Thailand Science and Technology Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi boldly predicted recently that there will be no flooding in Bangkok or key industrial estates during this year’s rainy season.
“Even if the amount of northern run-off is as great as last year, there will be no floods in the capital and nearby provinces because the government is now well prepared to prevent a recurrence of the great flood [of 2011],” he said on the weekly Yingluck Government Meets the People talk show yesterday according to The Bangkok Post.
Plodprasob said that the government has prepared “monkey cheek” water retention areas and completed 60% of the dredging of canals and waterways, which will allow run-off to flow out to the sea quicker. He said that floodwalls and embankments have been raised in several areas including at Khlong Rangsit Prayoonsak Canal in Pathum Thani province, above Bangkok, and that industrial estates have also built floodwalls around their perimeters.
The minister said that the rainy season came later this year than 2011 and that water volume in Thailand’s major dams was currently 1% less than it was at the same time last year. He said that the dams can hold five to seven billion more cubic meters of rain water, so there is not cause for concern at the moment. The Meteorological Department announced the rainy season began May 5.
Despite the fact that he predicted Bangkok would remain dry, Plodprasob said that the central Chao Phraya provinces of Sing Buri, Ang Thong, Chai Nat, certain parts of Nakhon Sawan, Suphan Buri and Ayutthaya were susceptible to flooding every year.
Plodprasop was criticized for his handling of the 2011 floods, especially over an incident where he called a flood alert that turned out to be false.
