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Home » News from Thailand » Experts warn: Flooding in Thailand will not stop
Experts warn: Flooding in Thailand will not stop
Experts warn that Thailand will never get rid of flooding unless real work is done on water retention areas, higher dikes and more underground drainage systems, which must be built in the major cities. The Council of Engineers Thailand and the Engineering Institute of Thailand presented some solutions yesterday.
The recent floods in Ubon Ratchathani still show how vulnerable Thailand is to flooding. As an example of how things should be done, the experts cite the Netherlands, which protects low-lying areas with dams and dykes.
During a forum on flood prevention, the experts also expressed concerns about the lack of warning systems. In the case of Ubon Ratchathani, authorities already had data from tropical storms Podul and Kajiki. Unfortunately, there was no timely warning, no cooperation and no preventive measures taken, as a result of which the damage has become much higher than it should have been.
Source: Bangkok Post
Here we go again. You can warn, advise etc what you want, but nothing will be done with it. Precautionary actions? This must be done in the period outside the rainy season. Then there are no floods and so nothing needs to be done. However?
And during the rainy season, dredging and removing plants from rivers a little for the good images on TV. Then everyone (??) is satisfied again. I predict: a systematic approach and cooperation from north to south, that's just not going to happen.
Because, those who have to take the lead for this do not suffer from flooding and those who suffer from it (every year) cannot develop initiatives.
Years ago, when Bangkok was seriously affected by flooding, Dutch experts offered to tackle the problem together. This was rejected by the Thais...they would solve it themselves. In the meantime nothing has been resolved, but hey, what do you want? The only expertise in such heavy government contracts rests with the “experts in corruption” and with them the problem will never be solved.
Trees!
We must plant forests.
Lots of woods.
Rama X was right.
Rama IX anyway, I think.
And a few years ago, after very serious flooding, the Dutch engineers who even helped with pumps were sent home. Thailand didn't need them, and the Dutch didn't understand "thainess".
This is called ostrich politics with us, because eventually it will dry again, the politicians there think, and ignore the misery for the ordinary population.
When Thailand still had a forest cover of 1950% (say 70) (now 25%), there were also frequent floods.
It has everything to do with the monsoon climate, where in some years as much rainwater falls in a few days as in the Netherlands in a few months on land that is already soaked in August. There is little that can be done about this, say Dutch water experts. Improvements are possible here and there, but a complete solution is not possible.
'Learn to live with it, don't fight it,' said Dutch water experts in 2011. Better and faster warnings and assistance are needed.
In the Netherlands, the danger comes from outside. That is easier to counteract than too much water from the inside.
More and higher dykes and water collection areas will only help to a very limited extent.
What you are saying now, dear Tino, is absolutely not true. There is indeed something and a lot to do about all that flooding due to abundant rains and consequent flooding. But then you have to want it. Your reaction makes it seem like it's fighting a beer quarry, which you better not start. “Learn to live with it,” you say. How so? The Thai have been doing that for centuries and centuries. They are familiar with living with water abundance. “Don't fight it”, NL water experts are said to have said. I doubt it. Engineers from NL agencies such as Arcadis and Deltares were studying in BKK until 2014, but were sent away by the coup plotters of that time and not recalled.
The same agencies and others are working in Manila, Mumbai, Dhaka, Jakarta, and Shenyang China, for example. Take care of drainage and drainage systems, design of industrial areas, new construction complexes, etc.
It is not always about building dikes or that some areas have to be flooded, it is about policy: and policy is a word that does not occur in Thai.
Here is an interview with water expert Adri Verwey who was involved in the floods in 2011.
http://edepot.wur.nl/431613
Quote:
'Investments in flood defenses and water drainage were limited
also in Thailand the risk of flooding, and will
do more in the future, but may be difficult
prevent a truly unforeseen event. Can you
are you prepared for that?'
'limit' and 'unforeseen'. are the keywords.
Yes, you may be able to prevent flooding or limit the consequences in limited places (cities, industrial areas), but hardly with floods such as in 2011 and this year. Indeed, in certain places in certain situations there is something to sometimes a lot to do. In 2011, for example, it was with great difficulty that the inner city of Bangkok was prevented from flooding, but this resulted in more flooding in the suburbs, to the anger of the residents there. The water has to go somewhere then.
I am not advocating desperate, apathetic waiting. Quite a lot has already been done and more can be done locally. But don't expect miracles. No matter what you do, major floods will occur every few years and you never know where. Ensure there is a good warning system and quick assistance.
Let all the experts here tell me where all that water in the Isaan has to go when the water level in the Mekong, Chi and Mun rivers is very high?
Tino, what someone says in 2011 can of course be completely outdated with today's knowledge.
Collaboration is key in these situations.
Then Thailand would even be able to put together a great national football team.
Until then you have to make do with the paved road that changes to a dirt road in the next tambon.
In 2011 I introduced some acquaintances, water management experts (from the Netherlands with a Delft background), as guest speakers at a university in Bangkok. Because the Thai dean was known to politicians at the time, these gentlemen were invited to tell their story to a parliamentary committee. I still have the powerpoint and just checked it out.
In simple terms (I am not a water management expert) it comes down to the fact that the water problems (too wet but too dry in other places) require a total vision. The problem of flooding is not only due to the high rainfall (although more has fallen in recent years) but also to the poor drainage of water to the sea (blockages due to the construction of new roads without culverts, overdue maintenance of locks, waterways such as dredging sludge and silting up canals with plants) and the dam of the water from the Gulf of Thailand to the land. A kind of Delta Plan is needed, including a dam in the gulf (following the example of the Afsluitdijk) to absorb the impediment.
Verily a long-term political and financial obligation of the government with probably a lot of foreign aid because Thailand does not have the necessary expertise in-house. And then you know exactly why after a lot of talking back and forth after 2011, and a new government with new clans, nothing came of the story.
So policy must first be developed. That must then be executed. That takes years and years of planning and collaboration. And that is indeed something that the Thais or Thai government have not eaten cheese from. Short term is difficult enough.
Now it is still rainy season, but not in 2 months (or sooner). And then there will be no more flooding problem. So to come up with an action plan and start it, that's a bit crazy. However? Yes, but next year there will be another rainy season. “Who lives then, who cares” is the hot motto and will remain so for decades to come.