Charter court agrees to hear decrees case

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Charter court agrees to hear decrees case

Democrats, Kittiratt to testify on Feb 15

Published: 7/02/2012 at 02:07 AM
Newspaper section: News

The Constitution Court has agreed to analyse the constitutionality of two executive decrees issued recently by the Yingluck Shinawatra administration as requested by an opposition MP and a senator.

Yingluck: Can’t make court date

Deputy Democrat leader Korn Chatikavanij and Senator Kamnoon Sittisamarn have asked the Constitution Court to look into the constitutionality of the two decrees _ one for the government to seek 350 billion baht in loans for water management programmes and flood restoration and rehabilitation, and the other to allow the Finance Ministry to transfer 1.14 trillion baht in debt from the 1997 crisis to the Financial Institutions Development Fund (FIDF). They questioned whether the issuance of the two executive decrees was in line with Section 184 of the constitution.

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spiceman
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Discussion 23 : 11/02/2012 at 02:59 AM23
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Khun JohninBKK #22, is flood control an integral part of irrigation? Yes, or No, and why or why not? Did you know that all Durian plantations in Nonthaburi were wiped out by last year's catastrophe? I grew up in a Durian plantation and know how sensitive Durian trees are to neither too much, or too little water. And each Durian tree need to grow about 10 years or more before its fruits can be sold commercially. Therefore, those farmers were basically wiped out as it is very expensive and time consuming to start a new Durian plantation from scratch. Do you like Durian?
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johninbkk
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Discussion 22 : 10/02/2012 at 12:01 PM22
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spiceman D21 - "but that is what the dam system is for,to control flooding"
Actually, no. The dams were originally built to serve farmer irrigation needs and to produce hydroelectric power. Only later did it have a secondary purpose of preventing floods. The AG Minister you speak of held back water because farmers were complaining about their fields being destroyed by flooding. Unfortunately 2011 was a year of record rain, and the rains never stopped. But again, I only consider this one factor in the flooding and hardly the only cause.
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spiceman
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Discussion 21 : 10/02/2012 at 06:56 AM21
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Khun JohninBKK #20, there is no doubt that we had significantly more rainfall in 2011, but that is what the dam system is for,to control flooding, like what we did in 2010. However, letting loose more than 1,000 MCM in just 14 days through the dam's emergency spillways last November proved to be a recipe for disaster. Lesson? Don't mess with the emergency spillways, agree? Besides, as far as, drainage is concerned, we want as much water as possible to reach farmers' fields, and not uselessly flowing into the sea, right?
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johninbkk
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Discussion 20 : 09/02/2012 at 11:17 AM20
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spiceman D19 - Have a look at the 2011 rainfall data, too. Unfortunately drainage system mismanagement data isn't something officials will publish . . .
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spiceman
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Discussion 19 : 08/02/2012 at 07:07 PM19
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Khun JohninBKK #18, I wonder have you ever looked at the data? If you look at the graph of the amount of water stored in Bhumibol Dam in 2010 and 2011, you will see that the slope of the two graphs are nearly identical, between the months of August through October, indicating that the water was increasing at about the same rate. However, in August of 2010, there was 4,050 MCM of water in the dam to begin with, while in August of 2011, there was 8,300 MCM. The water peaked at 8,500 MCM in December of 2010, while it reached the maximum holding capacity of 13,500 in the beginning of November in 2011.

So, it seems that the dam officials were already aware of a significant rising trend of rainfall since the year before, and well-prepared for it. Last year, was a different story, with 4,050 MCM less in storage capacity, and that explains why the dam's emergency spillways were left open for 14 consecutive days in the beginning of November in order to save the dam. Hope this helps!
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johninbkk
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Discussion 18 : 08/02/2012 at 03:24 PM18
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spiceman D17 - If the dam water was "near the lower end of 'Safe Zone,'" then how do you explain the 200 flooding deaths of 2010? If you read the reports from last year, you'll see 'inadequate drainage' in the flooded areas was the #1 cited preventable cause. I'd argue that was also the cause in 2011.

"where 200 died but all industrial communities remained untouched , and a catastrophe of 2011, where more than 800 died and nearly all industrial communities devastated?"
To be fair, 2010 was a year of record drought, and 2011 was a year of record rain.
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spiceman
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Discussion 17 : 08/02/2012 at 04:26 AM17
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Khun JohninBKK #15, well, do you really want to compare the flood of 2010, where 200 died but all industrial communities remained untouched , and a catastrophe of 2011, where more than 800 died and nearly all industrial communities devastated?

If you look at the data from Bhumibol Dam, you will see that water level in 2010 was far below that of 2011 from the month of March onward. In fact, from March through August in 2010, the water level began falling to near the lower end of "Safe Zone," from June through August, as if the irrigational officials were preparing for a huge surge in rainfall in August. In 2011, the water level began climbing gradually after March, and spiking in August through October, taping off slightly in November, when the dams' emergency spillways were slammed-open for 14 consecutive days. I rest my case!
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spiceman
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Discussion 16 : 07/02/2012 at 06:33 PM16
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Khun Eric #14, if that's the case, what was the AG Minister's order to hold up water at the dams all about, instead of ordering the dams' directors to lower the water level immediately, in order to make room for it during that critical 2 full months? So, let see, the typhoons are coming, so, let hold up water? You see, it doesn't make any sense at all. Without his idiotic interference, our irrigational experts would have taken an appropriate action on their own, which they had been doing for more than 40 years. Instead, they had to open up the dam's emergency spillways for 14 consecutive days, in order to save the dams, and the rest is (catastrophic) history.
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johninbkk
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Discussion 15 : 07/02/2012 at 06:17 PM15
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What if the decrees, meant to address expected flooding in ~4 months, is determined unconstitutional? The fallout will result in higher debts and more damage from flooding, and make PTP look bad. No wonder, according to the latest ABAC poll, that only 14% of the population has any confidence in AV. Selling out his country to get a few more votes . . .

spiceman D11 - "Can anybody tell me how our Irrigational experts operated our dam system for more than 40 years without a single catastrophe until last year"
For a Thai, I'm surprised you claim there was no such thing as major flooding in Thailand until 2011. In 2010, 200 people died of flooding and Ayutthaya was under water for a month.
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Eric
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Discussion 14 : 07/02/2012 at 04:52 PM14
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Ah.. Spiceman, may I venture a guess. Last year there were 5 typhoons and most IndoChina countries were badly inundated too.
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Charter court agrees to hear decrees case | Bangkok Post: news