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Discussion 1 : 05/10/2012 at 03:06 AM

Khun Nonsurprise #18, please, read the discussion #17. The water management officials already know how to do their job, and have been perfecting their skills for 40 years, but were prevented to do so by PM YS' dimwitted AG minister because he wanted to "hold water for the farmers" last year.

Discussion 2 : 04/10/2012 at 11:13 AM

Spiceman D11 The point is that the dams should not have been allowed to fill up in the first place last year. It's a simple case of managing efficiently.

Discussion 3 : 04/10/2012 at 07:49 AM

Khun Mitrapaap #16, I don't think PM YS had anything to do with opening the dams' emergency spillways for 7 consecutive days last year. According to the director of Bhumibol Dam, there's a absolute maximum water level the dam can withstand, but beyond that we're risking a total collapse of the dam. I wish PM YS discovered her dimwitted AG minister's risky "hold water for the farmers" scheme, at least a month earlier, in order to avert last year catastrophe. It seems to me that the order coming all the way from Dubai telling the AG Minister to hold water at the dam went completely above her head. And she only discovered the catastrophic mistake when all hells were already breaking loose, like everybody else.

Discussion 4 : 04/10/2012 at 07:15 AM

spiceman D14: I agree with you. If it takes 30 days for the water to reach the ocean, we should be fine. I also agree that the officials of the dams know what they do and what should be done, I would never question their capabilities, but "The release was ordered by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra..." and she has not 40 years of experience in water management. Last year keeping the water was ordered by one of the MP's.

Discussion 5 : 03/10/2012 at 02:44 PM

Khun Lungstip #12, the dam system was originally designed to work in conjunction with lust rain forests upstream which is no more. Now, without the rain forests acting like a giant natural sponge, absorbing and slowly releasing water into the dams' water reservoirs, the dam system is being stretched to its limit. However, without the dams, we will be at the total mercy of the storms each rainy season. What the dams can do is to lessen the effects of the storms, during the wet season, while ensuring the farmers of adequate water during the dry season.

Discussion 6 : 03/10/2012 at 02:30 PM

Khun Mitrapaap #10, according to the director of Bhumibol Dam, it usually takes about 30 days for the water from the dam to reach the Gulf of Thailand. So, obviously, your first choice seems a safer one, or risking being caught by surprise in case "Gaemi" dump more rainwater than expected. Besides the officials in Water Management should know best what to do, based on their 40+years of operational experience.

Discussion 7 : 03/10/2012 at 02:22 PM

playing with nature havent they learnt by their mistakes last year,who is exactly qualified to give the orders as shown last flooding, its was a fiasco many politicans and generals walking around giving conflicting opinions,anyways with all the flood prevention gone before some work had been done,it will always happen until they invest in a proper waterway system in thailand it will continue to be a big problem,remember pm words there will be no flooding ?

Discussion 8 : 03/10/2012 at 01:15 PM

Well, looks like dams do not stop floods. Still, we are told we need more.

Discussion 9 : 03/10/2012 at 01:08 PM

Khun Nonsurprise #6, it was the dams' directors who opened the dams' emergency spillways for a week last year, in order to prevent the dams from being toppled. Although, their secondary duty was to carry out the AG minister's direct order to "hold the water for the farmers," their primary duty was to ensure the safety of the dams. Thank to their quick action to release enough water just to save the dams, otherwise, if one or both of the dams toppled, the damage of last year's catastrophe would be unimaginable as all the provinces downstream including BKK would be absolutely wiped out by a massive manmade tsunami.

Discussion 10 : 03/10/2012 at 01:05 PM

"Officials are rushing to discharge water from major dams so they can handle new inflows from tropical storm Gaemi which is expected to batter Thailand from Friday." I see two options: 1) rush to release water from the dams now, then the water level is eventually high in downstream rivers at the time Gaemi arrives and so the rivers will overflow and cause flooding. 2) let Gaemi fill the dams and after Gaemi has passed release the water from the now too full dams in a controlled manner, so the rivers downstream won't overflow. Obviously, I don't know if Gaemi would bring the dams to overflow. Hope the government knows what they do.

Discussion 11 : 03/10/2012 at 12:51 PM

Me thinks we will see the same dam problem this year because stubborn politically appointed people in charge have no damn clue of what to do, when and how. Put on your rubbers!

Discussion 12 : 03/10/2012 at 12:32 PM

Here we go again; the same old issues every year. There are many qualified & experience people able to solve / tackle these perennial problems, provided they are given a free hand to do so. In the scheme of things, one cannot fail to suspect that there are more sinister motives for “allowing” this situation to persist over such prolong period. Is it due to self interests pertaining to money & politics or indifference & incompetence? Which ever ways you looked at it, your guess is as good as mine.

Discussion 13 : 03/10/2012 at 09:59 AM

So dams do not solve the problem and we are going to build another 2 that really make sound sense dose it? And when the dams have been built and the problem still exists what do we do then?The obvious way to any rational thinking individual is to get the water away as fast as possible and that has been suggested by the kind people from Holland,who by now must be wishing they had not bothered coming ,dig a 100 km dyke from a central point to the sea.No water pushers but a clear run to the sea.That way you can drain excess water in the existing dams and not cause any damage to the country and more importantly industry.As a spin of it will also save Bangkok from further flooding providing the present water management is kept maintained.

Discussion 14 : 03/10/2012 at 09:30 AM

So last year water was released from the dams and caused the floods, so they will do it again this year? Some people never learn.

Discussion 15 : 03/10/2012 at 07:38 AM

A lot of the flooding problems are political as you have politicians with no knowledge or experience trying to control water management which as spiceman said in D4 worked well for 40 years. Keep the politicians where they belong which is in the sandpit or childrens playpen. D3 Yingluck HAS no experience of the private sector. The compamy she worked for, her brother Thaksin owned and when she left and went into politics the job was abolished. She was there as a pretty face and nominally in charge just as she ie now. Do you honestly think she is running the government all on her own?

Discussion 16 : 03/10/2012 at 07:14 AM

Khun BJ #3, our 2 biggest dams up north have been in operation for more than 40 years without a single catastrophe, until last year, when AG Minister Theera Wongsamut, decided to push the dams' water level above the upper "Safe Zone," for that particular months, which happened to be the peak ones. Wanna guess where the "Safe Zone" come into existence? It is from our more than 40 years of the accumulating operational experience, of operating the dams. So, it seems that the Water Management people already know how to do their job, until the AG Minister ordered them to hold up water "for the farmers." And the rest is (catastrophic) history, I suppose!

Discussion 17 : 03/10/2012 at 06:51 AM

Good we have a PM that takes charge, but if the system is so centralistic that the PM has to give an order, because maybe they doubt the people in charge locally can manage it, then it is time to change the management system from the typical thai management system, which is basically that of the military system, to a newer more modern management style, maybe the PM should spend more time and use her experience from the private sector in initiating a streamlining of the administration system, it will come to that one day anyway, so why not start now ?

Discussion 18 : 03/10/2012 at 06:13 AM

I can't help but feel that the government will deliberately release a very large amount of water in order that the Bangkok Administration cannot cope with the inflow of water, and then they can say: "See! The Governor needs to be changed. Vote for the Pheu Thai candidate!"

Discussion 19 : 03/10/2012 at 03:30 AM

I thank God that there is no more "holding water for the farmers" thing anymore! Who said you can't teach an old dog a new trick!