Inner city defences hold as tides lower than expected

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Inner city defences hold as tides lower than expected

Defence of west part of Chao Phraya in jeopardy

Published: 29/10/2011 at 10:49 PM
Newspaper section: News

Defences shielding the centre of Bangkok from a combination of floodwaters from the North and high tides from the South mostly held at critical peak tides on Saturday, but many suburban city districts remained submerged.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said in her weekly radio address that the floods would be gone in a month. She urged city residents to let the floods take the course so waters would drain to the sea.

At 9am on Saturday and again just after the 6pm sunset, high tides pushed up the Chao Phyraya River, meeting the floods from the North right at Bangkok. And the intricate, makeshift system of watergates, floodgates, dams and hastily erected dykes largely held.

Some water doused streets and shops along the riverside. But the tides were short of the highs predicted by the Royal Thai Navy. No major breaches were reported.

Wat Phra Kaew, also known as the Grand Palace and located right at the river bank, remained open for tourists. Some streets around the palace flooded at high tide, and water seeped into the grounds, but no major problem occurred inside the landmark.

High tides will last until Monday, but are predicted to be even lower than Saturday's.

GIS expert Dr Anond Sanitwong of the government's Flood Relief Operations Command (Froc) predicted the floods would be gone from Bangkok "in two to three weeks".

If all BMA's flood walls continue to stand as well as on Saturday, floods will begin to recede by Tuesday (Nov. 1) and the water level in Bangkok's most flooded areas such as Bang Phlad will decline as the high tides also fall.

Adisak Kantee, deputy director of the drainage department of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration put it succinctly if optimistically: "The situation is under control."

Ms Yingluck said in her radio address that the government was trying to speed the drainage rate and water in the greater Bangkok area should recede within days.

The situation got worse in some of the Bangkok districts, particularly north of the city. The Froc had to move out of Don Mueang airport after the floods caused a power transformer to malfunction.

Earlier report: All of Thon Buri faces inundation

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Writer: Amornrat Mahitthirook & Supoj Wancharoen

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coolit
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Discussion 34 : 30/10/2011 at 12:50 AM34
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Of course, and please change the little character guy that looks like Thaksin...
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adarshp
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Discussion 33 : 29/10/2011 at 11:12 PM33
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strange but i had just been to chinatown today in the night and there is no sign of flood. Even the chaophraya river banks didnt have even a bit of water.
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brilliant
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Discussion 32 : 29/10/2011 at 10:03 PM32
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My earlier comments ere absolutely relevant to the article, but the UDD/red-shirt apologists can't stand it.
Yingluck went to a military dictatorship while the floods were going on in the NE and N of the country and heading to Bangkok and the fugitive is directing her from Dubai. Facts that are irrefutable.
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kilroy
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Discussion 31 : 29/10/2011 at 09:42 PM31
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Does anyone know if Thanon Kingkaew near the international airport is flooded or not?
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Sam

Discussion 30 : 29/10/2011 at 08:50 PM30
Wahts up bkk post you reported to us all that Thon Buri will be inundated last week and now you are saying that most Thon Buri faces inundation this week. Get your facts straight before reporting. You are journalist do you job. You can't just say that the government is giving wrong info after you have published a story or you are just as bad as the government that you are complaining about.
Please do your job as, investigate and get facts before publishing
from iPhone application.
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chalard
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Discussion 29 : 29/10/2011 at 08:09 PM29
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Disc 13 spot on.
The winners of the elections were to busy preparing themselves.
They had plenty of time to dredge / clean out all the klong / canal systems before the water arrived & gave the place a good flush out so to speak.
A shame some of these elected officials don't go & jump in some of these fast flowing waterways!!!!!
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rva
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Discussion 28 : 29/10/2011 at 05:42 PM28
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Chatuchak is closed but not flooded. Bang Kapi is fine. No water on Lat Phrao. I've been from one side to the other.
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cocoricco
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Discussion 27 : 29/10/2011 at 04:54 PM27
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So many excuses for a lame duck system who so ever is power. Comments like , don't criticize, doing their best, give encouragement, do nothing to solve the problem either. Once people realize that massive environmental degradation, no regulation, development at any cost that profits only the factory owner, and an agricultural policy that promotes unsustainable practices to cut every tree, encroach and even plant in destroyed watersheds for bio fuels or subsidized rice, speaks volumes at the lack of for sight. In the end those that make the decisions still profit in the long term, the spin doctors are spinning a good web that will turn disaster into profit in six months for every political hack in power. The regular person will be left to foot the bill, since, don't criticize,they did their best, and we gave encouragement will be the poster child.
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ursus
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Discussion 26 : 29/10/2011 at 04:31 PM26
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Of course we can not blame the government for the floods, we only could blame them how they handle this desaster. But I think it's not the right time now.
We should rather discuss the source of the flooding, the decade-long misdoing against nature such as deforestation and the lack of irrigation planning. And that's not a Thai problem, that's worldwide where moneygrubbing people live.
If we can't stop that, we will have lots of desasters again in the near future.
Everybody should think about the exploitation of our planet.
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shopwow
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Discussion 25 : 29/10/2011 at 03:09 PM25
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Welcome discussion #21, it is good to have such inputs. The problem is that the government wanted to come to power and came to power now the buck stops with them. Also, the problem with the government is that we hired a novice PM fully knowing and expecting that her brother would help and guide her. The only credentials of the present PM is that she was the CEO of a BIG family owned business - and there too the shots would have been called by her big brother. We are in trouble now.

The government seems to have sacrificed Ayuthaya and other provinces to save Bangkok because Bangkok is the heart of Thailand's economy. But may I humbly say that the importance of Bangkok as the vital economic capital of Thailand was totally forgotten when just 2 years ago, Thaksin and the rest of the PT encouraged and probably even financed a violent and rowdy red movement to cripple Bangkok and it's economy. What happened now? Why does the rest of Thailand have to suffer with 2 to 3 meters of water when Bangkok is stilll not even 1 meter full ALL across the city?
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