1. Overall Assessment of the Situation
? Thailand’s current severe floods are mainly the result of natural phenomena, and the unusual amount of rainfall during the monsoon season, causing water to be trapped in many provinces starting around two months ago when the lower northern region became flooded. From then onwards, this massive volume of water flowed through agricultural fields in the Central Plains and has now entered Bangkok and surrounding areas before flowing into the Gulf of Thailand in the coming days.
? The approach for draining this huge volume of water into the Gulf of Thailand is to use three main routes, namely, Tha Chin River to the West of Bangkok, the Chao Phraya River through central area, and Bang Pa Kong River and Nakhon Nayok River to the East of Bangkok.
? However, as the volume of water is unusually higher than previous years, coupled with the spring tide during this period, the level of water trapped in Bangkok and surrounding areas cannot recede as quickly as expected. It is therefore clear that a certain amount of water will flow into and become trapped in Bangkok. This is already happening in areas along the banks of the Chao Phraya River and in Northern Bangkok.
? The current spring tide has caused a certain amount of water to overflow flood barriers into some parts of Bangkok, as the Chao Phraya River’s embankments can only withstand a water level not higher than 2.50 metres, while today, the level of water stands at 2.57 metres due to the high tide. This is expected to reach 2.65 metres tomorrow. The amount of overflow is still within the Government’s ability to manage, and we will expedite the pumping and drainage of water during the ebb tide.
? As for inner Bangkok, an area in which offices of most diplomatic missions and international organizations, as well as important business and government offices are located, there is a possibility in the worst-case scenario that there will be flooding of between 10 centimetres to 1.5 metres. The actual level of flooding will depend on the distance between a given locality and the floodwall to the North, as well as the height of terrain which differs in various parts of Bangkok. There is a possibility that water could be trapped for two weeks to one month. It must be emphasized that the figures given is based on a worst-case scenario and as a matter of precaution.
? Particularly high risk areas are likely to be areas located along river banks or canals and those areas which become flooded quicker than other areas during normal heavy rains. Furthermore, crowded communities with small houses and one-storey houses will experience difficult living conditions even when the level of flooding is not that high.
2. Important Measures Taken by the Government
? The Government issued an order establishing the Flood Relief Operations Centre (FROC) on 8 October 2011 to pool together the resources of all government agencies, the private sector and the general public to tackle the flood situation and appointed me as the Director of the Centre.
? The FROC’s main tasks at present range from draining floodwater in various areas into the Gulf of Thailand as much and as quickly as possible, taking precautions to prevent floodwater in Bangkok from causing serious damage, and making preparations and continuing to establish shelters, provide assistance and evacuate people from risk and flood affected areas. At the same time, the Government has taken urgent action to prepare and prescribe remedial measures to alleviate the effects of the floods in the medium-term and long-term for the business sector, industrial sector, small and medium sized enterprises and the general public.
? Should it become necessary to evacuate those affected by the floods in Bangkok, the Government has established shelters in ten nearby provinces not affected by the floods, which will be able to accommodate no less than 100,000 people.
3. Providing Information to the Diplomatic Corps and Foreign Citizens
? FROC has been working closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to disseminate necessary and timely information to the diplomatic corps.
? As for the dissemination of information to foreigners in general, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been providing information on its website. Foreign embassies are requested to serve as an additional channel for distributing information to their respective nationals.
? The flooding in Bangkok is not directly life threatening. It may, however, cause inconveniences in our normal every day life. In general, and particularly for foreigners who are not familiar to the area and may have problems in communication, the FROC would like to advise foreigners without necessary businesses or matters to relocate temporarily to other provinces which are in a good position to accommodate and provide services to foreigners such as Pattaya, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Krabi and Koh Samui.
4. Risk Assessment for Suvarnabhumi Airport
? The FROC is confident that the Government will be able to prevent Suvarnabhumi Airport from flooding. However, as a precaution, U-Tapao Airport in Chonburi Province is ready to act as a supplementary or reserve airport at all times.
Closing Remarks
? I am confident that with the readiness and cooperation of all parties — the public sector, private sector, volunteers, business sector, industrial sector, local communities and general public as well as the goodwill of the international community — Thailand will be able to pass through these difficult times safely and with the least amount of damage.
For further information, please contact the Press Division, Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tel.02-6435170, Fax.02-6435169, E-mail: div0704@mfa.go.th