Resident protests come as no surprise
There is no doubt, writes Bangkok Post in her editorial, that the big bag barrier has slowed water flow into Bangkok. But it has also exacerbated the situation north of the rampart.
The protests of the residents of Lam Luk Ka therefore come as no surprise. For more than a month they face an enormous amount of dirty water without much help. After seeing that the residents of Don Muang had won the battle to turn part of the flood wall into an overflow, they also took action.
The initial response of the Flood Relief Operations Command (Froc) was identical to that of the Don Muang action. Giving in to their demand would make the situation in Bangkok worse. But despite the overflow, the water level on Vibhavadi-Rangsit Road and other streets has dropped as the supply of water has decreased and water pumps along canals have drained the water.
The Froc no longer has any authority for the inhabitants of Lam Luk Ka. Much of the anger and resentment of residents of flooded neighborhoods stems from inefficient top-down aid, lack of communication and lack of compensation for the areas that have been sacrificed, the paper notes.
'Our house and businesses have been ruined', says a resident of Lam Luk Ka. 'If the government wants to keep our areas under water, then it should meet with us to discuss how we are going to be compensated, and when this situation will end.'
Billions of damages are booked for don Muang airport. The local residents, who have been in increasingly dirty water for more than six weeks due to the government's choices, are thought to receive five thousand baht per house, and then only after a very tough bureaucratic fight.
I expect more residents and legal actions to come
Caro