King orders more measures as Thai floods kill 100

King orders more measures as Thai floods kill 100

BANGKOK (Reuter): Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej has called for additional measures to prevent flooding in Bangkok, including the clearing of derelict canals and the installation of pumps to drain floodwaters to the sea.

The king's advice to city authorities, carried live on television, came as the death toll from flooding since early July across much of Thailand rose to nearly 100, provincial officials said yesterday.

The Meteorological Department has forecast further heavy rains in all regions.

King Bhumibol, in a meeting late on Tuesday with Bangkok Governor Krisda Arunvongse na Ayutthaya, Irrigation Department officials and police, warned of the economic and social costs of extensive flooding in the capital.

The king criticized the construction of flood barriers around Bangkok, which he said could lead to the inundation of communities on the wrong side of them.

He also criticized the government promise to compensate flood victims, saying the offer of money served only to frighten and dishearten people. Preventative measures should be taken instead of curative ones, he said.

Neglected canals connecting the city to the sea, 25 kilometers to the south, should be excavated and enlarged and a basin prepared near the sea, he said.

Extra pumps should be installed as quickly as possible to drain the sump area, he said.

The king's advice on flood prevention marked the second time he has recommended action to solve pressing problems in recent weeks.

Last month, the king rebuked government ministers responsible for Bangkok's traffic problems for politicizing the issue and failing to come up with proper solutions.

Prime Minister Banharn Silpa-archa told reporters yesterday he would heed the king's advice on flood prevention immediately and called emergency meetings to implement the recommendations.

There have been flood-related deaths in 19 provinces with the central province of Pichit the worst hit with 14 deaths.

The flooding has also caused extensive damage to farmland and an estimated five percent of the country's main rice crop has been lost, government officials said this week.

Authorities said the flood threat to Bangkok would be critical early next week when the volume of water flowing through the city's Chao Phraya River, which drains most of the flood-hit provinces, meets high tides from the Gulf of Thailand.