Former Bangkok governor and cabinet member Bhichit Rattakul said yesterday Oct. 26 that he thinks estimates of potential water levels in Bangkok are being overestimated and played down flooding risk.
“I think there will be 30-40cm of water in the west, not water up to the waist, maximum 50cm. In Sukhumvit, Silom, Pathumwan, Rama IV I don’t think there will be enough water to flood out feet, maybe 20cm at the most,” said Bhichit during a panel on the floods at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club of Thailand. Bhichit said that as recently as 1984 there was not much of a water system north of the city so flood water would flow freely through rice fields – but that now Bangkok had a massive and complex irrigation system that will protect it.
The club on the penthouse level of the Maneeya Center in Chidlom was packed for event, with journalists keen to hear the opinions of the panel about Thailand’s worse flooding in years. Also at the panel was Mana Noppan, head of flood management for the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority, who said in a worst case scenario inner Bangkok will see 20cm of flood water.
Regarding the plight of heavily flooded areas upriver like Pathum Thani and Ayutthaya, outspoken former gov Bhicchit said that Bangkok had to wait for Chao Phraya river levels in the capital to lower from record highs before it could let water drain through the city. “Then Bangkok can sacrifice. But we have to work together and fight for it like the Alamo.”
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