Thai government reassures investors and showcases preventive measures
Nirmal Ghosh Straits Times 1 Sep 12;
BANGKOK - With flood water in the north and north-east of Thailand well below last year's level, the country seems unlikely to suffer a repeat of the disastrous late 2011 deluge, a top government scientist said in a bid to allay investor concerns.
Meanwhile, the government has beefed up the capacity of the system to handle large quantities of water flowing down from the north to metropolitan Bangkok, said Dr Anond Snidvongs, director of the Bangkok-based scientific research unit SEA-START.
The government yesterday invited foreign ambassadors and the media to an elaborate exhibition on its 380 billion baht (S$15 billion) flood-management strategy, designed to boost confidence in a sceptical public and investor community.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who opened the three-day exhibition and conference, pledged "concrete measures and massive investment".
"We are determined to protect our people and communities, our industry and economy from the threat of floods," she said.
In an interview, Dr Anond, who is assistant secretary of a national water and flood management committee, stressed that the 120 billion baht spent so far was designed to "adapt to the current climate rather than the future".
The work has included raising roads and dykes, and dredging canals. Industrial estates in particular - seven of which were inundated last year for weeks on end - have been building massive dykes. The government has also repaired old water gates installed decades ago.
Climate change is a huge challenge for Thailand, where much of the capital - a crucial economic hub not just for the country but also the region - is below sea level and sinking gradually.
But political bickering continues to mar the government's response and confuse the public.
The exhibition was held partly to counter "all the negative talk", said Mr Nirut Kunnawat, deputy secretary-general to the Prime Minister.
The squabbles have been between the powerful Royal Irrigation Department and the government's minister for science and technology Plodprasop Suraswadi, over the release of water from dams in the north.
The irrigation department has warned that the government is releasing water too early and may not have enough in hand to cope with a possible summer drought next year. The minister insists that is not the case.
A scheduled controlled release of water next week to test the improved drainage system in eastern Bangkok has been met with open scepticism from Bangkok's governor M.R. Sukhumbhand Paribatra, who last year tussled with central government agencies over flood control and drainage.
In an opinion piece in the Bangkok Post yesterday, the paper's deputy news editor Kultida Samabuddhi wrote: "Nothing is scarier than seeing the country's water management heavyweights engaged in a war of words instead of working together."
