Warnings for Mekong and Chao Phraya - Inundation

[chrisinth]

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Is it just me, or are their numbers off again? 90 00 per second times 60 times 60 times 24 ? The reservoir would be empty in a day, no?

All proportional to how much water is flowing into the containment area. Add to this predicted rainfall, etc, etc, etc

[taff33]

.....see : "Hundreds of Billions of Baht ............allocated ............for flood-prevention scheme ........... by previous government"......

....now....see: "Over 85% of Rice unaccounted for".................

...get the picture....???[/quote

I see, you mean that the rice got washed away by the floods.I never thought of that.

[halloween]

I'm unclear. Is this Yingluck's fault, or Thaksin?

It would be interesting to know what the cost of these floods are to Thailand in regard to loss of crops, loss of homes, loss of life etc., against installing a adequate drainage system vented to the ocean or purpose built dams. From what I have observed the drainage system either does not exist or is grossly inadequate

Why not find out then? There are figures printed and updated all the time, micro and macro - local and right on up to world bodies. Some figures were published today. It's only a matter of a bit of digging with browser and search engines.

The current estimated cost of an "adequate drainage system" for Thailand is 2.6 trillion baht, updated since Yingluck's estimate, I presume for extra safety like "service charges", "oversight" and other management fees.

.

So providing a link would be a bit much to ask? Presuming that corruption allowances were not already included in Yingluk's figure is presuming quite a lot.

[pookiki]

To think that humanity can completely control the forces of nature is engaging in fantasy. In the US, the Army Corps of Engineers as worked for years on flood mitigation projects on major waterways. But when the forces of nature converge, all the planning and mitigation will not keep floods from occurring.

In Thailand, one issue that appears to have been overlooked in previous threads is deforestation. Floods will always occur. The best possible solutions for mitigation involve using a mufti-faceted approach to include dams, reforestation, better infrastructure, and implementing sound building codes in flood prone areas -- to name a few.

Do you not understand the meaning of "mitigation"? As opposed to "prevention"?

I understand the difference. What's your point? If you have something worthwhile to contribute, please write it.

My point is that flood mitigation is a worthwhile effort not fantasy; that the aim is not prevention but damage reduction. when a flood does occur, too many whine about all the money wasted on mitigation projects not realising how much worse it would have been without them.

And my point was to purposefully use the word 'mitigation' when many of the projects are, in fact, called flood prevention measures. If you call a project a flood 'prevention' measure, it will give people a false sense of security and completely ignores the forces of nature. All 'mitigation' projects should be carefully assessed. And I agree with you. Mitigation efforts are needed.

[thaibeachlovers]

Isn't it now time to deal with this issue once and for all?

As opposed to throwing large sums of money at the problem, which then simply disappears, or is frittered away on projects such as boats pushing the water out to sea (!!!), Thailand should seriously consider calling in experts from countries that have had to deal with major flooding problems, such as the Netherlands.

Surely anyone can see that if a full-scale flood prevention program is not put into place, these headlines will simply be repeated year after year...!!

I suspect it would be correct to say that the situation in the Netherlands is completely different from Thailand.

In the Netherlands the problem is that a lot of the land is reclaimed and is in fact under sea level while in Thailand the flood problem comes from heavy monsoon rains onto land above sea level.

The great problem here is that the natural flow of the rivers has been constrained and the natural flood plains have been built on with no thought as to where the water will go when the rains come.

Attempting to solve the problem by constraining the river farther with dams and dikes can never work and pumps must have somewhere to discharge their water and that can only be downstream, so pumping water out from one place is only moving the problem elsewhere.

<with no thought>

The common denominator in all the stupid things done in Thailand.

Where I live, they never clean the drains, so the dirt build up has obstructed them causing flooding. Then they dug a really big open drain to solve that problem, but they never keep that clear so it's now choked with dirt and weeds.

Plus all the other stupidity that is seen everywhere, eg buildings being built right to the road edge so no parking except on the street, blocking traffic, like the brand new 7/11 being built near my house. TiT.

[phanangpete]

Only five Provinces are now under water he stated, ,so don't panic everything is under control.

What ! Stranger than fiction this is !

[lee b]

Great, so my trip to BKK ( the first in 2 1/2 yrs ) may have to be put off then on friday. Don't really want to go to a flood zone. Its bad enough with all the warnings we have here in CM

[Chris Lawrence]

Imagine this happening in New York, London with their subway and underground railways flooded each year or the beaches on the Gold Coast in Queensland are washed away; Something would be done?

The potential threat to Thailand is washing away business production for a few weeks or months of disruption. Could loose 50+ billion baht in loss revenue for the country?

Unfortunatly this part of the road map hasn't been reached yet, or maybe they intend to take a detour? How are the people feeling where this is happening, or this can't be reported?

[carstenp]

Great, so my trip to BKK ( the first in 2 1/2 yrs ) may have to be put off then on friday. Don't really want to go to a flood zone. Its bad enough with all the warnings we have here in CM

Don't worry, there will not be a flood. Just drama queens want to make it more bad than it is

Nobody will ever come back And say. Ohh I was wrong

Edited September 8, 2014 by carstenp

[halloween]

Imagine this happening in New York, London with their subway and underground railways flooded each year or the beaches on the Gold Coast in Queensland are washed away; Something would be done?

The potential threat to Thailand is washing away business production for a few weeks or months of disruption. Could loose 50+ billion baht in loss revenue for the country?

Unfortunatly this part of the road map hasn't been reached yet, or maybe they intend to take a detour? How are the people feeling where this is happening, or this can't be reported?

Oh dear. Best pick another example.

http://www.news.com.au/travel/australian-holidays/gold-coast-erosion-damage-wont-be-fixed-until-april/story-e6frfq89-1226587339812

[Suradit69]

Oh gawd! Not again!!

"Mankind" you better stay away from my home, my trees and my plants!!!!!!

Mankind, beavers (though probably not in Thailand), elephants, fish, rainfall. drought, we're all in it together for better or worse (often for worse) ... and we're all a part of nature, not apart from it.

Edited September 8, 2014 by Suradit69

[Chris Lawrence]

Imagine this happening in New York, London with their subway and underground railways flooded each year or the beaches on the Gold Coast in Queensland are washed away; Something would be done?

The potential threat to Thailand is washing away business production for a few weeks or months of disruption. Could loose 50+ billion baht in loss revenue for the country?

Unfortunatly this part of the road map hasn't been reached yet, or maybe they intend to take a detour? How are the people feeling where this is happening, or this can't be reported?

Oh dear. Best pick another example.

http://www.news.com.au/travel/australian-holidays/gold-coast-erosion-damage-wont-be-fixed-until-april/story-e6frfq89-1226587339812

That was a year ago Halloween? They fixed it.

The affect is on the dollars coming into the economy

Anyway thanks for the heads up.

[Strangebrew]

Ok I have in the past offered a solution to this yearly flooding issue, But as always falls on deaf ears If you dredge the river removing years of slit buildup this would become a non issue. two things you can be sure China don't give a rats Potooie about Thailand or any of its's neighbors and will do as it wants. Secondly it will rain and river will become full of water carrying all the runoff from neighboring countries . Trying to detour it around Bangkok won't work and would cost multi billions in USD to only have it flood again. Dredging the river thus lowering the river bed and using the material from in as landfill. Would go along way in solving this problem. Also it would create work for Thai's may even help create fertile rice paddies and farm land maybe a mangrove too in the process. Of course this would also need to be done in the Klong's too To give greatest effect through out Bangkok and further up stream from Bangkok. All you need is barges with big excavation machines on board to scoop up the river bed. in crease its flow might even clear up the water color too. Fish life would benefit as well as those along it's banks.

[belg]

nice of them to warn in advance... not like what happend in thailand a few years ago and all dams deceided to release water at once during heavy rain season

off course, none of the allocated billions have done any serious work to counter such a flood ...

[Greg Nixon]

Without the damn in China, who knows how many times flooding may have occurred in the past at a local level. Floods may have already occurred in the areas mentioned in the story without the damn.

[RubbaJohnny]

Water Mitigation for a Walter Mitty Nation

Firstly most western educated adults unaided by Jatuakoms Jomtee houses ,connections or tea money understand that fluids have an ineffable entropic tendancy to descend due to the tug not so much of love for the Chao Praya,the nag or desire to be closer to Pattaya but the more mundane Newtonian gravity.

If you cover a flood plain in concrete ,fail to clear dykes drainage ditches and natural soak aways there may be more rain in peak imes than the land can absorb.

Other factors tidal flows into theChao Praya ,Chinese leakage,deforestation and illegal blocking interference of runways ad slipwaall amplify the need as with fine single malts to take less water and handle it ina mature ,thoughtful and respectful way laying down for the future .

Moist dash preparing for EGATs nuclear plans and the Myanmar nuclear programme near Nappy Door has removed any knead of suppose it tories

I expect when relatively hi-sos get splashed or their caddy sozzled the city of theangels will fid a new way to suck the wetbacks dry.

As others have commented colonial powers like the Netherlands seem to keep afloat with uncorupt highly taied professionals paid for from collected tax on the wealthy for the commo weal.I realise the land of the pee has no history of colonial submission and therefore colonic irrigation is a soggy pipe dream.

iT WAS OF COURSE SET UP BY FROGS IN 1798

Mekong Delta Plan opens a new chapter in our partnership with the Vietnamese water sector, says Melanie Schultz van Haegen

News item | 18-12-2013

In Hanoi today, Minister of Infrastructure and the Environment Melanie Schultz van Haegen presented the Dutch-Vietnamese Mekong Delta Plan to Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai. The Delta Plan contains a long-term vision for the delta, with practical recommendations for its safe and sustainable development.

Proud

‘The Mekong Delta Plan opens a new chapter in our bilateral relations,’ said Ms Schultz. ‘I am proud to be presenting it today. I am convinced that this plan will help to make the delta safer and bring more prosperity to Vietnam. And I hope that it will present our two countries with new opportunities for cooperation.’ The Dutch and Vietnamese governments worked closely together for two years to produce the Mekong Delta Plan. The work was coordinated by Cees Veerman, special adviser to Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. Mr Veerman is the former chair of the Sustainable Coastal Development Committee (2007-2008) and a former Dutch Minister of Agriculture (2002-2007). The Delta Plan enjoys broad support – from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the United Nations, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and countries such as Australia, Finland and Germany.| END OF QUOTE

SOURCE

http://www.government.nl/issues/water-management

The Netherlands is the best protected delta in the world. Yet how do we keep our country safe from high water, now and in the future, and ensure a sufficient supply of fresh water? And how can we ensure that the Netherlands remains an attractive country in which to live, work and invest ?

As Churchilll once said ,anyone can rat,but some can re-rat,If you choose to live in a sewer fee call girls may rub you dry.