as usual ?

[Moruya]

This "UDD gifts" is pure sick politics.

And if it proves to be tax money, nauseating

[sawati]

The SL does not give a dam about peasents...but she has to earn votes...specialy in Bangkok...or at least her brother said her so.

[ResX]

Flood control for beginners

(1) You don't assesst the current flood scenario without using it to strategize flood control operations-Judging about the current and the future floods alone won't do the any good

(2) You can't destroy flood waters. They are expected to be there, flowing from upper ground to lower ground, eventually to an open sea.

(3) Flood managenent and control are about strategizing your flood managenent and control structures so that you can hold temporary the flood waters that can be held and get ready to deal with flood waters that cannot be held.

(4) Main KPIs for flood management and control are two. Firstly how fast you can discharge the flood waters to the open sea and secondly such release is done as far as possible without violating any flood level limit set at the downstream. The are not done based on how much money to invest for new structures and how many statements that you can make about floods.

You see...if you can follow the that 1-4 above closely very little reason you have to worry about what comes next as far as operaional point of view is concern. Ultimate consideration is what your structures could do and how to make them to do what they could rather than what the coming storms could...

Based on item (3) in context the current floods in Thailand- what is the rational to allow excessive releases from upstream dams (Bhumibol and Sirkit) that can cause floods downstream? See KPI No 2 above. Note that those two dams water levels were very low to a point that the biggest flood in 200 years won't be able to bring their levels to the top. My prediction is 98% chances that by 15th November 2013, the dams have combined unfilled storage at least 2 billion cubic meter.

No. I didn't say the authorities opted the wrong flood control strategy. I have no right to make that jugdement. In fact I have predicted this strategy would have been used about two years ago since I could predict their tendency to react after the 2011 floods. I used to be in their position about 20 years ago. What I'm trying to say is they should put all the avialble options on the table before selecting which one to be chosen.

Assuming all the flood control infrastructures in the Chao Pharaya is good "to take on the biggest flood in 50 years without area gets flood". I don't know the exact figure for Thailand. Your authorities should know. This the the first thing to resolve before anything else. If they don't tell you then I take as they don't know themselves.

Which such strength they have there are two options to go about. The first option is to strategize flood return probability for the dams in the north to take 1- in- 200 years flood return probability. That makes flood return probability in the south to become 1-in -4 years, by default. By doing this major floods like the 2011 has return period 1-in-200 years. But them minor floods as you have seen over the last two years will become a norm. The second option is to allow all areas to share equal 1-in-50 year flood return probability.

My important point is whether they have opted the first strategy out of knowledge that the second option does exist or they just made the option randomly?

Edited September 29, 2013 by ResX

[Estrada]

The existing dams do not hold 80% of the rainfall for the whole of Thailand as one TV poster has stated. In 2011, much of the rain fell in the Yom River basin, most of the existing dams did not receive excessive storm flows. A major dam was recommend to be built to regulate the flow of Yom River under the King's Master Plan, put forward by J.I.C.A., 30 years ago. Because of aggressive action by locals and so called environmentalists, there is still no dam to control major flows coming from the Yom river catchment area. Until this dam is completed they will not control the excessive flows during prolonged monsoon conditions. When Plodprasop says that the overall flood situation is not worrisome, he means the following:

1. His constituency is unaffected. 2. His home is not affected. 3. His brother has opened a boat factory

Hi,

Just go to Bangkok pundit that is where i got my information from there they state how much water these dams hold. I am not trying to make Plop look good here. I am quite anti him and the PTP but as someone who was affected by the last flood bad its hard to get any accurate news.

I liked to contribute so those that could get affected could get some good news. i know that now I am a bit more relaxed.. its not good being on edge based on incomplete news.

I am a consultant in Water and Waste Management. I have the advantage I have been involved in various studies over the last 30 years and have given presentations to the Government officials, and various organisations including American Chamber of Commerce. We had to make a study for many foreign companies, who at the time of the floods needed accurate information on which to base their decision to move their factories to another Country or to stay in Thailand. My study tracks the flooding back to the 17th Century when the Capital was moved from Ayutthaya to Thonburi because of flooding. It was then moved across the river to its present position due to flooding, and it is still flooding. I also was involved in writing the Bangkok Solid Waste Master Plan so I know that the statistics given by politicians in Thailand are mostly inaccurate. The Government web site stops reporting daily figures for air pollution for instance when the levels exceed International Standards. During the last floods the government refused to give permission from the U.S. to carry out accurate meteorological studies using aircraft to have been based in Sattahip.

[Estrada]

The existing dams do not hold 80% of the rainfall for the whole of Thailand as one TV poster has stated. In 2011, much of the rain fell in the Yom River basin, most of the existing dams did not receive excessive storm flows. A major dam was recommend to be built to regulate the flow of Yom River under the King's Master Plan, put forward by J.I.C.A., 30 years ago. Because of aggressive action by locals and so called environmentalists, there is still no dam to control major flows coming from the Yom river catchment area. Until this dam is completed they will not control the excessive flows during prolonged monsoon conditions. When Plodprasop says that the overall flood situation is not worrisome, he means the following:

1. His constituency is unaffected. 2. His home is not affected. 3. His brother has opened a boat factory

Hi,

Just go to Bangkok pundit that is where i got my information from there they state how much water these dams hold. I am not trying to make Plop look good here. I am quite anti him and the PTP but as someone who was affected by the last flood bad its hard to get any accurate news.

I liked to contribute so those that could get affected could get some good news. i know that now I am a bit more relaxed.. its not good being on edge based on incomplete news.

It's not 80% of the rainfall, it's 80% of the total storage capacity. Ie they are massive dams, the rest are small. There is capacity, but it doesn't mean much if there is enormous rain and they don't organise to get the water out. Getting it out appears problematic in itself anyway.

Bizarrely, it appears that simply draining the dams at full speed is enough to overflow the river downstream. The flow of the rivers appears to be regularly way below the amount of water flowing into the dams and rivers through rain.

Thus it floods.

You are correct, it is common sense really