Location Bangkok: Don't look into the camera!
Last year at this time I wrote a post about the floods that Thailand annually, at the end of the rainy season ravage. This year it is all much more serious than in previous years.
Normally the provinces in the flat central part of the country are the victims, as it is the basin of many rivers, but this year also a large part of the 12 million inhabitants capital Bangkok, the cigar.
Now you, attentive reader, will no doubt wonder; when it is a water ballet every year there in those deltas, why is no structural solution sought? After February 1953 we haven't been playing with our dicks, have we? Certainly not Cees Chamuleau.
That's a very good question. The Thai have also not been playing with their cock in recent decades. Dykes have indeed been built, water barriers erected, locks installed and so on. The problem for us is that those responsible are often asleep at crucial moments.
Since the beginning of July, Thailand has experienced three tropical depressions, which were a result of cyclones that ravage the Philippines every year. The first depression brought a huge amount of rain to the north and northeast of Thailand, much of which was collected in dams. During these biblical rains, a second tropical depression had already been predicted. Instead of immediately gradually releasing the water from these reservoirs into the Ping, Nan and Pasak rivers to ensure the capacity of the reservoirs, they did nothing and waited until the dams were filled to the brim. Enter depression number three, the dams were opened, the rivers swelled and where the Pasok and the Nan meet to form the Chao Praya River that flows right through Bangkok, the situation had become unsustainable with all the current misery. Had people listened to the weather forecast two months ago, where three depressions were announced, they could have acted appropriately and we would not have been in shit now, because we are in shit.
But, dear reader, that is not what this blog is about. We can all make mistakes, can't we? This blog is about how politicians abuse emergencies for political gain. The master of all bastards is, of course, George W. Bush whose approval rate was at an all-time low BEFORE 9/11 and whose popularity skyrocketed after the attacks. For fun, check out this couple below:
This is now a textbook example of a 'photo-op' or a photo opportunity. The man on the left is the former Prime Minister of Thailand, Abhisit and the lady on the right is his successor, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. The man in the middle is the press secretary. Abhisit has a degree in political science and Yingluck has a degree in marketing from the University of Kentucky.
“Shouldn't hydraulic engineers and other experts be there around that map?” I can already hear a twelve-year-old observant bridge smurf appeal. Sure, but the photo was taken and is on all the front pages of all newspapers to give the average attentive newspaper reader the impression that we are dealing with 'executives' here, which of course is not the case. Those two politicians - nice couple, isn't it? - first consulted with civil engineers and then stood around the table with a meaningless card on the table and the photographer shouted "
“DON'T SMILE!” (click)
And then everyone can go back to sleep. The country is in firm hands…
Nice job, politician. You first set something on fire, which is not noticed, and then have yourself photographed with a firefighter helmet while extinguishing the fire with a dull grin on your face…
Dear Cor, forget those hydraulic engineers and experts. From the first part of your story, this observant bridge smurf concludes that you should have been at that card 2 months ago!
Totally agree Robert, a lot of misery at the moment for nothing, because if people had listened to Cor, nothing would have happened. How simple the world is, isn't it Cor?
Yes! Cor for president. Yes, he can.
I am also eagerly awaiting the next drought period, where we will have entire blog posts and responses from armchair experts saying 'how could people be so stupid as to release all that water so early?'.
I also believe that Cor is right and that the misery could have been prevented to a large extent. I just find the 'photo-op' part a bit searched. I simply see two drivers informing themselves about the latest state of affairs, whether they posed for this photo or not.
On to the order of the day. Please donate generously!
http://english.redcross.or.th/home
Donate generously? @ Robert. Will you write the same thing again in 6 months, and in 12, 18, 24 months? You need to take a closer look at what the Netherlands HAD to do to make the Netherlands safe against flooding and is STILL doing it. The Netherlands is safe until 2050! The Netherlands has even taken into account a water level that only occurs once in 1 years! We are even armed against that. Thailand should do….. The airport of Bangkok, already too small. It is known that construction of a new terminal is long overdue. No, they are years behind. In short: These are structural cases and donating doesn't help, because donating doesn't solve the problems!
Strange reaction. We all know that things can be done much better structurally. The people who have now lost everything just don't have much use for that.
I have another problem with donations. Far too much remains at stake in actions for Haiti and other disaster areas. Ask about the income of the director of the Red Cross in the Netherlands? And how much money is left over from the total collections after the tsunami? And what happened to those affected? Incidentally, Thailand did not want anything at the time because it could arrange the matter itself. Give generously, but directly to an affected family and not to global megalomaniac institutions.
@ robert and hans. Everyone has their own opinion. You have to get to the core and that's why those people lost everything?? Have read plenty of comments on why that is on the various blogs. What would you rather send? Send money NOW and next year AGAIN up to your knees in the water and send AGAIN or nothing the following year and people will hardly be bothered by anything in 5 years? Sounds familiar to me NOW, NOW. I prefer to look long term!
I would really like to read the comments if this happened in the Netherlands? This blog was too small, because we did not understand anything in the Netherlands and it is a shame that nothing was done about it, etc. etc.
Coincidentally (well, not so coincidentally) I wrote part of a booklet in 1995 about the flooding of the Maas. Even then everyone blamed each other, including the Belgians. Nothing human is foreign to Thais and Dutch people. Only we have another face to lose.
@Marcos - I think 'looking at the long term' is indeed the correct term. Unless, apart from looking on complacently and hoping for the best, you do something that has a structural and long-term effect. In that case, I'd love to hear from you.
Whether someone donates is a personal choice and everyone should know for themselves. But putting the label of structural contributions on doing nothing gives me a somewhat strange feeling.
I agree with you that everyone has to decide personally whether they want to donate money or not. I am just annoyed by this laxity, by not doing anything about it in the long term while people know that they live in the danger zone with the water. They now don't have enough sandbags, ask for help and have them flown in. But every time you read several things that make you cringe. Are they too proud of this? They don't understand anything at all, but they really don't ask for help or expertise. The problems just pile up instead of decreasing. They keep shouting, but they just don't act. One gap now has to be closed with the other gap because people are so behind the times that they have to come up with solutions right away. If I now respond to you and Hans' call to help a family who completely lost their belongings are. I'm going to exaggerate now, but I say: “I'll help you, we'll go to the shops now and buy everything new (500.000 BHT). People happy, me happy, everyone happy. But because the government does nothing, that same family will lose all its belongings again next year in the event of a setback. This means that I have also lost my money and people have nothing again. Sorry, but I'd rather put that money in my son's bank or pump it into the Thai economy (in my case the tourist sector). I just think that in this case there are only 2 choices: Either they really solve the problem or they just keep messing around with the same images on their retina every year? If people really want to solve it and can see that they are actually doing something about it, I will be the first to donate. If people continue to act like they are now, I won't donate a single cent, sorry. But maybe people can answer this for me: Thailand is a democracy, people can go to the polls! Does neither of the two parties have anything about tackling flooding in their election manifesto, is there no one talking about this in the media? People can still vote for that if they find this theme important, or am I seeing that wrong? Does the average Thai know anything about the election manifesto or do people consider soap operas more important than the news about what the parties are planning on infrastructure, health care, cuts, etc. etc.?
I completely agree with you Marcos. I stopped giving money to these types of institutions 30 years ago. Direct help to the people themselves also gives more satisfaction because you also see the results. Sometimes you can organize the help in such a way that it also benefits people economically. Often nothing structural is done by these types of governments. Too often people bury their heads in the sand (in this case in the mud) and simply continue with what they were doing.
Hellup! For some reason I can't reply to my own post. When I get to the page where that post appears, the reader counter is at 45. No comments. How kenda? I am a cyber virgin, calling in a water world
I have to type in my name and e-mail address every time on the page where my message is. This is not the case on other pages. Could the Thai Ministry of Information and Technology be behind this? Or shall I just follow the advice of every cyber virgin. “Toss your laptop out of the window and hope for the best.”
@color
i hope it can swim.
I don't really care if I have to enter my data again.
I have always been good to the Thai who worked for me and often to the poor
people in my environment. But treats every year for an annual visa like a piece of dirt
while all the data you bring is correct.
We came to Thailand for a good life. We bring money.
We do not live from society. I would like to contribute a large part to everything
what that country must endure in calamity, But first a great clean-up itself
make among all the figures who have fallen short of everything they have lately
done. I like this country. I hope it will be okay again.
Cor van Kampen.
I suppose this will be welcome news,
Korat has no problems with water nuisance,
Talked to some of my acquaintances living there,
and assured me that it is normal there.
good news is now very welcome.
Gr. yo.
Floods are reported on the news in Korat. In some places, houses and roads have also been flooded. May not be as serious as elsewhere.
What I am very curious about now is the opinion of the wives/girlfriends of all the bloggers. What do they think? What do they say about the current situation? Is it the fault of the government, of the Thais or do they not care? Should hubby give money? If so, to the Red Cross or to their family?
My wife thinks the disaster is terrible, of course, but says, I also have to work hard for the education of my children. If necessary, we help her family.
(I say “we” because I don't decide that alone). And if a solution has to be found, the Thai themselves must first come up with something structural, or our government will have to contribute.
I must admit that her family in a remote corner of the Isaan still has fairly dry feet. At least yesterday.
Sorry, but I do love such a cool statement!!! Nice man,5555
I think this is a very cheap answer. Because things aren't going well elsewhere, it doesn't have to be with her either?? What will your wife say if every time her house is flooded because you didn't fix the drain or the water pipe????
You're not answering my question! And you can't talk about "the Thai" as if every Thai is doing the same as your wife. I know some who don't react like your wife. I have learned to think before acting. And never look at the other.
@ Ger, I talk about it daily with my girlfriend. She always says: “We must accept”. Incomprehensible and unacceptable to me. Thais look at things differently than we do.
I speak to a lot of Thai people here. For many it is unacceptable what is happening. Thailand has a population of approximately 68 million. They will all not have the same opinion as your wife's and John's.
What I sometimes read here on the blog is not the Thailand I know. Apparently I meet other people here. If you only live among the Thai population, it is apparently different.
@ Ger, my girlfriend has never experienced a flood. So for her it's 'far from my bed'. That will have something to do with it.
Still, it is a pity that a simple request to donate – with all due respect to those who do not see the point – results in an endless discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of this. That is only possible on a Dutch blog! Sorry for the unfortunate pun.
But @Robert how does your wife feel about all this?