Surapong blames Apisit government for the 2011 great flood in Bangkok

[webfact]

Surapong blames Apisit government for the 2011 great flood in Bangkok

 

 

BANGKOK: -- Core member of the Pheu Thai Party Surapong Tovichakchaikul today blamed the Abhisit government for the 2011 worst ever flooding in decades in Bangkok.

 

Surapong, former foreign minister under the Yingluck administration, made the remark after the National Anti Corruption Commission (NACC) appointed former deputy permanent secretary for finance to head an inquiry into the mismanagement of the huge floodwater prevention budget by former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra in 2011.

 

It held former prime minister Yingluck responsible for malfeasance, corruption in spending the flood management funds.

 

Surapong said floodwater flowing downstream from the North took months before it arrived in the central region and Bangkok.

 

Meanwhile dams and reservoirs along the Ping, Wang, Yom, Nan and Chao Phraya rivers from the North to the Central Plain would have to manage their water storages for irrigation purposes before starting to store new water in the new rainy season.

 

The water storage took was time consuming, up to several months, he said.

 

Full story: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/surapong-blames-apisit-government-2011-great-flood-bangkok/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2016-09-23

[keith101]

so the flood was caused by the democrats and not the huge amount of rainfall in the north ?

[trogers]

Next, the rice scam can also be blamed on the Abhisit government...

[rkidlad]

Everyone in Thailand is to blame for the floods. Sure, there was a lot of rainfall so floods can always happen. but if people had done their jobs properly and people weren't so apathetic to bone idleness and corruption, it wouldn't have been nearly as bad.

 

 

 

 

[jamesbrock]

28 minutes ago, keith101 said:

so the flood was caused by the democrats and not the huge amount of rainfall in the north ?

 

Apparently so...

 

In 2011, monsoons started in May and brought the highest levels of rainfall in Thailand in the previous 50 years. Major flooding began as Tropical Storm Nock-ten raged through 14 northern provinces, killing 7, from 31 July. Then, instead of the wet season ending as usual in October, La Niña precipitated heavier and longer downpours for the rest of the year.

 

It was 3 August when Drainage and Sewerage Department Director Sanya Shenimitra said that overall, there is nothing to be worried about as the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is capable of handling the flood situation, and expressed confidence that Bangkok would not be severely affected by the swelling river flow.

 

Yingluck took office on 5 August 2011

 

Sure, her response was bumbling and mostly incompetent, but to blame her for the floods—indeed to blame any government for the floods—is idiotic.

Edited September 23, 2016 by jamesbrock

[Gunna]

She isn't being blamed for the 2011 flood.

What they are looking at is where the flood prevention money went

Thailand has plans to spend more than $12 billion in flood mitigation measures to try to avoid a repeat of last year’s devastating floods that killed hundreds of people and cost billions of dollars.

 

[seajae]

does anyone actually listen to this drop kick, he has the brains of a flea, all he does is dribble sh*t when ever he opens his mouth, he is even worse than yl and thats really saying something

[Alive]

I agree with him 100%.  But if you really want to blame someone blame the idiots who put Bangkok where it is and those who keep spending all of the nation's wealth keeping it afloat. Personally, I think Bangkok or the areas near it are going to flood this year and the only way they can stop it is to force people who normally wouldn't get flooded to suffer for the filthy rich who own Bangkok. Otherwise, the factories near BKK will be in water again or stop production due to the fact that the roads are closed due to floods. Just have to wait and see. If people suffer, this regime and all of those folks connected to it need to empty their bank accounts and start selling their vast number of properties. The losses due to flooding will be much worse the the rice program. Just how I see it.Hoping for the best though.

[ALLSEEINGEYE]

1 hour ago, jamesbrock said:

 

Apparently so...

 

In 2011, monsoons started in May and brought the highest levels of rainfall in Thailand in the previous 50 years. Major flooding began as Tropical Storm Nock-ten raged through 14 northern provinces, killing 7, from 31 July. Then, instead of the wet season ending as usual in October, La Niña precipitated heavier and longer downpours for the rest of the year.

 

It was 3 August when Drainage and Sewerage Department Director Sanya Shenimitra said that overall, there is nothing to be worried about as the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is capable of handling the flood situation, and expressed confidence that Bangkok would not be severely affected by the swelling river flow.

 

Yingluck took office on 5 August 2011

 

Sure, her response was bumbling and mostly incompetent, but to blame her for the floods—indeed to blame any government for the floods—is idiotic.

They aren't blaming her for the floods!!! Read the article!! They are blaming her for "It held former prime minister Yingluck responsible for malfeasance, corruption in spending the flood management funds".

 

That she could and should be held accountable for.

[jamesbrock]

2 minutes ago, ALLSEEINGEYE said:

They aren't blaming her for the floods!!! Read the article!! They are blaming her for "It held former prime minister Yingluck responsible for malfeasance, corruption in spending the flood management funds".

 

That she could and should be held accountable for.

 

Yes, apologies for my hastily written reply - I realise they weren't blaming her.

 

The point I was trying to make was the floods were beyond anyone's control, with rainfall in March of 2011 alone being 344% above the mean.

 

I agree that she should be held accountable for any malfeasance or corruption in spending the flood management funds.

[Baerboxer]

2 hours ago, jamesbrock said:

 

Apparently so...

 

In 2011, monsoons started in May and brought the highest levels of rainfall in Thailand in the previous 50 years. Major flooding began as Tropical Storm Nock-ten raged through 14 northern provinces, killing 7, from 31 July. Then, instead of the wet season ending as usual in October, La Niña precipitated heavier and longer downpours for the rest of the year.

 

It was 3 August when Drainage and Sewerage Department Director Sanya Shenimitra said that overall, there is nothing to be worried about as the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is capable of handling the flood situation, and expressed confidence that Bangkok would not be severely affected by the swelling river flow.

 

Yingluck took office on 5 August 2011

 

Sure, her response was bumbling and mostly incompetent, but to blame her for the floods—indeed to blame any government for the floods—is idiotic.

 

Had she over ruled the agriculture minister and ensured water was released when the professionals advised the situation would've been much less severe. But her ally was under instructions to protect the rice harvest and delayed the release, seriously aggravating the situation. 

The mismanagement of funds is another issue.

[trogers]

I am sure the issue of this post is about

 

The Mismanagement of the Huge Floodwater Prevention Budget!

 

The Democrats were the Opposition when this budget was raised...

[jamesbrock]

12 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Had she over ruled the agriculture minister and ensured water was released when the professionals advised the situation would've been much less severe. But her ally was under instructions to protect the rice harvest and delayed the release, seriously aggravating the situation. 

The mismanagement of funds is another issue.

 

• Rainfall in March 2011 over northern Thailand was 344% above the mean. 
• Bhumibol Dam in particular received 242.8 mm of rain, well above the normal 25.2 mm.
• Since 1 January the dam had accumulated 245.9 mm, 216.0 mm or 186% above normal.
• The monsoons that started in May and brought the highest levels of rainfall in Thailand in the previous 50 years.
• Major flooding began as Tropical Storm Nock-ten raged through 14 northern provinces, killing 7, from 31 July. 
• It was 3 August when Drainage and Sewerage Department Director Sanya Shenimitra said that overall, there is nothing to be worried about as the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is capable of handling the flood situation, and expressed confidence that Bangkok would not be severely affected by the swelling river flow.
• Yingluck took office on 5 August.

 

Pretty certain the emptying-the-dams horse had bolted well before YL was in charge.

 

The mismanagement  of funds is certainly another issue, and one which she should be investigated for.

[maoro2013]

Talking about 2011!

 

Move on.

[Emster23]

C'mon, this sort of mismanagement require bi-partisan cooperation, crossing the aisles, sharing the bounty of projects.

[Chris Lawrence]

Abhisit was in charge of the flood mitigation program that was developed by the top Thai Professor and expert (he was the one that wrote the document that was approved to look at solving the flood problems). Now the Mayor of Bangkok was influenced by influential business owners at the time not to do any works because it would interfere with business. Apparently money changed hands? The result was Abhisit sat on his hands.

 

To blame one over the other does not solve the problem but highlights that the problem won't go away until someone does something about it. A lot of fingers in the dyke with a lot of palms to be greased to get things into action.

 

Why doesn't the General get section 44 on this?

[mike324]

1 hour ago, jamesbrock said:

 

• Rainfall in March 2011 over northern Thailand was 344% above the mean. 
• Bhumibol Dam in particular received 242.8 mm of rain, well above the normal 25.2 mm.
• Since 1 January the dam had accumulated 245.9 mm, 216.0 mm or 186% above normal.
• The monsoons that started in May and brought the highest levels of rainfall in Thailand in the previous 50 years.
• Major flooding began as Tropical Storm Nock-ten raged through 14 northern provinces, killing 7, from 31 July. 
• It was 3 August when Drainage and Sewerage Department Director Sanya Shenimitra said that overall, there is nothing to be worried about as the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is capable of handling the flood situation, and expressed confidence that Bangkok would not be severely affected by the swelling river flow.
• Yingluck took office on 5 August.

 

Pretty certain the emptying-the-dams horse had bolted well before YL was in charge.

 

The mismanagement  of funds is certainly another issue, and one which she should be investigated for.

 

 

The day Abhisit dissolved parliament. Water level was still below minimum water level retention.  Water level rose in June due to the typhoon Hainan.

 

On top of that, water was not release faster because several provinces were flooded in June, they did not want to cause even heavier flooding. So the flooding problem also multiply later on due to this decision. Seems like nobody was in charge other than Irrigation Department, so they should be blamed for not raising the issue early on or releasing the water once they saw how fast the water is accumulating.

 

Yinglucks party took office on August 5, dam water levels were only at around 70%, still at a safe level. But they release the water late so farmers can bring in extra crop, there was even a memo on releasing less water. Heck even the Agriculture Minister admitted that they release the water late. Another poor judgement.

 

Fault lies mostly on Irrigation Department and Yingluck.

 

As for the Water Prevention Plan, hundreds of billions was squandered and barely anything was done. Many projects were indeed started, but never finished. Another big corruption that never was investigated and got nowhere.

Edited September 23, 2016 by mike324

[scorecard]

5 hours ago, trogers said:

Next, the rice scam can also be blamed on the Abhisit government...

 

 

Just a week ago there was a clip on the Thai news of flooding in the Chiang Mai area after days of heavy rain. The clip features one loud man telling all and sundry that prayut ordered the flooding.

[scorecard]

50 minutes ago, mike324 said:

 

 

The day Abhisit dissolved parliament. Water level was still below minimum water level retention.  Water level rose in June due to the typhoon Hainan.

 

On top of that, water was not release faster because several provinces were flooded in June, they did not want to cause even heavier flooding. So the flooding problem also multiply later on due to this decision. Seems like nobody was in charge other than Irrigation Department, so they should be blamed for not raising the issue early on or releasing the water once they saw how fast the water is accumulating.

 

Yinglucks party took office on August 5, dam water levels were only at around 70%, still at a safe level. But they release the water late so farmers can bring in extra crop, there was even a memo on releasing less water. Heck even the Agriculture Minister admitted that they release the water late. Another poor judgement.

 

Fault lies mostly on Irrigation Department and Yingluck.

 

As for the Water Prevention Plan, hundreds of billions was squandered and barely anything was done. Many projects were indeed started, but never finished. Another big corruption that never was investigated and got nowhere.

 

Strange how surapong appears from time to time, but always with a comment which lacks substance, defies logic and and lacks credibility.

 

Seems that he continues to believe (as does his master) that the public are fools and will believe anything he says.

Edited September 23, 2016 by scorecard

[timewilltell]

5 hours ago, jamesbrock said:

 

Apparently so...

 

In 2011, monsoons started in May and brought the highest levels of rainfall in Thailand in the previous 50 years. Major flooding began as Tropical Storm Nock-ten raged through 14 northern provinces, killing 7, from 31 July. Then, instead of the wet season ending as usual in October, La Niña precipitated heavier and longer downpours for the rest of the year.

 

It was 3 August when Drainage and Sewerage Department Director Sanya Shenimitra said that overall, there is nothing to be worried about as the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is capable of handling the flood situation, and expressed confidence that Bangkok would not be severely affected by the swelling river flow.

 

Yingluck took office on 5 August 2011

 

Sure, her response was bumbling and mostly incompetent, but to blame her for the floods—indeed to blame any government for the floods—is idiotic.

 

The blame for the floods covers governments of all persuasions over decades for mismanagement and head in the sand ignorance as is the trait of governments generally but especially in Thailand where ignorance abounds.  It is the handling of the flooding and how the funds to tackle it which is the focus of attention on the Yingluck government - involving gross incompetence, corruption undoubtedly and self serving decisions.  There is nothing in that but then I do have sympathy for Yingluck surrounded by the idiotic mob she had in her 'team'.

[mike324]

20 hours ago, rkidlad said:

Everyone in Thailand is to blame for the floods. Sure, there was a lot of rainfall so floods can always happen. but if people had done their jobs properly and people weren't so apathetic to bone idleness and corruption, it wouldn't have been nearly as bad.

 

 

 

 

 

that I agree too,  deforestation is also one of the main problems people overlook, there was a chart showing how much forest areas and trees Thailand has lost due to development and farming. 

[Eric Loh]

52 minutes ago, mike324 said:

 

that I agree too,  deforestation is also one of the main problems people overlook, there was a chart showing how much forest areas and trees Thailand has lost due to development and farming. 

 

Deforestation was the reason given to the big 1983 flood whereby 42 provinces were affected. Following that, new bills and laws were written to reduce deforestation but was never really properly implemented and enforced. 3 major floods followed in 1995, early 2011 in southern provinces and late 2011. We can expect more major floods in the future and blame games are simply not helping. 

[BlindMagician]

20 hours ago, jamesbrock said:

 

• Rainfall in March 2011 over northern Thailand was 344% above the mean. 
• Bhumibol Dam in particular received 242.8 mm of rain, well above the normal 25.2 mm.
• Since 1 January the dam had accumulated 245.9 mm, 216.0 mm or 186% above normal.
• The monsoons that started in May and brought the highest levels of rainfall in Thailand in the previous 50 years.
• Major flooding began as Tropical Storm Nock-ten raged through 14 northern provinces, killing 7, from 31 July. 
• It was 3 August when Drainage and Sewerage Department Director Sanya Shenimitra said that overall, there is nothing to be worried about as the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is capable of handling the flood situation, and expressed confidence that Bangkok would not be severely affected by the swelling river flow.
• Yingluck took office on 5 August.

 

Pretty certain the emptying-the-dams horse had bolted well before YL was in charge.

 

The mismanagement  of funds is certainly another issue, and one which she should be investigated for.

It's not another issue, it's THE issue.

[billd766]

18 hours ago, timewilltell said:

 

The blame for the floods covers governments of all persuasions over decades for mismanagement and head in the sand ignorance as is the trait of governments generally but especially in Thailand where ignorance abounds.  It is the handling of the flooding and how the funds to tackle it which is the focus of attention on the Yingluck government - involving gross incompetence, corruption undoubtedly and self serving decisions.  There is nothing in that but then I do have sympathy for Yingluck surrounded by the idiotic mob she had in her 'team'.

 

IIRC Yingluck said that she alone had personally selected all the ministers in her cabinet and that they were the best of the best.

 

BTW the Minister who was responsible for ordering the water to be retain for as long as possible not only kept his job but the following year he made up for his "minor error of judgement". He ignored all advice and ordered the dams to be drained down to below the safe working levels to cope with the heavy rains that should have come but didn't.

 

This ensured that the dams were safe and no flooding would occur. He was correct in that no flooding really occurred but he also managed to ensure that there was not enough water for the dry season for the next 3 years or so.

[Baerboxer]

20 hours ago, mike324 said:

 

 

The day Abhisit dissolved parliament. Water level was still below minimum water level retention.  Water level rose in June due to the typhoon Hainan.

 

On top of that, water was not release faster because several provinces were flooded in June, they did not want to cause even heavier flooding. So the flooding problem also multiply later on due to this decision. Seems like nobody was in charge other than Irrigation Department, so they should be blamed for not raising the issue early on or releasing the water once they saw how fast the water is accumulating.

 

Yinglucks party took office on August 5, dam water levels were only at around 70%, still at a safe level. But they release the water late so farmers can bring in extra crop, there was even a memo on releasing less water. Heck even the Agriculture Minister admitted that they release the water late. Another poor judgement.

 

Fault lies mostly on Irrigation Department and Yingluck.

 

As for the Water Prevention Plan, hundreds of billions was squandered and barely anything was done. Many projects were indeed started, but never finished. Another big corruption that never was investigated and got nowhere.

 

Thank you Mike for this factual clarification.

[robblok]

20 hours ago, mike324 said:

 

 

The day Abhisit dissolved parliament. Water level was still below minimum water level retention.  Water level rose in June due to the typhoon Hainan.

 

On top of that, water was not release faster because several provinces were flooded in June, they did not want to cause even heavier flooding. So the flooding problem also multiply later on due to this decision. Seems like nobody was in charge other than Irrigation Department, so they should be blamed for not raising the issue early on or releasing the water once they saw how fast the water is accumulating.

 

Yinglucks party took office on August 5, dam water levels were only at around 70%, still at a safe level. But they release the water late so farmers can bring in extra crop, there was even a memo on releasing less water. Heck even the Agriculture Minister admitted that they release the water late. Another poor judgement.

 

Fault lies mostly on Irrigation Department and Yingluck.

 

As for the Water Prevention Plan, hundreds of billions was squandered and barely anything was done. Many projects were indeed started, but never finished. Another big corruption that never was investigated and got nowhere.

Great post.. to add.. I feel YL is responsible for all the extra damages by NOT giving out the information she had from satellites and planes. Showing a large mass of water going towards BKK. We were told (bit above BKK) that we were safe and there would be no flooding. However YL and her cronies could have seen the water coming on satellites and planes that scouted the area. However admitting there was a problem and she was responsible for it by letting the water out late would have been a problem. 

 

By her silence many here where I live lost a lot of money, had they gotten good information the problems would have been a lot less. 

[chainarong]

The cousin of DPM Pawtwit , or you'd think they were cousins,  they are both dumb enough, this is  five years in the making , just goes to show reconciliation is working...........................................

[scorecard]

@timewill tell...

 

"..... but then I do have sympathy for Yingluck surrounded by the idiotic mob she had in her 'team'. "

 

She took the job knowing well that big brother would select 'her 'team'.

 

No further comment needed. 

 

And yes her 'team' were very incompetent, also lacking in morals, the hallmark of the shin owned party..

[josephbloggs]

The problem was due to not having enough boat propellors.