In October and November 2010 most of the Isaan was affected by severe flooding. My own house and land was under water up to 1.5 metre deep at worst for several weeks. On 3 Nov 10 I wrote to the Bkk Post:
“.....one aspect of this disaster troubled me; there had been less rain than usual in our area, so why the worst floods ‘in living memory’? I think the answer lies not just in the rainfall to the north and west of us, but more particularly in the construction of dams and roads without any sort of prior environmental study. Dams are built to store water; when there is too much the flood gates are opened and the water spills into the surrounding countryside. In earlier times, the water found its way into canals, streams and rivers and ran away. Now it cannot do so as great roads like the Mitraparp (and there are plenty others) act as man-made dams all over that part of the country. They are one or two metres high, sometimes more, and have precious few flood pipes running underneath them from one side to the other. The result is the flooding we have just experienced and the water can run away only slowly.
What to do about it? I don’t believe there is a lot one can do except take what personal measures one can. It will happen again just as sure as it gets cold in the north and people require blankets. Perhaps if some local politicians or Phu Yais houses were subject to annual inundation one might see some action, but no-one in our area is holding their breath.”
In October 13 the same thing happened only with much less severity. Another letter:
“...........many of these ‘natural’ disasters are not natural at all, but rather man-made or at least man-exacerbated. Take the current flooding in the Isaan as an example; between Khon Kaen and Korat there are hundreds of thousands of rai of rice paddy under water and yet it hasn’t rained in the area for well over a week. The flooding is a direct result of the inexorable rise of water caused by the opening of dam gates to the north at the same time. Many roads, not just the Mitraparp, were constructed with precious few storm drains underneath them creating a network of dykes that prevents the floodwater finding its natural courses. Few road or dams were built with any environmental assessment; there appears to be no central control of water management throughout the country and unless Bangkok is threatened – as in 2011 – no-one in Government gives much thought to the problem.
It is therefore scarcely surprising that the up-country people’s patience is wearing a bit thin. Will anything be done about it? Not a chance! Just the same as three years ago when the Isaan was far more badly flooded than now, one hears the same old platitudes, but nothing was then, is now or will be done and the poor old ‘chao na’ will struggle on as usual losing over half his crop to government ineptitude.”
Today one reads in the Bkk Post 15 Oct 17 that the Ubonrat Dam and 9 others in the Region are releasing water into the surrounding countryside. But if one lives in Bkk one can take heart from this:
“The Royal Irrigation Department (RID) has pledged to spare Bangkok from severe flooding after the capital was hit with the heaviest rainfall in more than 30 years.
RID director-general Somkiat Prajamwong insisted on Saturday his agency would not allow a huge amount of water to hit the capital, vowing runoff would be diverted to other provinces.”
Further comment would be superfluous!
My apologies for the lengthy post! John Doe, the area from Phi Mai to Chum Phuang and on towards the west is the worst affected.