A crowd of hundreds of Pathum Thani residents blocked the Din Daeng-Don Mueang tollway yesterday Nov. 23, demanding that the government speed up drainage of their flooded communities.
Groups of drivers trying to get on to the tollway negotiated with the protestors to no avail, and the two sides clashed at around 2pm before police broke things up, according to the Bangkok Post.
The protesters, led by former election candidate Kiattisak Songsaeng, blocked the entrance of the inbound tollway in front of the Zeer Rangsit department store at about noon.
At the same time in Bangkok’s Sai Mai and Don Mueang districts a crowd of nearly a thousand residents took apart a sandbag dyke on Phahonyothin Road at the Directorate of Air Operations Control intersection.
The crowd, some armed with knives, had been negotiating with the Flood Relief Operations Center to widen the drainage gap, but talks broke down and they took things into their own hands.After the dyke was breached, water rushed towards the Saphan Mai area.
The protests don’t look like they’ll stop any time soon as Arthit Ourairat, rector of Rangsit University and a former House speaker, is urging Pathum Thani residents to keep the heat on the FROC. Rangsit University is still heavily flooded.
“If the authorities do not take action I suggest that we take a step. That is to close down in-bound and out-bound Vibhavadi road and Don Muang tollway,” Dr Arthit said. “And I’m asking Don Muang people to join us. We are in the same boat.”
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra urged Bangkok residents to allow some floodwaters to flow through their neighborhoods to ease flooding north of the city.
“The flood barriers could just slow down the run-off into the city. The areas which have dried out should open the way for the water to drain into the sea,” she said. “If we look at the big picture and try to understand the nature of water, that is the best solution. Holding off water is never a solution. Some areas have to let water flow past.”
Coconuts Bangkok photos of the initial flooding and evacuation of Rangsit and Don Mueang are here andhere.
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Pathum Thani has been flooded since late October. Photo: Coconuts Bangkok
