Flood Woes in Pattaya and Bangkok

Anything and everything about Thailand
Post Reply
User avatar
Gaybutton
Posts: 21459
Joined: Sat Jul 31, 2010 11:21 am
Location: Thailand
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 1306 times

Flood Woes in Pattaya and Bangkok

Post by Gaybutton »

As many of you know, now that Thailand's rainy season has arrived so has the flooding.

Part of the Pattaya article says:
During the rainy season, when the tide is high and the deluges are frequent, water swells up over the sois because the city lacks a modern drainage system to flush inland water back into the sea.
Great! I guess there isn't already enough water pollution in Pattaya's seawater . . .
_________________________________________________________________________

Bangkok

Giant drains ‘will not prevent floods’

June 17, 2019

By Chularat Saengpassa, The Nation

Academic urges BMA to make it mandatory for big condo, office building projects to build underground water banks


Even with 20 giant drainage tunnels, Bangkok will never be safe from floods, predicts a respected university lecturer.

Thanawat Jarupongsakul, who teaches at Chulalongkorn University’s Department of Geology, made this prediction when the city administration began touting these structures as a way to improve the capital’s flood problems.

The city’s administration has already built four giant tunnels at great cost, and there are four others under construction and at least one more being proposed.

“I personally think these tunnels are a waste of money,” Thanawat said, adding that not only did they cost a lot to build, maintenance costs were also very high.

He pointed out that Bangkok was sinking, which means the level of the Chao Phraya is rising higher than the city’s canals and its drainage system.

“This means you have to use pumps to push the water into the river, but when these devices break down, Bangkok can get easily submerged,” he said.

On June 7, several parts of Bangkok were under water after just a few hours of rain, leaving many Bangkokians stranded in nightmarish traffic for hours and prompting them to lambaste the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA).

The city authorities later admitted that there had been some hiccups with an overwhelmed fuse, which disrupted the operations of the Bang Sue Tunnel.

He also said this drainage system was implemented several decades ago and many of the pipes must be clogged.

“Also you can’t expect this system to handle 60 millimetres of rainfall, when just 40mm to 50mm of rain floods the capital,” he said, adding that Bangkok’s urban expansion was also the cause of growing flood risks.

Bangkok residents use up to 6 million cubic metres of water daily and the wastewater from one big condo project in the heart of the capital is enough to fill up a canal, he said, adding “so when it rains, the city’s canals can be overwhelmed easily”. Instead, he suggested, the BMA should follow Shanghai’s system of requiring that all big buildings construct an underground water bank.

This way, wastewater can be kept underneath the building and released gradually,” he said.

Visnu Charoen, a senior official at the BMA Drainage and Sewerage Department, said some BMA facilities have underground water banks, like the one along the Srinakharin-Krungthep Kreeta Road, which can hold about 10,000 cubic metres of water. There is also one at the mouth of Soi Suttiporn on Din Daeng Road, which can handle up to 1,200 cubic metres. However, Thanawat said, these water banks were not enough to deal with the flood risks.

Professor Suchatvee Suwansawat, president of the Council of Engineers, said underground water banks would be an innovative flood-prevention solution, and that a couple can be developed right away around the big pond in the compound of the Tobacco Thailand Authority and the Chatuchak Park.

“These should help ease flooding in Lat Phrao, Bang Sue, Vibhavadi-Rangsit, Ramkhamhaeng and Sukhumvit,” he continued.

Suchatvee also recommended the use of sensor technology to monitor the state of pumps and water jets.

Thanawat, meanwhile, suggested that canals and waterways be dredged and pumps installed at the mouth of canals to push water into the river as a short-term measure. For the medium term, he said the size of the drainage pipes should be enlarged.

“For the long term, the government should make it mandatory for all condo projects to build water banks and if possible, Bangkok residents should be charged for water draining,” the academic said.

He added that water-drainage fees will possibly encourage people to save water, thus cutting down on the water to be drained.

For now though, Visnu said the BMA was doing its best to keep Bangkok dry by dredging waterways, cleaning drainage pipes and enlarging them where possible. He also pointed out that floods have been draining away more quickly over the past few years.

“We can’t say drainage tunnels will prevent floods, but at least the water is drained away more quickly,” he said.

Story, photos, graphics: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/ ... l/30371192
__________________________________________

Pattaya

Pattaya's annual struggle to stay above water

City chiefs seeking B665m budget for flood defences

June 16, 2019

Pattaya City municipality plans to ask the new cabinet to approve a 665 million baht flood prevention project which has been shelved for years due to repeated changes in government water management policy.

"Pattaya was intended to be at the centre of the government's flagship Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) scheme, but the city suffers from chronic flash floods, which require urgent action to address," said Pattaya mayor, Sonthaya Khunpluem.

"If successful, Pattaya City will be secured from run-off coming from the east coast which bursts into the downtown area during the rainy season, affecting tourism and the city's businesses," he said.

The city wants to build a large reservoir to store 11 billion cubic metres on Soi Khao Noi, and eight water pumping stations that can drain water at 1.5 million cubic metres per second. The money will be also spent on a 1.5-kilometre long high-density polyethylene pipe along a road beside the railway track.

Along with the dredging and renewal of the city's canals, this system has been designed to divert water away from the municipality and out into the sea.

A water tunnel running from the east coast through Pattaya Klang Road to the ocean was also mooted at one point, although the budget may not stretch to both sets of proposals, according to Mr Sonthaya.

Downtown Pattaya is a low-lying area, making it particularly vulnerable to flooding.

During the rainy season, when the tide is high and the deluges are frequent, water swells up over the sois because the city lacks a modern drainage system to flush inland water back into the sea.

The city's natural waterways, such as its canals, offer little assistance because most of them are clogged with sediment, if not obstructed entirely by the many buildings that have sprung up in recent years.

These canals which are clogged include Khlong Na Kleau, Khlong Nong Yai, Khlong Nok Yang, Khlong Suea Phaeo, Khlong Pattaya Tai and Khlong Krathong Rai.

The drainage system in Pattaya was built a long time ago and is incapable of handling the volume of water spilling into the city, he said.

There are already six water pumping stations and a 21 rai water catchment area, but they are soon overwhelmed during this part of the year, added Mr Sonthaya.

After convincing the Interior Ministry about the importance of the shelved EEC flood prevention project, the government has assigned the Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning to resume the project, Mr Sonthaya said.

The department has also invited the Pattaya City administration to take part in drafting a new plan for the implementation of the project, which is expected to be complete by the end of the year, he said.

While waiting, the city plans to accelerate the dredging of its canals and the cleaning up of drains, which will happen with the help of the Corrections Department which will assign inmates to carry out the tasks.

A number of new mobile water pumps and more sandbags also are being purchased, while specialist flood relief teams are being formed to deal with emergencies, according to the mayor.

The city has begun working to improve its canals' drainage capacity by widening many and dealing with encroachment.

Khlong Puek Phlap, for instance, was expanded from three to four metres in width after the city evicted illegal dwellers from along its banks.

About 20 spots in Pattaya have been declared as flood-prone areas as part of efforts to ensure optimal resource deployment, he said. Among them are Soi Nong Ket Yai, Talat Kao Na Kluea, Khlong Puek Phlap, Soi Nong Yai, Sukhumvit Road (in Pattaya Tai), Soi Bua Khao, Liap Thang Rot Fai Road, Talat Nam Si Phak, Pattaya Sai 3 Road, Sai Liap Chai Hat Road, Soi Taengmo, Soi Diana Inn and Wat Thamma Samakkhi.

For these flood vulnerable areas, Mr Sonthaya said that council has recently approved a budget of 218 million to fund 10 prevention projects, which will require up to a year to complete, he said.

The council will, therefore, speed up some projects that can be implemented immediately such as the purchase of new water pumps.

Story and photos: https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... bove-water
fountainhall

Re: Flood Woes in Pattaya and Bangkok

Post by fountainhall »

The Nation wrote: Mon Jun 17, 2019 9:04 am Bangkok

On June 7, several parts of Bangkok were under water after just a few hours of rain, leaving many Bangkokians stranded in nightmarish traffic for hours and prompting them to lambaste the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA).

The city authorities later admitted that there had been some hiccups with an overwhelmed fuse, which disrupted the operations of the Bang Sue Tunnel.

He also said this drainage system was implemented several decades ago and many of the pipes must be clogged.

“Also you can’t expect this system to handle 60 millimetres of rainfall, when just 40mm to 50mm of rain floods the capital,” he said, adding that Bangkok’s urban expansion was also the cause of growing flood risks.
This is another mind-boggling admission - and far from atypical. "Pipes must be clogged!" What was the BMA doing during Bangkok's overlong hot season of over 7 months? Did any of those robotic civil servants even think of checking drains and doing something about it? Clearly not. Mai pen rai!

Some low lying cities have partially solved their flooding problems with massive underground storage tanks. Hong Kong has an annual average rainfall of around 2,500 mms (nearly 100 inches) - most falling between May and September. It is hit by major monsoon rainstorms and typhoons every year. That rainwater rushes down Victoria and other Peaks right into the urban and commercial areas. Hong Kong Island has a masssive low-lying area close to the north shore of the harbour where skyscraper offices and apartment blocks are located. In 1982 I can recall a one-day total of 430 mms of rain (almost 17 inches), at least half of it falling in just one an hour in the middle of the day. If you were walking under a flyover, it was like fighting through a very strong waterfall. Some streets ended up impassable under almost a meter of water. Lesser storms had almost the same result.

The Hong Kong Government realised that measures had to be taken to solve this problem. In addition to large water tunnels, their solution was to construct monstrously large water run-off holding tanks under the north shore. Water would drain into these tanks and be held there before being pumped into the harbour after the rain stopped. This proved so successful that similar tanks were constructed under other parts of the city. It has not stopped minor flooding, but the system has solved much of the flooding problem.

Image

Image

Image

And parts of Bangkok are brought to near standstill with a rainstorm of just 40mm of rain!
User avatar
Gaybutton
Posts: 21459
Joined: Sat Jul 31, 2010 11:21 am
Location: Thailand
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 1306 times

Re: Flood Woes in Pattaya and Bangkok

Post by Gaybutton »

fountainhall wrote: Mon Jun 17, 2019 10:27 am And parts of Bangkok are brought to near standstill with a rainstorm of just 40mm of rain!
I'm not surprised. It seems the powers-that-be are not interested in following ideas, even very good ideas, unless they are the ones who thought them up - and that's rare.
Post Reply