Prayut dismisses criticism of mismanagement as Isaan reels under heavy inundation

[webfact]

Draining floodwater to take 10 days

By The Nation

 

Non Kaew district, Sakon Nakhon

 

PRAYUT DISMISSES CRITICISM OF MISMANAGEMENT AS NORTHEAST REELS UNDER HEAVY INUNDATION

 

BANGKOK: -- EVEN IN THE absence of more rain, it will take at least 10 days for floodwaters to drain from the heavily-inundated Sakon Nakhon province into the Mekong River through the neighbouring province of Nakhon Phanom.

 

Authorities estimated that the drainage would take about 11 days before the flood situation returned to normal, the National News Bureau of Thailand reported yesterday. However, that estimate was based on the condition there would not be more rain, which would result in increased floodwaters affecting the province from upriver areas, the report said.

 

Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Chatchai Sarikalya, who yesterday inspected the flood situation in Sakon Nakhon, said the Royal Irrigation Department was installing 26 water pumps in an attempt to push floodwaters into the Mekong River.

 

“The goal is to release water into the Mekong River within seven days, unless there is more rain,” he said.

 

Eighteen provinces have been flooded as a result of the recent tropical storm Sonca – 12 in the Northeast, four in the North, and one each in the Central and South regions, Chatchai said.

 

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has dismissed allegations of mismanagement and a lack of government warning of severe flooding in the Northeast.

 

Prayut said he did not want the suffering of flood victims to be politicised in an effort to discredit the government, according to spokesman Lt-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd. He said state agencies had frequently issued weather warnings but that the severe flooding stemmed from a natural disaster, not government mismanagement.

 

A government flood relief centre will be set up at Government House today to coordinate assistance, donations and rehabilitation efforts for flood victims, Prime Minister’s Office Minister Ormsin Chivapruck said yesterday.

 

He also invited members of the public to make cash donations for flood victims through a PM’s Office account with the state-run Krungthai Bank.

 

Interior Ministry permanent secretary Grisada Boonrach arrived in Nakhon Phanom on Saturday night to meet with senior local officials, including Governor Somchai Witdamrong, to prepare measures to cope with large amounts of floodwaters draining from Sakon Nakhon.

 

Nakhon Phanom’s main water sluice is capable of releasing about 25 million square metres of water per day, but 35 million square metres of floodwaters from Sakon Nakhon are passing through the province and the surplus water had submerged many areas of Nakhon Phanom yesterday.

 

More powerful water pumps were being installed in the province to help with the operation, but hundreds of Nakhon Phanom residents were struggling with floods yesterday as run-off from Sakon Nakhon deluged the province.

 

Floods had swamped some districts, submerging hundreds of houses and several thousand rai of farmland. Local officials were busy delivering assistance and arranging evacuations for affected residents. 

 

Flooding in 18 districts of Sakon Nakhon – the hardest hit of provinces affected by the recent tropical storm – has caused anxiety and serious problems for residents, according to the provincial disaster prevention and mitigation office. The floods have left several communities marooned for the past three days, with victims facing shortages of food and water. The downtown area of Muang district has been hardest hit.

 

The Royal Thai Army (RTA) planned to dispatch helicopters for flood-relief operations in the six most-affected provinces. 

 

RTA deputy spokesperson Colonel Sirichan Nga-thong said yesterday Army commander-in-chief General Chalermchai Sittisart had ordered military helicopters to support the relief and rescue operations in Sakon Nakhon, Nakhon Phanom, Mukdahan, Maha Sarakham, Buri Ram and Phetchabun. She said the move would complement ongoing operations by the RTA to help evacuate flood victims and move their belongings to higher ground.

 

Army teams have also delivered food and relief items to flooded areas. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30322274

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-07-31

[Moonmoon]

Now we know what those "submarines" were bought for....

[Dobredin Ghusputin]

[cornishcarlos]

Some might conclude that this was a government plan to prevent the hordes descending on Bangkok to support Yingluck :)

[colinneil]

Prayut dismisses criticism of mismanagement if Issan floods.

The government dont care about Issan, because it is full of Yingluck supporters.

[gummy]

10 minutes ago, colinneil said:

Prayut dismisses criticism of mismanagement if Issan floods.

The government dont care about Issan, because it is full of Yingluck supporters.

I agree and he could not destroy the strong support they have through political persecution of the Shinawatras so he is now becoming a desperate man.  Given his and his Juntas appalling disregard to human rights then he most probably is somehow directly involved in this mismanagement and the reservoir containment failure which contributed significantly to the plight of these poor people , and maybe is meant as a demonstration to say " I and my Junta supporters will just drown you if we have to".

[electric]

This time last year, we didn't have enough rain, so the Royal Rain Making Cessna's did their thing ..... and it rained. Everybody was mightily grateful to His Majesty.

 

Now there's too much rain, and everybody is saying "bloody manipulating, non caring, bastard politicians, trying to drown all of us poor serfs."   

 

 

[ib1b4]

14 minutes ago, electric said:

This time last year, we didn't have enough rain, so the Royal Rain Making Cessna's did their thing ..... and it rained. Everybody was mightily grateful to His Majesty.

 

Now there's too much rain, and everybody is saying "bloody manipulating, non caring, bastard politicians, trying to drown all of us poor serfs."   

 

 

Do you honestly believe what you just wrote?  This time last the Royal Rain Making planes were withdrawn from the north to concentrate their efforts in the south of Thailand.

[quadperfect]

The submarine is a nice effect i think.

This man will take no blame he has the 44

[electric]

12 minutes ago, ib1b4 said:

Do you honestly believe what you just wrote?  This time last the Royal Rain Making planes were withdrawn from the north to concentrate their efforts in the south of Thailand.

 

ib1b4 ...... my post #7 was meant to be a bit of witty humour at this early hour of the day.

 

 

[ib1b4]

3 minutes ago, electric said:

 

ib1b4 ...... my post #7 was meant to be a bit of witty humour at this early hour of the day.

 

 

[yellowboat]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Prayut said he did not want the suffering of flood victims to be politicised in an effort to discredit the government

It is called scrutiny and if you cannot bear it, then do not take over a country at gunpoint. 

[aboctok]

26 minutes ago, electric said:

 

ib1b4 ...... my post #7 was meant to be a bit of witty humour at this early hour of the day.

 

 

So it was; unfortunately around here, you find yourself paddling upstream in Sad-sack Creek, sometimes.

[Lunchbob]

This area is not really full of Yingluck supporters. Generally people just do their best to get by and deal with things as they come., There is probably laziness and general ignorance at the local level regarding water management, but no more than normal everywhere.

[Dave67]

What a callous man 

[metisdead]

An off topic post regarding the recent forum upgrade has been removed.  

[patyh]

You know what Thailand need? A network of reservoirs, interconnected with one another so that if one regions floods, the other won't have to contend with drought! 

 

Why do they think installing pumps and draining all the water into the river will solve the problem in the long run.. Mismanagement is the reason why Thailand fluctuates between flood season and drought season.  

[badlad]

pretty sure that whoever said it meant to say cubic meters of water not square meters or do they actually know the difference

 

[Lunchbob]

3 minutes ago, patyh said:

You know what Thailand need? A network of reservoirs, interconnected with one another so that if one regions floods, the other won't have to contend with drought! 

 

Why do they think installing pumps and draining all the water into the river will solve the problem in the long run.. Mismanagement is the reason why Thailand fluctuates between flood season and drought season.  

Politics and the current thought at the time came from academics in the eighties and nineties and they were not strong on permaculture principles that today, as you describe, are more appropriate and actually work. Now there is a huge structure of jobs and salaries and poo yai this and that supporting large, expensive dams, etc...Not easy to just rip up and start over.

[patyh]

1 minute ago, Lunchbob said:

Politics and the current thought at the time came from academics in the eighties and nineties and they were not strong on permaculture principles that today, as you describe, are more appropriate and actually work. Now there is a huge structure of jobs and salaries and poo yai this and that supporting large, expensive dams, etc...Not easy to just rip up and start over.

 

I agree.. So much for article 44. 

[Deez]

"He also invited members of the public to make cash donations for flood victims through a PM’s Office account with the state-run Krungthai Bank"  

 

All legit, of course

[connda]

I'm pretty sure that 'mismanagement' is defined as allowing the same natural disasters to happen year after year after year and not taking the steps to mitigate the problem - and instead concentrate on buying military hardware and other boondoggles.  

Edited July 31, 2017 by connda

[connda]

4 hours ago, Moonmoon said:

Now we know what those "submarines" were bought for....

 

[Khun Paul]

He follows the following principle.

Two rules,

1 I may not be right but I am never wrong.

2 If I am found to be wrong, see rule One !

 

[Eric Loh]

Simply put, it is mismanagement if the government is under their political enemies. When it happen under their watch or during Ahbisit's watch, it is the weather to be blame. Got it. 

[JGV]

I suggest that the water pumps should have been there before and that money allocated for the submarines could be relocated to people suffering as a result of the flooding

Maybe Prayut can also make a donation

Politicians with their fake concerns for the public at times of crisis

[AGareth2]

an act of God

[jobwolf]

26 Water Pumps?? Just give everybody a bucket, this will work as well and faster

[Stoker58]

Flooding of the rice plains is normal in Thailand. It has always happened. It's always going to happen. River channels simply are not big enough to drain the water fast enough. What's needed, from every Thai government, is a greater effort to manage the water and to retain it in reservoirs to enable extra crops during the dry season.

[DerekMarshall]

49 minutes ago, jobwolf said:

26 Water Pumps?? Just give everybody a bucket, this will work as well and faster

Not in Thailand mate - water will evaporate before even the thought of doing some hard work even enters most peoples minds!