Floods hit Bangkok

[reader]

Torrential rains Wednesday evening flooded many parts of Bangkok. By 10:30 p.m., water reached over the sidewalk levels on in Surawong and Silom.

From Bangkok Post

Sukhumvit Road in Samut Prakan province is flooded after a downpour on Wednesday night. (Photo: Sutthiwit Chaiyutworakan)

The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department has warned 32 provinces of possible flash flooding and runoff, as heavy rain continues to pound most parts of the country.

The department said on its website on Thursday that sudden floods and runoff were possible throughout most of the northern and northeastern regions, which were most at risk.

The Meteorological Department's Thursday forecast is for heavy rain until Sunday, including Greater Bangkok.

In the capital, rain was likely over 80% of the city until Saturday, with rain easing off from Sunday. 

Heavy overnight rain caused several areas of Bangkok to be flooded, disrupting traffic during the morning rush hours.

[PeterRS]

Let's all hope that the dreadful flooding of 2011 does not return in October. For those new to Thailand, this was a time when monsoon rains in the north over several months resulted in very full rivers flowing to the sea. This was made worse by the need to open up several dams and more than a few broken floodgates. These coincided with the annual high tide in the Gulf of Thailand when waters flowing up the Chao Phraya are higher. Sometimes this results in a small degree of flooding in the city. That year those waters coming down and up met in Bangkok and just to the north of the city with disastrous results. Parts of the city were flooded for months, including Don Mueang Airport which had to be closed for 4 months. The ground floor of one friend's house was under at least 3 feet of water for 3 months.

It was not just Bangkok which suffered that year. 65 of the coutry's 76 Provinces were declared flood disaster zones.

[macaroni21]

In one of my visits (2018 or 2019) that coincided with the wet season, I bought a pair of Crocs. I am glad I have them with me this trip. Being entirely plastic, they dry out easily. They can also be scrubbed clean if one had to walk through mud with them.

[Ruthrieston]

Such fun! I was caught in the downpour on Wednesday evening and ended up wading through knee high water in the torrential rain to reach my hotel on Soi Convent off Silom. I was nicely dressed and wearing my best leather shoes. Grump, grump grumble, moan. 

[reader]

From Thai PBS World

Expert warns Bangkok may face worse flooding September-October

In September and October, Bangkok is at risk of flooding which may be worse than that experienced this week, especially Wednesday night, warned Assoc. Prof. Dr. Seree Supratid, a water expert and director of the Climate Change and Disaster Centre at Rangsit University.

Dr. Seree said that the flooding in Bangkok on Wednesday and Thursday was caused by an unusual amount of rainfall, measured at 160mm in some areas, which is equivalent to the maximum amount in a 10-year cycle, compared to 60mm in a 2-year cycle.

He explained that the 160mm of rainfall for a 10-year cycle was the average rainfall calculated from the amount of rain which fell in the past 50 years and 260mm for a 100-year cycle, adding that this kind of excessive rain can occur any time, citing the downpours on Wednesday night.

Citing information obtained from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), he said that the water levels in Bangkok’s canals increased by about one metre after about two hours of rainfall on Wednesday night which, he admitted, was unusual, noting that the city administration had already drained water out of the canals to increase capacity to store rain water from road surfaces.

He then suggested that the city administration investigate where the problem lies, whether it was the water pumps or the discharge of water into the river, resulting in the heavy flooding.

Dr. Seree praised the BMA’s rain forecasting system, but he said the drainage system failed and needs to be fixed before the flooding anticipated in September and October, which may be more serious due to high tides and water runoffs from the northern region during that period.

[fedssocr]

I'm sure that this is a difficult problem to solve given Bangkok's low-lying nature. After 2011 there was much talk about upgrading the drainage system. I don't know if that happened. There may also be issues of maintenance. And of course the constant building of new skyscrapers just adds to the complexities. Given climate change and rising sea levels Bangkok is going to be in difficult straits. Rather than planning for the future they just keep doing the same things over again. A new inland capital is probably going to be necessary. Think of all the potential for corruption that they're just passing up! 

[reader]

From The  Guardian (Sept. 29, 2019)

Thailand PM considers moving capital as Bangkok congestion takes toll

Thailand could be the next nation in south-east Asia to relocate its capital after Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha hinted such a move could be a “possibility” under his government.

Taking inspiration from neighbouring Myanmar and similar plans being formulated in Indonesia, the Thai prime minister suggested that relocating the capital could help Bangkok overcome its mounting urban challenges.

Like Jakarta, Bangkok is beset by overcrowding, pollution, rising sea levels and heavy traffic congestion.

During an address at the Connecting Thailand with the World Conference on 18 September, the retired army general floated two options for a potential move. “The first is to find a city that’s neither too far nor too expensive to move to,” he said, “The second is to move to outer Bangkok to reduce crowding.”

It is not the first time the idea of moving Thailand’s administrative capital has been raised, with former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra also suggesting the administrative capital be moved to Nakhon Nayok, a province 100km from the capital.

Studies have also been conducted on shifting government offices to Chachoengsao, an agricultural hub to the east of Bangkok.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/30/thailand-pm-considers-moving-capital-as-bangkok-congestion-takes-toll

[PeterRS]

15 hours ago, reader said:

He then suggested that the city administration investigate where the problem lies, whether it was the water pumps or the discharge of water into the river, resulting in the heavy flooding.

How many times have we heard this question posed? Fact is: every time there is a major rain storm and parts of the city are temporarily flooded. Everyone knows that we are entering the period of the most intense monthly rainfall. Yet drains are always blocked, flood gates and pumps are not working properly, and so on and so forth. We are still at least 10 weeks from the high tide in the Gulf of Thailand. So that cannot be blamed this time. Apart from Jakarta, few other Asian cities that are low lying or have substantial low lying areas - Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, for example - seem to experience flooding on the level of Bangkok despite prolonged bursts of heavy monsoon rains.

I can remember a time in the 1980s in Hong Kong when flyovers became raging waterfalls and small streets became canals. Hong Kong invested a great deal of cash in massive underground holding tanks on the north shore of the Island into which water coming down from both the hills and the sky was drained and redirected through tunnels to the sea on the south of the Island. Flooding is minimal now and is drained away quickly. I understand the 9.7 km long SMART tunnel which opened in Kuala Lumpur around 2010 has partly solved what used to be the disastrous flooding problem in the city centre. Singapore has rain for most of the year. It has a sophisticated system utilising many ways of getting rid of that water including pumps, catchment tanks and canals. It is still subject to occasional flash flooding but not nearly as bad as Bangkok.

Yet Bangkok and other low lying parts of Thailand have seen little improvement in recent decades. Successive governments have acknowledged the problem and do virtually nothing about it. I recall durng the dreadful 2011 floods that one Minister seriously suggested assembling long-tail boats across the Chao Phraya river with their engines at full power to push the water from the north back upstream! Such is the intelligence of some who rise to Ministerial level in Thailand! 

[reader]

From The Nation

BMA shows mountains of garbage that was fished out of Bangkok canals on Friday. The operation was conducted after several parts of the capital were inundated on Thursday after overnight rain.

[PeterRS]

And the klongs are supposed to be cleaned regularly specifically to avoid this. I suppose as long as people in Bangkok continue throwing all manner of rubbish into the klongs, nothing will change.