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.