Bangkok opens watergates Skip to main content

Bangkok opens watergates

The Nation October 21, 2011 7:00 am
Bangkok opens watergates

Military vows allout efforts to rescue stranded flood victims



Runoff water from the upper part of the country has finally proved "too huge" for the government to keep out of Bangkok.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday told the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) to use the capital's canals to direct runoff water out to the sea.

"We have asked the BMA to open all watergates along the capital's waterways. Then, we should be able to push between 8 million to 10 million more of cubic metres of water into the sea per day," she said.

Although, Yingluck tried to assure city residents that Bangkok's canals would not overflow, she fell short of clearly explaining how the government would control the water level and volume.

The PM held a meeting with Royal Irrigation Department directorgeneral Chalit Damrongsak and Bhichit Rattakul, a former Bangkok governor, to discuss the plan yesterday afternoon.

"We are trying to find out how to push as much water as possible into the eastern part of Bangkok. There, we have already dredged seven canals to facilitate the water flow into the sea," the prime minister said.

She then just added that ridges and embankments would also be used to prevent the overflow and to divert the water into Bangkok's eastern part.

"This is the fastest way to push the water out into the sea," Yingluck said.

She told Bangkok residents in Sai Mai, Bang Khen, Klong Sam Wa, Nong Chok, Min Buri, Lat Krabang and Khannayow districts to move their belongings to spots at least one metre above the ground.

She said the water from Bangkok's canals would not overflow onto the roads. "But if it does overflow, we will use pumps," she said.

Asked whether Bangkok could be considered safe from floods, Yingluck said, "It's a surveillance area. It's not a risky area".

The military has pledged allout efforts to evacuate stranded residents in heavily flooded Bang Bua Thong district in Nonthaburi, the government Flood Relief Operations Centre announced.

Anyone calling for help can signal to barges passing their homes with flashlights or lighted candles, or call 1131, said military officials, present for the first time in uniform during a FROC press conference.

Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra said the BMA could release 1,600 cubic metres of water per second into the sea.

"We will do our best to assist the central government but we will take into account impacts on local people, too," he said.

China Premier Wen Jiabao insisted yesterday to send a total of 170 heavy pumps to help Thailand fight the floods crisis.

He offered the assistance to Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt na Ranong during his threeday trip to China until this weekend.

Wen said the first lot of 150 pumps with a capacity of 78 tonnes per hour each will arrive by tomorrow afternoon and the remainder, with greater capacity of 200 tonnes, will be delivered later.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Chronology of the Press in Burma

1836 – 1846 * During this period the first English-language newspaper was launched under British-ruled Tenasserim, southern  Burma . The first ethnic Karen-language and Burmese-language newspapers also appear in this period.     March 3, 1836 —The first English-language newspaper,  The Maulmain Chronicle , appears in the city of Moulmein in British-ruled Tenasserim. The paper, first published by a British official named E.A. Blundell, continued up until the 1950s. September 1842 —Tavoy’s  Hsa-tu-gaw  (the  Morning Star ), a monthly publication in the Karen-language of  Sgaw ,  is established by the Baptist mission. It is the first ethnic language newspaper. Circulation reached about three hundred until its publication ceased in 1849. January 1843 —The Baptist mission publishes a monthly newspaper, the Christian  Dhamma  Thadinsa  (the  Religious Herald ), in Moulmein. Supposedly the first Burmese-language newspaper, it continued up until the first year of the second Angl

ARSA claims ambush on Myanmar security forces

Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on Sunday claimed responsibility for an ambush on Myanmar security forces that left several wounded in northern Rakhine state, the first attack in weeks in a region gutted by violence. Rakhine was plunged into turmoil last August, when a series of ARSA raids prompted a military backlash so brutal the UN says it likely amounts to ethnic cleansing of the Muslim Rohingya minority. The army campaign sent some 650,000 Rohingya fleeing for Bangladesh, where refugees have given harrowing accounts of rape, murder and arson at the hands of security forces and vigilantes. Myanmar's military, which tightly controls information about Rakhine, denies any abuses and insists the crackdown was a proportionate response to crush the "terrorist" threat. ARSA have launched few attacks in recent months.  But the army reported that "about ten" Rohingya terrorists ambushed a car with hand-made mines and gunfire on Friday morning

Thai penis whitening trend raises eyebrows

Image copyright LELUXHOSPITAL Image caption Authorities warn the procedure could be quite painful A supposed trend of penis whitening has captivated Thailand in recent days and left it asking if the country's beauty industry is taking things too far. Skin whitening is nothing new in many Asian countries, where darker skin is often associated with outdoor labour, therefore, being poorer. But even so, when a clip of a clinic's latest intriguing procedure was posted online, it quickly went viral. Thailand's health ministry has since issued a warning over the procedure. The BBC Thai service spoke to one patient who had undergone the treatment, who told them: "I wanted to feel more confident in my swimming briefs". The 30-year-old said his first session of several was two months ago, and he had since seen a definite change in the shade. 'What for?' The original Facebook post from the clinic offering the treatment, which uses lasers to break do