Prime Minister Yingluck takes over – flood news

Better late than never, shall we say. Prime Minister Yingluck has enacted the Disaster Prevention Act, giving her full authority over all services.

She immediately took advantage of it to order the reluctant Bangkok municipality to open all dams wide. So far, Bangkok has done so only sparingly despite government insistence. By opening the weirs completely, the water from the North is spread over numerous channels, so that flooding would be limited to flooded roads at most.

Point by point the other flood news:

• Water rose in Khlong 2 in Rangsit despite further opening of weirs.
• The rising water broke through a dike near the Phahon Yothin road in Pathum Thani and flooded streets.
• Water from the Khlong Prapa flooded parts of Bangkok's Don Muang and Laksi districts. More than 1400 residents of Don Muang have been evacuated to two shelters.
• Prime Minister Yingluck has set up a committee of former heads of the Royal Irrigation Department and experts in water management and geoinformatics. Their task is to advise the government command center on measures to be taken. [Isn't that a little late, Madam Prime Minister?]
• The army has been ordered to protect key sites such as the Grand Palace, other palaces, Siriraj hospital (where the king is being treated), flood walls, utility units, Government House, parliament, power stations and Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports.
• The second semester of the school year starts in 12 flooded provinces not next Tuesday but on November 7. In seven districts in eastern Bangkok, 102 schools will remain closed until further notice. Schools in Sai Mai district may also be closed.
• Suvarnabhumi is providing more free parking. With 10.000 cars, the parking garages are now full, but the airport is also considering allowing parking on the road shoulders. Exhibition complex Impact Arena Muang Thong Thani offers 10.000 parking spaces. Motorists can leave their car there until Friday. A copy of proof of identity or vehicle registration must be submitted.
• Honda donates 100 million baht through the Red Cross for help to victims. The factory halted production when the Rojana (Ayutthaya) industrial estate was flooded.
• Today a second shipment of relief supplies from China arrives: 35 fiberglass boats, 130 rubber boats, 26.000 sandbags, 120 water purifiers and 5.000 solar cell flashlights.
• Kasetsart University has opened an emergency shelter for 500 people in its auditorium on the Bang Khen campus.
• McDonald's is offering free WiFi at all 134 locations in Bangkok starting today. Internet provider Kirz Co has space for 140 users in its temporary office in Queen Kirikit National Convention Centre.
• The Royal Flora Ratchaphruek 2011 in Chiang Mai is postponed for a month. Originally, the floriade was supposed to open on November 9, which will now be December 16. The end date also shifts. The show was last held in 2006.
• Almost the entire district of Bang Bua Thong (Nonthaburi) is under water. The rescue teams are having great difficulty reaching the victims due to a shortage of motorized boats. Thousands of people are still trapped in their homes. In some places the water currents are extremely strong.
• The army sends an extra 3.000 men to Bangkok. There are already 40.000 soldiers active.
• At Don Mueang airport, three C130 transport planes are ready to evacuate patients from flooded hospitals
• Three hundred Burmese workers are imprisoned in the Rojana industrial estate (Ayutthaya). They had taken refuge in dormitories on higher floors. The immigrants fear that they will be arrested if they leave the area where they are registered. Their passport and work permit are often held by the employer. 400 workers at an auto parts factory in Pathum Thani are also afraid to leave or ask for help. Seven workers registered in Pathum Thani were recently arrested in Samut Sakhon where they had taken shelter with friends.
• Karun Hosakul, Pheu Thai MP for Bangkok, denies that he urged residents of Don Muang district on Friday night to destroy a dike so that water from the Khlong Prapa canal would not flow into their area. That claim was made by the district chief of Pak Kret. Karun threatens to report the man for a crime of office.
• The damage to the last flooded industrial estate Bangkadi (Pathum Thani) is estimated at 30 billion baht. Bangkadi is the seventh industrial estate to be flooded. It has 47 factories of electronics and electrical appliances. According to the mayor of Bangkadi, it will take a month for the water to disappear and three months for the damage to be repaired. In some places the water is 4 meters high.
• Gas use has fallen slightly from 4,2 billion cubic feet per day to 4,02, PTT Plc reports. The decline is mainly due to the closure of two power plants owned by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand. PTT has temporarily closed 80 petrol and 16 gas stations.
• The pressing of sugar cane is delayed by two to three weeks until the end of November. Rains in the main areas where sugar cane is grown make harvesting difficult. However, the shipment of sugar will not be delayed as a result, says the Thai Sugar Trading Corp.
• The Government Housing Bank is offering flood victims a six-month deferral mortgage with zero interest. For customers whose house has been destroyed, the remaining value of the house is deducted from the debt amount so that they only pay for the value of the land. For reconstruction or renovation, loans can be taken out up to a maximum of 1 million baht at an interest rate of 2 percent for 5 years.
• The floods have had little impact on broiler chicken exports, which have a target of 450.000 tons this year, the Broiler Processing Exporters Association says. Most chicken farms are located in areas that have not been flooded. Last year, 435.000 tons were exported, worth 54,9 billion baht. Domestic consumption fell by 15 percent last month.