Garbage impeding flow of rainwater: Bangkok Administration

[webfact]

Garbage impeding flow of rainwater: BMA
Tanatpong Kongsai
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- MORE than 10 tonnes of garbage has been retrieved from pipes and sieves at each of Bangkok's pump stations every time city officials rush there to facilitate the flow of water out of the capital.

Bangkok city clerk Sanya Sheenimit disclosed the figure yesterday, as he urged city residents to refrain from throwing garbage into canals and drainage pipes.

He said blocked pipes were one reason rainwater could not be drained out of the capital quickly.

Sanya was speaking in response to Bangkok people's loud complaints about how flooding hit many parts of the capital in recent days after some brief cloudbursts.

"Blocked pipes have significantly reduced the city administration's water drainage capacity," he said.

He assured local residents that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) was ready to prevent flooding in the coming rainy season.

Poetic plea

"We can drain water fast if the rainfall does not exceed 60 millimetres per hour," he said, "If the rainfall is greater, it will take some time to clear water from traffic surfaces. But definitely houses won't be flooded."

He said floods hit parts of the capital on Tuesday because there was nearly 100mm of rain. The rainfall was also as great as 113mm in Sai Mai district on Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra has called on the people to express moral support for the city's drainage and sewerage staff, who he said work really hard in tackling flood threats.

Their mission is tough in the face of heavy rain and garbage-blocked drainage pipes, according to a poem posted on Sukhumbhand's Facebook page yesterday.

He said the poem was written by an official of the BMA's Drainage and Sewerage Department.

A part of it says: "We fight floods while you are asleep. Please do not scold us. We are working to the best of our abilities. When you wake up, please smile at us … Our task is not easy. Apart from heavy rain, we also face garbage-blocked pipes."

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Garbage-impeding-flow-of-rainwater-BMA-30256822.html


-- The Nation 2015-03-27

[bruceybonus]

Why don't you educate the masses to put things in a bin. While you are it, also explain to vendors that one pork stick doesn't have to be wrapped in 3 plastic bags

[Chang_paarp]

I suppose regular inspection and cleaning of the pipes and sieves is out of the question? As in scheduled maintenance.

Of course educating the masses not to throw things on the ground rather use bins for rubbish would help. Now about those bins........

[NongKhaiKid]

The PMs ' only joking ' disease is catching on as the Bkk Governor is angry that people didn't realise his " if you don't like it move to the mountains " retort wasn't seen as a funny.

[teatree]

I remember during the great flood of 2011, several weeks in, suddenly someone came up with the idea to dredge the canals to speed up draining.

Planning with some people seems to be little more than deciding where they are going for lunch.

[Strangebrew]

Ok first the poem sucks don't quit your day job. Now in concern of garbage issue You think a world class city would have refuse containers on every corner to allow people to put there trash in. No not Bangkok more profit writing ticket to those who throw there trash on the ground. Or if A Farang picks up said thrash is asked for work permit. Now a poem: When it rains we know it will flood some get them mudhuts to clean to cleanup the crud,so as to end this mindless banter of placing blame, And surprise all of us that you found your brain.

[jaywalker]

I remember during the great flood of 2011, several weeks in, suddenly someone came up with the idea to dredge the canals to speed up draining.

Planning with some people seems to be little more than deciding where they are going for lunch.

Planning-schmlanning! The "P" in Thailand stands for planning.

I say they should re-deploy all the cigarette butt cops from Sukhumvit to the klongs & issue a 2,000 baht fine for every bit of litter.

Oh yeah, also inform the 7-11 yoyo's that every can of soda, beer, juice or any and every beverage do not require a freaking straw!

[LuckyLew]

Are those Burmese throwing their garbage in the canals again

No way Thais did it

[canuckamuck]

A "please don't litter" public service campaign with clever commercials and clearly marked trash bins made available would be ridiculously easy to do as a starting point.

They just need to connect it to nationalism and Thai pride to give it some traction. Littering = loss of face. simple stuff really.

I remember the ads with the crying Indian (American indigenous person) they made a big difference long ago.

[chrisdom]

I love the comment from K. Santa that houses definitely won't flood! My house floods regularly and I am in a small sub-soi behind Big C Ratchada. The drains are blocked with all sorts of rubbish - every small food seller throws their food, rice and other rubbish down at the end of the day, the local garage dumps its old engine oil down there plus many more bits of unwanted rubbish. Throwing stuff into a bin is fine - except there aren't any.

Reporting to BMA is pointless - if I'm lucky a crew are sent to dig out the drain outside my house - but that is useless as they leave the other 30 or so drains untouched so everything continues to back up. The house is at ground floor level and the water overflows into the house so no flooding? I wish.

BMA could solve this problem by preventative maintenance and drainage clearance (big lorries with vacuum pumps clearing drains once every 6 months) but trying to educate people not to do what they've always done is just a cop-out.

[thedude82]

i always said thailand was a dump. the people get the government they deserve. you can educate all day long, the toothless vendor is still going to throw their garbage down the storm drain.

[tx22cb]

In 64 AD, Nero supposedly fiddled when Rome was burning.

In 2015, BMA officials write and post poems when Bangkok floods .... such is progress.

[samsensam]

see locals sweeping rubbish into drains all the time. its easier than scooping it up and putting it in the bin.

i was waiting for the klong boat the other day and was impressed to see a diligent member of staff sweeping the boat pier. i wasn't impressed for long as the pile of rubbish was quickly and unceremoniously swept into the canal.

[2fishin2]

Cant put trash in a "bin" or trash can....they would get swepted into the canals too.

[Utley]

Bangkok had the same problem with garbage and sewage in the open canals in 1969 when I first arrived. Not much has changed since - but then its only been 46 years!

[Oziex1]

Why don't you educate the masses to put things in a bin. While you are it, also explain to vendors that one pork stick doesn't have to be wrapped in 3 plastic bags

To my surprise when I refused a plastic bag the other day, I received a discount, didn't know I was paying directly for them.

[Bakseeda]

I love the comment from K. Santa that houses definitely won't flood! My house floods regularly and I am in a small sub-soi behind Big C Ratchada. The drains are blocked with all sorts of rubbish - every small food seller throws their food, rice and other rubbish down at the end of the day, the local garage dumps its old engine oil down there plus many more bits of unwanted rubbish. Throwing stuff into a bin is fine - except there aren't any.

Reporting to BMA is pointless - if I'm lucky a crew are sent to dig out the drain outside my house - but that is useless as they leave the other 30 or so drains untouched so everything continues to back up. The house is at ground floor level and the water overflows into the house so no flooding? I wish.

BMA could solve this problem by preventative maintenance and drainage clearance (big lorries with vacuum pumps clearing drains once every 6 months) but trying to educate people not to do what they've always done is just a cop-out.

Easier to move house... ??

[jaywalker]

Why don't you educate the masses to put things in a bin. While you are it, also explain to vendors that one pork stick doesn't have to be wrapped in 3 plastic bags

To my surprise when I refused a plastic bag the other day, I received a discount, didn't know I was paying directly for them.

Seems plastic bags & plastic straws are considered mandatory, whilst Not Thinking & Not Planning are also mandatory.

They'll grin like hell at you, while they hand you garbage & look shocked when you don't want it. Go buy a pack of chewing gum or beer (if you happened to guess the correct time of day to buy beer), or Coke, or bottle of water at 7-11 & it HAS to go in a plastic bag with a straw, which will be used for a grand total of about 10 seconds not used at all.

The customer then goes to dump it, after tripping over half a dozen soi-dogs, in the garbage can that hasn't been emptied in a week.

That's planning for ya!

At a restaurant, serving your appetizer (cold because they forgot about it) 30 minutes after the main dish is considered normal though.

Having zero soap in a soap dispenser at a restaurant restroom is considered normal.

-----------------------------

What they SHOULD DO, is:

Plant those big tug boats at the mouth of the Chao Phraya all year long....the one's whose props empty the river.

That way the river will be down to a tiny trickle when the rainy season hits.

[IMA_FARANG]

I love the comment from K. Santa that houses definitely won't flood! My house floods regularly and I am in a small sub-soi behind Big C Ratchada. The drains are blocked with all sorts of rubbish - every small food seller throws their food, rice and other rubbish down at the end of the day, the local garage dumps its old engine oil down there plus many more bits of unwanted rubbish. Throwing stuff into a bin is fine - except there aren't any.

Reporting to BMA is pointless - if I'm lucky a crew are sent to dig out the drain outside my house - but that is useless as they leave the other 30 or so drains untouched so everything continues to back up. The house is at ground floor level and the water overflows into the house so no flooding? I wish.

BMA could solve this problem by preventative maintenance and drainage clearance (big lorries with vacuum pumps clearing drains once every 6 months) but trying to educate people not to do what they've always done is just a cop-out.

-------------------

In the 1979 to 1985 period I used to visit Thailand and regularly stay in a Guesthouse on Soi 38, Sukhumvit road.

A very prestigious person used to live further down that Soi, who has since passed away.

While she was alive, the Klong on that Soi was cleaned at least once a year..... ALL trash being removed and being disposed of.

That Klong was the cleanest one I ever saw in Bangkok.....just in case someone high up in the government at that time happened to drive by on their way to meet that "prestigious person" in her house.

[natway09]

A bit more Thai bashing today guys?

When I came here (23 years ago) rain like we had last week would take 3 or 4 days to drain.

Now max 6 hours unless it is a full moon (high tide) you can't shove shit uphill, no matter how many pumps you have in Bangkok

as just keeps coming back.

Just in case any smart alecs wish to comment at this time the sea level is actually same as the canals & Chao Phraya River

Where are you going to pump 5 million m3 a minute to???

I applaud the drain cleaners who see on a regular basis pulling their mole through the drains & filling up many containers of sludge.

The little Venice of Asia (Krungthep) is sinking & every year this task gets a little bit harder.

Give them a break

[taony]

Every morning when I get off the canal boat and throw something in the bins that the vendors have put out, I wonder how much of it just ends up in the canal later anyway. This morning there was so much trash floating around near the Pan Pha end, it seemed the entire surface of San Saeb had floating trash.

[wpcoe]

I suppose regular inspection and cleaning of the pipes and sieves is out of the question? As in scheduled maintenance.

Of course educating the masses not to throw things on the ground rather use bins for rubbish would help. Now about those bins........

That would be the best choice. How about a prison work program ("chain gang") that continually, year 'round cleans out the canals and other drainage routes?

[Daniel Ingalls]

...................Listen Bangkok Administrator, If you don't put out City

Refuge Containers to collect the rubbish, where do you think its going to go? People are not going to stuff their pockets with plastic bags from purchases they make from street vendors, or the shopping Malls. they're going to drop it off on the street, sidewalk or alleyway.

Put trash cans out on the sidewalks of Bangkok to collect the trash,and then have trucks come out and empty the trash bins frequently (like every other day). Otherwise, the trash will go in the Klongs, and you will end up picking it up anyway!......... Its really the same old story, people don't care, and you yourself really don't care either. Otherwise you would be doing what I have just suggested, ......third world mentality!