pattaya floods - problem solved

[prk888]

Seems that after the terrible floods on Sukhumvit last week (we,on darkside opposite Makro had 3.5" in 3 hours) the local Authorities will meet next week with the various contractors to sort things out !

They had received B200,000,000 for solving the recurring Pattaya flooding problems (that's approx. £4,000,000.00 or US$5,700,000.00)

Problems solved hopefully.

[WhamBam]

Great joke. Made my day.

[MZurf]

"Problems solved hopefully."

55555555555555! Good one

Sorry for being such a cynic but after more than two decades here I'm 99 % sure we will see little or no improvement.

[prk888]

Oh ye of little faith MZurf.

[aussiandrew]

I am sorry to see the pictures of the recent very heavy rains resulting in the continuing flooding problem for central Pattaya area. Authorities will have to keep throwing money at it till its fixed or just put in the to hard basket.

[lonewolf99]

can't fix it won't fix it coz if they spent that much on "fixing it" they can't admit they did not fix it coz that is a MASSIVE loss of face........

[TheCruncher]

There will be no flooding again................as long as it doesn't rain.

[i claudius]

Flooding?what flooding,its not a problem,only when it rains and that's not often

[lou62]

They may (or may not) get European, US, Aussie engineers in to sort this out, though I doubt it.

They couldn't do much better than get some Dutch people involved, they specialise in this stuff.

Edited February 18, 2016 by lou62

[guzzi850m2]

They may (or may not) get European, US, Aussie engineers in to sort this out, though I doubt it.

They couldn't do much better than get some Dutch people involved, they specialise in this stuff.

Good idea but they are too proud and wants to do it themselves.

It's too late now anyway, digging under houses and buildings to make huge drain pipes is not gonna happen.

[TheCruncher]

They may (or may not) get European, US, Aussie engineers in to sort this out, though I doubt it.

They couldn't do much better than get some Dutch people involved, they specialise in this stuff.

Good idea but they are too proud and wants to do it themselves.

It's too late now anyway, digging under houses and buildings to make huge drain pipes is not gonna happen.

They are building a huge water reservoir to collect the flood waters on Sukhumvit central Pattaya.

[Cynical Sailor]

No matter how good the drainage is it'll never be good enough. The amount of rubbish that builds up on the streets is ridiculous. When that washes down the drain of course they're going to get blocked. Nobody seems to understand the correlation between clean streets and good drainage.

[WitawatWatawit]

They may (or may not) get European, US, Aussie engineers in to sort this out, though I doubt it.

They couldn't do much better than get some Dutch people involved, they specialise in this stuff.

Good idea but they are too proud and wants to do it themselves.

It's too late now anyway, digging under houses and buildings to make huge drain pipes is not gonna happen.

They are building a huge water reservoir to collect the flood waters on Sukhumvit central Pattaya.

The huge reservoir IS central Pattaya.

[luudee]

Same shit, every year ... zero improvements in the 20 years I have been living here.

They get lots of money every year to fix the flooding, and it makes some people really rich ...

[tropo]

"Problems solved hopefully."

55555555555555! Good one

Sorry for being such a cynic but after more than two decades here I'm 99 % sure we will see little or no improvement.

Exactly right, because Pattaya has too many unsolvable problems. Occasional flash flooding is low on the list of problems. These meetings are nothing more than publicity stunts designed to make people think they're capable.

Edited February 18, 2016 by tropo

[JESSVANPELT]

as much as we would all like to see this and other problems solved or improved it will never happen, as these are the only way the backhanders can reward themselves continually......

T.I.T.

[CGW]

They may (or may not) get European, US, Aussie engineers in to sort this out, though I doubt it.

They couldn't do much better than get some Dutch people involved, they specialise in this stuff.

Good idea but they are too proud and wants to do it themselves.

It's too late now anyway, digging under houses and buildings to make huge drain pipes is not gonna happen.

I don't believe pride enters into this!

[NanLaew]

I was admiring a nice, modern house based on traditional Thai style design that was approaching completion over on the dark side. They are now starting on the grounds and landscaping. The owners, builders or developers are happily filling in the main creek on the north end of the property. It's quite a major creek since the local authorities rebuilt the 2-lane bridge over it about 2 years ago.

The issues of encroachment on existing, natural drainage was a hot topic from City Hall last year but once they busted a few developments, they stopped checking and the abuse goes on relatively unchallenged. There was a lagoon on the east end of Pattaya Tai Soi 4 that disappeared with loads of landfill in the past 8 months and ironically, the landfill seems mostly to be shattered concrete and rebar from older, demolished properties trucked in from elsewhere. The lagoon used to be between Beach and Second back in the late 70's before landfill and 'development' pushed to back behind Buakhao in the 80's and then behind Sai Sahm in the 90's. It's up against Sukhumvit now I guess.

In a similar, short-term, near-sighted approach to frequent flash-flooding, the trend in Thailand is to install new, larger diameter drains but instead of digging the new drainage in, it is laid on top of the existing kerb and the road is then built up to the new level. This means the older properties on either side of the new road now have a serious flood and access issue and most times the ground floor is rendered unusable unless you are a dwarf (no offense to dwarfs here). Classic example is "The Butchers Arms" on the north side of Buakhao. Older, unusable properties then get sold, demolished, land-filled and new construction appears with usable ground floors until the next round of new drainage gets installed.

If you look at the street drainage in Singapore and Penang, they have really deep storm drains that are well maintained and always kept clean. Without any significant disruption from roadworks, new drainage and land-filling, Singapore and Malaysia HAVE LEARNED and KNOWS how to handle seasonal flash flooding. I doubt that Thailand ever will.

[morrobay]

No matter how good the drainage is it'll never be good enough. The amount of rubbish that builds up on the streets is ridiculous. When that washes down the drain of course they're going to get blocked. Nobody seems to understand the correlation between clean streets and good drainage.

The two of the three massive drainage systems are completed at North end Beach rd and at Soi 6. Still doing some work at South end but it may also be carrying flood water .

There was flooding as usual along beach so does not look like flood water is being removed proportional to drainage system

[WitawatWatawit]

I was admiring a nice, modern house based on traditional Thai style design that was approaching completion over on the dark side. They are now starting on the grounds and landscaping. The owners, builders or developers are happily filling in the main creek on the north end of the property. It's quite a major creek since the local authorities rebuilt the 2-lane bridge over it about 2 years ago.

The issues of encroachment on existing, natural drainage was a hot topic from City Hall last year but once they busted a few developments, they stopped checking and the abuse goes on relatively unchallenged. There was a lagoon on the east end of Pattaya Tai Soi 4 that disappeared with loads of landfill in the past 8 months and ironically, the landfill seems mostly to be shattered concrete and rebar from older, demolished properties trucked in from elsewhere. The lagoon used to be between Beach and Second back in the late 70's before landfill and 'development' pushed to back behind Buakhao in the 80's and then behind Sai Sahm in the 90's. It's up against Sukhumvit now I guess.

In a similar, short-term, near-sighted approach to frequent flash-flooding, the trend in Thailand is to install new, larger diameter drains but instead of digging the new drainage in, it is laid on top of the existing kerb and the road is then built up to the new level. This means the older properties on either side of the new road now have a serious flood and access issue and most times the ground floor is rendered unusable unless you are a dwarf (no offense to dwarfs here). Classic example is "The Butchers Arms" on the north side of Buakhao. Older, unusable properties then get sold, demolished, land-filled and new construction appears with usable ground floors until the next round of new drainage gets installed.

If you look at the street drainage in Singapore and Penang, they have really deep storm drains that are well maintained and always kept clean. Without any significant disruption from roadworks, new drainage and land-filling, Singapore and Malaysia HAVE LEARNED and KNOWS how to handle seasonal flash flooding. I doubt that Thailand ever will.

A good explanation. Thanks for that.

I doubt that Thailand ever will.

It's been said a million times before (often by me), and it's probably being said a thousand times as I write - but just how can such incompetence continue at the level that it does in this city. How can anyone be so stupid as to allow this ridiculous situation to continue? We can answer as facetiously as we like (many of our answers will be deleted despite being true), but the bottom line is that there is something seriously wrong with the city's administrators, something very sick and very unhealthy in their thinking and attitude. We all know about the corruption angle to this, but what is not so easily understood is how they can be so stupid as to kill their own golden goose! That takes special ignorance. Sin City is also the name for Las Vegas - I know little of the history of that place, but on the surface it seemed that the original mafia gangs that developed it, and the subsequent legal administrations, ensured it was habitable for the cashed-up guests. Sin City of the Pattaya variety is barely habitable in many areas - and it's starting to prove costly if the anecdotal evidence of foreigners moving away (I'm soon to become one of them) is any guide.

I only cruise the fringes of the nighlife areas these days, so I can't comment on the particular problems of trying to have a good time. But here are some of the general reasons that are helping to make up my mind about going home:

(In no particular order, just as they come to mind)

*The declining motoring standards.

*The cowboy attitude of motorcyclists.

*The appalling roads, which get worse every time they are repaired.

*The unregulated and proliferating tourist coaches (and their mean-spirited drivers).

*The refusal (it can't be called anything else) of the police to restore law and order on the roads.

*The growing anti-foreigner attitude (I don't think that can be denied).

*The air of menace of Thai males. In my 4 years in this part of Thailand, it's more noticeable, albeit small. I experienced nothing like it in 2 decades in Bkk.

*The general arrogance and surliness of Thai males towards foreigners seems to be growing as well - the "familiarity breeds contempt" factor?

*The growing mounds of rubbish strewn about the place.

There are other issues, but that will do for the time being. If anyone feels inclined to attack me, please bear in mind that I've lived here for more than a quarter of a century and tolerated, often with great humour and enjoyment, many of this country's foibles and idiosyncrasies. The reasons for leaving are not based upon the above - it's simply time to leave, and the above problems are merely impetus.

Sorry to bore.

Wit.

[onemorechang]

A good explanation. Thanks for that.

I doubt that Thailand ever will.

It's been said a million times before (often by me), and it's probably being said a thousand times as I write - but just how can such incompetence continue at the level that it does in this city. How can anyone be so stupid as to allow this ridiculous situation to continue? We can answer as facetiously as we like (many of our answers will be deleted despite being true), but the bottom line is that there is something seriously wrong with the city's administrators, something very sick and very unhealthy in their thinking and attitude. We all know about the corruption angle to this, but what is not so easily understood is how they can be so stupid as to kill their own golden goose! That takes special ignorance. Sin City is also the name for Las Vegas - I know little of the history of that place, but on the surface it seemed that the original mafia gangs that developed it, and the subsequent legal administrations, ensured it was habitable for the cashed-up guests. Sin City of the Pattaya variety is barely habitable in many areas - and it's starting to prove costly if the anecdotal evidence of foreigners moving away (I'm soon to become one of them) is any guide.

I only cruise the fringes of the nighlife areas these days, so I can't comment on the particular problems of trying to have a good time. But here are some of the general reasons that are helping to make up my mind about going home:

(In no particular order, just as they come to mind)

*The declining motoring standards.

*The cowboy attitude of motorcyclists.

*The appalling roads, which get worse every time they are repaired.

*The unregulated and proliferating tourist coaches (and their mean-spirited drivers).

*The refusal (it can't be called anything else) of the police to restore law and order on the roads.

*The growing anti-foreigner attitude (I don't think that can be denied).

*The air of menace of Thai males. In my 4 years in this part of Thailand, it's more noticeable, albeit small. I experienced nothing like it in 2 decades in Bkk.

*The general arrogance and surliness of Thai males towards foreigners seems to be growing as well - the "familiarity breeds contempt" factor?

*The growing mounds of rubbish strewn about the place.

There are other issues, but that will do for the time being. If anyone feels inclined to attack me, please bear in mind that I've lived here for more than a quarter of a century and tolerated, often with great humour and enjoyment, many of this country's foibles and idiosyncrasies. The reasons for leaving are not based upon the above - it's simply time to leave, and the above problems are merely impetus.

Sorry to bore.

Wit.

+ 1,

Good to hear the truth.

[prk888]

Dont always agree with witawatwatawit but he's hit the nail right on the head with his comments..

With a younger wife and adorable little daughter and being a pensioner i have no choice but to stay (even with the floods in our sois caused indeed by NanLaew's correct reasoning) ! Younger? I too would be off after 20 years here in LOS for very similar reasons

[papa al]

papa likes riding his dirt bike through the flooded areas.

[cigar7]

No matter how good the drainage is it'll never be good enough. The amount of rubbish that builds up on the streets is ridiculous. When that washes down the drain of course they're going to get blocked. Nobody seems to understand the correlation between clean streets and good drainage.

The two of the three massive drainage systems are completed at North end Beach rd and at Soi 6. Still doing some work at South end but it may also be carrying flood water .

There was flooding as usual along beach so does not look like flood water is being removed proportional to drainage system

Well the new Soi 6 pipe/system couldn't handle the flow. Go look at the beach - tremendous erosion again just by one 2 hr. rain. The engineer who designed that system should should be disbarred from the Engineering Profession - if he was a real professional engineer.

[pegman]

I was admiring a nice, modern house based on traditional Thai style design that was approaching completion over on the dark side. They are now starting on the grounds and landscaping. The owners, builders or developers are happily filling in the main creek on the north end of the property. It's quite a major creek since the local authorities rebuilt the 2-lane bridge over it about 2 years ago.

The issues of encroachment on existing, natural drainage was a hot topic from City Hall last year but once they busted a few developments, they stopped checking and the abuse goes on relatively unchallenged. There was a lagoon on the east end of Pattaya Tai Soi 4 that disappeared with loads of landfill in the past 8 months and ironically, the landfill seems mostly to be shattered concrete and rebar from older, demolished properties trucked in from elsewhere. The lagoon used to be between Beach and Second back in the late 70's before landfill and 'development' pushed to back behind Buakhao in the 80's and then behind Sai Sahm in the 90's. It's up against Sukhumvit now I guess.

In a similar, short-term, near-sighted approach to frequent flash-flooding, the trend in Thailand is to install new, larger diameter drains but instead of digging the new drainage in, it is laid on top of the existing kerb and the road is then built up to the new level. This means the older properties on either side of the new road now have a serious flood and access issue and most times the ground floor is rendered unusable unless you are a dwarf (no offense to dwarfs here). Classic example is "The Butchers Arms" on the north side of Buakhao. Older, unusable properties then get sold, demolished, land-filled and new construction appears with usable ground floors until the next round of new drainage gets installed.

If you look at the street drainage in Singapore and Penang, they have really deep storm drains that are well maintained and always kept clean. Without any significant disruption from roadworks, new drainage and land-filling, Singapore and Malaysia HAVE LEARNED and KNOWS how to handle seasonal flash flooding. I doubt that Thailand ever will.

A good explanation. Thanks for that.

I doubt that Thailand ever will.

It's been said a million times before (often by me), and it's probably being said a thousand times as I write - but just how can such incompetence continue at the level that it does in this city. How can anyone be so stupid as to allow this ridiculous situation to continue? We can answer as facetiously as we like (many of our answers will be deleted despite being true), but the bottom line is that there is something seriously wrong with the city's administrators, something very sick and very unhealthy in their thinking and attitude. We all know about the corruption angle to this, but what is not so easily understood is how they can be so stupid as to kill their own golden goose! That takes special ignorance. Sin City is also the name for Las Vegas - I know little of the history of that place, but on the surface it seemed that the original mafia gangs that developed it, and the subsequent legal administrations, ensured it was habitable for the cashed-up guests. Sin City of the Pattaya variety is barely habitable in many areas - and it's starting to prove costly if the anecdotal evidence of foreigners moving away (I'm soon to become one of them) is any guide.

I only cruise the fringes of the nighlife areas these days, so I can't comment on the particular problems of trying to have a good time. But here are some of the general reasons that are helping to make up my mind about going home:

(In no particular order, just as they come to mind)

*The declining motoring standards.

*The cowboy attitude of motorcyclists.

*The appalling roads, which get worse every time they are repaired.

*The unregulated and proliferating tourist coaches (and their mean-spirited drivers).

*The refusal (it can't be called anything else) of the police to restore law and order on the roads.

*The growing anti-foreigner attitude (I don't think that can be denied).

*The air of menace of Thai males. In my 4 years in this part of Thailand, it's more noticeable, albeit small. I experienced nothing like it in 2 decades in Bkk.

*The general arrogance and surliness of Thai males towards foreigners seems to be growing as well - the "familiarity breeds contempt" factor?

*The growing mounds of rubbish strewn about the place.

There are other issues, but that will do for the time being. If anyone feels inclined to attack me, please bear in mind that I've lived here for more than a quarter of a century and tolerated, often with great humour and enjoyment, many of this country's foibles and idiosyncrasies. The reasons for leaving are not based upon the above - it's simply time to leave, and the above problems are merely impetus.

Sorry to bore.

Wit.

Thailand is presently being run by nationalists. They will be happy to see you go.

[morrobay]

http://www.pattayamail.com/news/here-we-go-again-56157?ref=pmci

[emilymat]

The city officials ought to be called "Lomans' in this country. Land of meetings and no solutions.

Next week we will get the usual picture of a meeting at City Hall which will result in nothing further happening

[Asiantravel]

there are bound to be problems today

any news / reports ? this rain has been falling steadily for quite some time now?

Edited May 15, 2016 by Asiantravel

[petermik]

there are bound to be problems today

any news / reports ? this rain has been falling steadily for quite some time now?

Rain lasted (not very heavy) for 35 minutes only,suntrying to come out now in central Patts @ 12.45

[jimmybkk]

Oh please....!!! Are you people serious...??? How long have you lived on this planet...??? And you still haven't figured out the way things work yet..???

Nobody with the power to do so wants to prevent the flooding in Pattaya... Just like nobody with the power to do so wants to prevent cancer...

Money makes the world go around, and there is a helluva lot less money to be made in preventing something from happening than there is to be made from allowing it to happen time and time again and selling the band-aids every time it does happen...

Wake up people...! This sh!t ain't that hard to understand...