The heavy flooding in northernmost Mae Sai district in Chiang Rai province is not just another serious flood -- it is a warning sign that our country lacks an adequate flood warning and monitoring system.
For three days, hundreds of flood victims in Mae Sai district have been stranded on their roofs, as evacuation boats were thwarted by a strong deluge. Now professional jet-ski athletes are helping to rescue senior citizens and only military forces can access the area delivering food and flood relief items.
It is not that highland communities are new to floods. There have already been seven in the past three months -- not to mention the epic floods witnessed two years ago. It is not a budget issue, either. The province ranks 6th nationally in terms of its flood and water management budget.
The current level of inundation is simply unprecedented. Rather than being victimised by storms, Mae Sai community has been hit the hardest by massive run-off from the highlands in Myanmar that has flown into rivers.
In the past, forests help absorbed the mountain floods from the neighbouring country. But now the flow of water is too strong after mountains were cleared of much forest land to cultivate maize to support the animal feed industry.
During the dry season, this mass plantation also generates high levels of PM2.5 pollution. The new land use is not limited to Myanmar, either. Recently, communities in Nan and Chiang Mai have also suffered from landslides and flooding.
Surrounded by mountains and small rivers, it is a surprise that Mae Sai district does not have telemeters to measure water levels in strategic rivers. Neither has it collaborated with the local administration in Tachilek of nearby Myanmar. As mountain forests have been cleared for mass plantation, or even to build hotels and temples, the question arises of whether our government has a monitoring system to alert communities about landslides and run-off.
The case of a fatal landslide on Nak Koet hilltop in Phuket last month served as a reminder that communities living at the foot of hills face serious risks. The local government had a landslide detector in place but the equipment had been broken for two years because the local administration lacked a sufficient maintenance budget.
The problem is national and local governments prefer to invest most of their flood management budget into building large infrastructure like dams and the associated maintenance costs. Less than 2% of the annual flood budget goes to planning, data analysis and administration.
The government must install equipment to measure water in small but strategic rivers and equipment to monitor and warn people in the vicinity about potential landslides.
Instead of waiting for the government to help, at-risk communities and local administrations in Mae Sai and elsewhere must receive the resources and training to prepare their evacuation, such as building evacuation centres. Above all, the government must revise its policy and laws to protect mountain forests and flood-absorbing land.
That means Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra must think outside the box. Attention is now focused on how she will react to the floods in Chiang Rai. Hopefully her vision extends beyond building mega water projects and doling out compensation.