LOP BURI
Air Force to rescue marooned village
By The Nation

Demand for boats rise/PM wades through knee-deep water as he gets firsthand view of situation

Two Air Force helicopters had to airdrop relief supplies for a marooned village in Lop Buri yesterday after searching in vain for a landing spot.

“It’s difficult for even boats to go there,” Governor Chatchai Promlert said.

Village 6 in Ban Mi district’s Tambon Nong Sai Khao was under one to two metres of water.

A man identifying himself only as Jiam said his family had to turn to a loan shark for money to meet expenses incurred because of the floods.

“We need to buy a boat or else we can’t get around at all,” Jiam said. “Boats provided by the authorities are very limited in number.”

A steel boat now sells for Bt3,500-Bt5,000 while a plastic boat fetches Bt7,000-Bt10,000. “Then, an oar costs us Bt200,” he said. “These things are all expensive but we have no choice. We can’t wade through floodwaters any longer. It’s up to our neck now.”

Chatchai said the downpours had stranded many locals in their villages.

“I have already instructed officials to reach out to them and arrange for evacuations, if needed. In many villages, all the residents are either children or old people,” he said.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva came to inspect the situation firsthand, striding through knee-deep water to climb onto a flat-bottomed boat that took him through chest-deep water to seriously flooded zones.

Earlier this week, Abhisit visited Nakhon Ratchasima, where flooding was severe.

Since October 10, floods have ravaged 21 provinces. Those like Lampang, Nakhon Ratchasima and Chaiyaphum have borne the brunt.

In Chaiyaphum, medical workers kept floodwaters out of the province’s major hospital by piling up sandbags over two metres high.

“But doctors and nurses can’t go back home because the water is really deep outside,” nurse Pissawas Dernwong said. “It’s not even convenient to go back to the dormitory in another building.”

In Nakhon Ratchasima, more than 500,000 people and over 800,000 rai of farmland have been affected.

“Many flooded roads are already impassable,” Governor Rapi Pongbuppakit said.

Anothai Thammakin, Phimai district chief, said the town was like an island now because it was surrounded by floodwaters. Like Pak Thong Chai and Pak Chong districts, Phimai was one the worst-hit locations in this northeastern province.

“All government agencies here have closed in the wake of the floods except medical facilities that are needed to tend to patients,” Anothai said.

The flooding looked set to worsen because more storm waters were streaming down from the upper part of the country, he said.

According to the provincial irrigation office, the run-off will continue over the next week and floodwaters will rise by about one metre.

TRANSPORTATION

Best route to upper Northeast

Motorists can use Mitraphap Road to get to Nakhon Ratchasima, but should avoid the flooded downtown area by using the bypass. However, motorists should be careful because KM6 to KM10 of the bypass is still under 20 centimetres of water. The Mitraphap Road can be used to get to Nong Khai.

Best route to the North

Motorists can travel along Phaholyothin Road to Chiang Rai.

Areas that are impassable:

NAKHON RATCHASIMA (KORAT)

l Highway 205, KM387 to KM399 in Muang district

l Highway 2068, KM37 in Non Thai district

l Highway 201, KM37 to KM39 in Dan Khun Thot district

l Highway 224, KM2 to KM16 in Chok Chai district

l Highway 226, KM6 to KM35 in Chakkarat district

l Highway 2421, from KM44 to KM46 in Chok Chai district

SA KAEW

l Highway 3366, KM0 to KM7 in Aranyaprathet district

l Highway 3511, KM9 to KM14 in Aranyaprathet district

KHON KAEN

l Highway 2038, KM3 to KM5 in Nong Rua district

PRACHIN BURI

l Highway 319, KM152 to KM153 in Si Maha Pho district

LOP BURI

l Highway 311, KM9 to KM10 in Muang district

l Highway 3019, KM1 to KM2 in Muang district

l Highway 3024, KM6 to KM13 in Ban Mi district

l Highway 205, KM229 to KM242 in Khok Samrong district

l Highway 2275, KM0 to KM2 in Chai Badan district

AYUTTHAYA

l Highway 3467, KM15 to KM17 in Tha Rua district

Visit www.doh.go.th for more information.

Train services halted

Number 111 (BangkokDen Chai)

Number 9 (BangkokChiang Mai)

Number 201 (BangkokPhitsanulok)

Number 3 (BangkokSawankhalok)

Number 209 (BangkokTakhli)

Number 211 (BangkokTaphan Hin)

Number 75 (BangkokUdon Thani)

Numbers 2, 10, 14 and 52 (Chiang MaiBangkok)

Number 108 (Den ChaiBangkok)

Number 116 (PhitsanulokBangkok)

Number 4 (SawankhalokBangkok)

Call 1690 or visit www.railway.co.th for details.

– The Nation 2010-10-22

Defense Minister Clarifies Crackdown of Red-Shirt Rally

BANGKOK: — During the House session, the defense minister pointed out that the cracking down of the red shirt rally earlier this year was done lawfully and in accordance to the human rights standards, and that those injured have already been compensated.

Yesterday, the House inquired about the government’s crackdown on the red shirt rally earlier this year.

Roi Et MP Niramit Sujaree from the Pheu Thai Party questioned how the government has been taking responsibility for the deaths and injuries from clashes between the security forces and the anti government protestors.

Niramit also claimed that the government should have used a peaceful means of resolving the dispute instead of using force which resulted in many losses.

The Roi Et MP also asked whether or not the government has been able to bring those responsible for the 91 deaths and more than 2,000 injured to justice.

Defense Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan responded that the government had operated under the Internal Security Act and the Emergency Decree after they were invoked to oversee security.

He said the government considered applying the extra measures deemed most appropriate at the time, and instructed the authorities to follow such laws strictly to avoid unnecessary losses.

For example, security authorities were instructed to exercise coordination and negotiations before using force.

The defense minister also reported that the government has already compensated each of the 25 deaths and 864 injured from the clash that took place on April 10.

Meanwhile, the property confiscated from the protestors will be returned to their rightful owners once the investigation has been completed.

Prawit also added that security forces did everything to ensure public security in accordance to the human rights standards.

He also pointed out that a number of government officials were also killed in the unrest and the matter is now being investigated by many appointed committees.

Meanwhile, the Department of Special Investigation is carrying on with investigations into the violent incidents.

– Tan Network 2010-10-22

Bangkok on full alert
By The Nation

Flows from North due as rainwaters set to break from Chao Phya Dam

Flood waters flowing down from the North will hit Bangkok next week, inundating homes and areas near the Chao Phya River and tributary canals, with the high-tide period next Tuesday and Wednesday being the most dangerous.

The warning from the Royal Irrigation Department yesterday came with more bad news: maritime traffic in most natural waterways in the entire Chao Phya basin in the Central region, covering many provinces, will be paralysed by strong currents both during the period and subsequently.

The excessive volumes of rainwater trapped in areas in the lower Ping and Yom River basins will exceed the capacity of the Chao Phya Dam in Chai Nat province. The dam traps rainwater between the North and the Central region before releasing it southward to Bangkok, the Agriculture Ministry said.

The Royal Irrigation Department has advised those living by the Chao Phya or canals in Bangkok to stay alert and move their belongings to higher positions to avoid damage in the event of floods. The embankment walls built to ward off the threat of flooding along the Chao Phya in the Central provinces north of Bangkok have resulted in the water rising to a higher level than usual.

After two weeks of countrywide inundation, the government yesterday set up a war room to deal with the flooding – in Bangkok only – in the coming days. Secretary to the PM Korbsak Sabhavasu said extra attention was being given to prevent the capital from being flooded in the next few days when the waters reach Bangkok.

The Interior Ministry yesterday ordered an action plan to deal with the flooding in the Central region, which has been badly hit for many days. During an inspection visit by Interior Minister Chaovarat Chanweerakul to Nonthaburi province, Ayutthaya Governor Witthaya Phewphong complained that all flood-prevention efforts and media attention were now being directed towards Bangkok while his province had been neglected.

Witthaya made a specific request for flat-bed boats to enable evacuation of people and transport of their properties, as it is now too late to carry out any preventive measures in his province, which is flooded regularly each year during the wet season.

A Bangkok Metropolitan Administration official said during the meeting that a final 1.2-kilometre stretch of permanent flood dykes along the Chao Phya River could not be built in time, but temporary 3-metre sandbag embankments had been put in place.

Samut Prakan Governor Cherdsak Choosri said that as his province bordered the sea, it would suffer heavy flooding.

He said major thoroughfares such as Srinagarindra and Sukhumvit roads could be briefly but heavily flooded before all the water drained off into the sea.

– The Nation 2010-10-23