Government House, 8 October – The NCPO meeting raised the “Chiang Rai-Chiang Mai” model to solve the flooding problem sustainably, emphasizing the management of water upstream and downstream of the dam. Please be assured that the water will not flood Bangkok like in 2011.
Mr. Phumtham Wechayachai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, announced after chairing the 3rd meeting of the Operations Center for Flood, Storm and Landslide Relief (OCSC) to jointly summarize and analyze the situation and find ways to solve the problem to make the most progress. The meeting was held at the central and front lines in Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai provinces. The meeting was informed that the people should solve the problem quickly. Therefore, we have come to a mutual understanding. The 5 points proposed are: The flood in Mueang Chiang Mai District this time was caused by the rain groove. There was heavy rain on October 3-4 in Chiang Dao, Wiang Hae and Mae Rim districts, the heaviest in hundreds of years. In Mae Sai
District, there was a mudslide for the first time and this big. Therefore, we encouraged the officials that it was an unavoidable event. It is not considered a mistake of any government agency or management process. It is not in the way that it should have happened or the situation that we have known. It is caused by global warming and many factors. This is a lesson. Therefore, we have created 2 models: the Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai models. The Chiang Rai model was created from mudslides. In Chiang Mai, there was heavy rain, a lot of water, and flooding. Therefore, we have understood and assessed the situation.
The second issue is that when the water reached Mueang District, it overflowed the banks and entered the lowlands of Mueang District in large amounts, causing the water in the river to decrease significantly. Therefore, there must be a city protection system with small dams called folders. Therefore, the Ministry of Interior, the Royal Irrigation Department, and Chiang Mai Province were assigned to lo
ok into this matter.
Case 3 is information showing that water from Chiang Dao District travels to Chiang Mai District in 30 hours, to Mae Taeng District in 16 hours, and to Mae Rim in 6 hours. This is considered a fairly long area, with water levels quite different. The Ping River is shallow, winding, and has many narrow islets, caused by nature and encroachment. Therefore, orders have been given to the Royal Irrigation Department, the Harbor Department, the Public Works Department, and local governments to study and find ways to modify the waterways in order to make water drainage more convenient.
Story 4: Rain that fell for 5 days in the Ping River Basin in 14 national parks and wildlife sanctuaries has not been able to retain water well and it appears that farming has taken place in the area, which is probably not right. I would like the Department of National Parks, the Royal Forest Department, and the Ministry of Interior to seriously rehabilitate the watershed, using prudence and allowing appropriate
planting of corn on the mountaintops.
And the fifth issue, the incident that happened is a semi-academic issue in many fields. We need to understand the landscape and social structure of those involved. So I asked Mr. Plodprasob Suraswadi, the advisor, to think of various working groups that would come and solve the problem, giving them 3 months to prepare. We should have a working group that goes down to do its job to prevent this from happening, or if it does happen, we can handle it. And think further about how the Chiang Mai model and the Chiang Rai model would solve the problem.
Mr. Phumtham also said that there were no problems in coordination, and that there was unity. As for the water management process in the river basin and riverside areas, he confirmed that Bangkok would definitely not flood like in 2011. He asked for help in building confidence because the Chao Phraya River and Bhumibol Dam can still hold water, and the rain is about to stop. We are balancing the water discharge from the upper p
art of the dam and releasing it just enough so that there will be no flooding problem for the provinces below the dam, which are already flooded in low-lying areas along the river. This is not strange, and it is not a special event in 2011. He wanted the media to help the public understand, and social media should help spread the news with real information. He did not want to create fear. Currently, the officers are working at full capacity. -314.-Thai News Agency
Source: Thai News Agency