Water Management in Thailand, Part 1: History

In early February, this blog featured the story “The Netherlands is helping Thailand with a plan against flooding”, in which it was said that the Netherlands has been asked by the Thai government to help with a solution to the problems of water management.

Thailand sees the Netherlands as the world's leading expert in the field of dams, dykes and measures against flooding. A team of Dutch technicians and Thai officials would conduct joint research in the provinces along the coast of the Gulf of Thailand.

I worked in the pump industry for quite a few years, where I was responsible for export to Thailand, among other things. Partly because of this and the fact that I now live in Thailand myself, I am interested in the subject and have therefore started digging for more information about that recent study.

The Dutch participation in the mission was organized by the Netherlands Water Platform (NWP), a public-private network organization that acts as an independent coordination and information point for the Dutch water sector. The aim is to contribute to solutions for international water problems and to strengthen the Dutch position in the international water market. Many leading Dutch organizations with international and social ambitions in the field of water are participants in the NWP: governments, knowledge institutes, the business community and civil society organisations. They reinforce each other by coordinating actions and operating in strong alliances. This significantly improves the competitive position abroad.

From this organization I have received extensive information about Thailand, which I will publish in 3 parts on this blog. Part 1 will be about the history of Dutch-Thai cooperation in this area. Part 2. is a summary of a market survey from 2008, which – like part 1 – was made under the title “The Thai Water Sector” by Alex van der Wal of the Dutch Embassy in Bangkok. Finally, part 3. is a concise English translation of the recent mission report. This mission report was discussed in a wider circle in The Hague earlier this month and if there is reason to do so, it will be reported on this blog.

Part 1: The history

In both Thailand and the Netherlands, a large part of the population lives in deltas of large rivers. The Dutch were traditionally known as experts in water management by building dikes, constructing polders and water drainage systems. This has not gone unnoticed in Thailand and it caught the attention of the Siamese king at the end of the 19th century.

The Dutch-Thai cooperation in this field already started in 1897 when King Chulalongkorn made his first travel made to Europe, also visiting the Netherlands. The result of this trip was that the King had decided that irrigation projects in Siam should be led by the Dutch. He declined suggestions to employ British engineers with experience in Egypt and India. During his visit to Java in 1896, the King had already become acquainted with irrigation works by Dutch engineers, which may have been decisive for the decision to entrust the Siamese irrigation projects to the Dutch.

In 1902, the engineer Homan van der Heide arrived in Bangkok and was presented to the Thai Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Chaophraya Thevet. Van der Heide began researching the geography and climate of Siam and also published an important paper on Thai economic history in 1906. As soon as he got a boat, he started his research into water management and hydrology of the central plain of Siam. In 1903 Van der Heide presented his report “Irrigation and drainage in the lower Menam Valley”. This report involved a gigantic investment over a 12-year period that would ensure sufficient control over the central plain's water to prevent rice crop failure. It would even be possible to harvest twice a year and cultivate some areas for the first time. While his plan was being considered, the Royal Irregation Department was set up with Mr Van der Heide as its head. Since then he has initiated several projects, most of which are still in use today. Unfortunately, the relationship between Van der Heide and the Minister of Agriculture was not optimal and Van der Heide was eventually asked to leave Thailand.

That was not the end of Dutch-Thai cooperation in the field of water. A more recent Flood Control Plan from 1995, drawn up by Nedeco and Royal Haskoning. Haskoning has been appointed by the Provincial Waterworks Authority to create a “Master Plan” for water management in Phuket. Many Thai students have followed water-related studies in the Netherlands at organizations such as the Delft Hydrolysis Institute.

But a number of Dutch multinationals have also shown water-related initiatives in Thailand. For example, Foremost built the largest and most modern waste water plant in Samut Prakhan to guarantee that the waste water was discharged “cleanly” after treatment. Shell has an extensive program to keep the groundwater in good condition, which has been polluted by oil extraction in the Sirikit oil field. Heineken conducted a large-scale study into obtaining groundwater without harming the environment. Unilever started a “Cleaning the Chaopraya” program in line with their “Good Water Governance” policy.

Part 2. will follow in a few days with a situation sketch from 2008 of water management in Thailand.