The city of Bangkok can rest assured, for now at least, that it will escape the devastating floods, despite a panicky false alarm by the science minister, and a dedicated environmental campaigner jailed for a minor offence 10 years ago.
The Chao Phraya river on Oct 12, 2011 breaches its banks and sweeps into riverside communities and Bang Chak temple in Nonthaburi’s Pak Kret district where a large sitting Buddha statue is a famous landmark. (Photo REUTERS)The assurances will, to a certain extent, ease the worry of many Bangkokians, who are uncertain what they should do – whether to prepare for the worst and stock up on food, water and other necessities, move their valuables to higher ground, or just do nothing and wait for a red alert from the government.
Peak tides are predicted from today through to Monday and will hamper efforts to speed up the flow of water into the Gulf and push up the water level in the Chao Phraya river, which was yesterday measured at 2.3 metres from the foot of the 2.5-metre-high floodwalls.
But while Bangkokians are to be spared the wrath of the country’s worst flood in memory, for now at least, their fellow countrymen to the immediate west and east of the capital - such as Chachoengsao, Suphan Buri, Samut Sakhon and Samut Prakan - are made to bear the brunt of the flooding. The government’s new plan is to divert the huge mass of water overflowing from the Chao Phraya river to the Tha Chin and Bang Pakong rivers, which is supposed to speed up the flow of water out into the Gulf of Thailand.
The reduction of the volume of excess water released from the Bhumibol dam in Tak province and the Sirikit dam in Uttradit province has also eased the pressure on the Chao Phraya river. This was made possible in conjunction with the reduction of the flow of water into the dams as a result of decreased rainfall in areas upstream.
Nevertheless, many people in Bangkok’s Sai Mai district and Pathum Thani’s Klong Luang, Lam Look Ka, northern Rangsit and Thammasat University’s Rangsit campus were given a big shock when they were urged to evacuate immediately by Science and Technology Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi on Thursday night.
"Rush to Don Mueang (airport) immediately. The government cannot tell how many hours are left," Mr Plodprasop told them, through the media.
Mr Plodprasop was left with a big red face soon afterward, as it turned out that his alert was a false alarm. The minister appeared to have wrongly believed that the sluice gate at Klong Ban Phrao in Pathum Thani’s Sam Khoke district had completely collapsed and efforts to fix it had failed. The truth was that attempts to fix the damaged sluice gate were continuing and repair teams managed to complete most of the work.
The false alarm prompted Deputy Prime Minister Pracha Promnok, who heads the flood relief operations centre at Don Mueang, to quickly make an announcement urging residents to remain calm and that there was no need to evacuate.
In Ayutthaya province, attempts to save the Hi-Tech industrial estate failed yesterday after the strong river current broke through the flood barriers. About 400 soldiers were deployed to try to salvage the industrial estate.
With the water mass now diverted to the eastern and western corners of Bangkok, industrial estates in Samut Prakan are now at risk of flooding, besides residential areas in the province, Chachoengsao, Samut Sakhon and Suphan Buri.
Jintana KaewkhaoFor a non-flood story, Tuesday’s verdict by the Supreme Court upholding the conviction of a celebrated environmental activist, Ms Jintana Kaewkhao, is a subject of much interest among environment-conscious people and human rights advocacy groups.
On Jan 13, 2001, Ms Jintana, who lives in Ban Krut, and her group went to a Chinese banquet hosted by the Union Power Development Company, developer of the since-cancelled coal-fired power plant in Bang Saphan district of Prachuap Khiri Khan, to submit a letter opposing the construction of a 1,400-megawatt power plant.
Their visit caused a fracas and she was later accused of trespassing and splashing wastewater on the dining tables.
Ms Jintana was jailed for four months by the Supreme Court, which upheld her conviction for trespassing on the party. The court reduced the sentence from six months.
The court of first instance acquitted the environmentalist in 2005 citing weak evidence. However, the Appeals Court found her guilty of trespassing and sentenced her to six months imprisonment.
Ms Jintana was instrumental in the protest against the power plant project which was scrapped by the government in 2004. But before the project was shelved for good, another protest leader, Charoen Wat-aksorn, was murdered in June 2004.
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Ref: Bangkok Post
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