Thai floods threaten drinking water and power supplies
The authorities announce progress in diverting water away from the capital. The main goal remains to avoid flooding in the city’s commercial hub. Industry could suffer US$ 3 billion in losses. Growth forecast is reviewed downward. Small business will suffer, PIME priest says.
Bangkok (AsiaNews) – Thai officials reported progress in diverting floodwater round Bangkok into the sea on Friday after some of the city’s canals were open. However, some areas of the capital could still be inundated. More water is in effect expected because of recent rains, which could worsen an already bad situation. Local sources warn that in some “areas there is no drinking water or power” and that tensions are rising along with the water level.
In Bangkok, residents in the northern districts have been told to move their belongings to higher floors. Volunteers and ordinary Thais are piling sandbags and building leves to protect the city.
So far, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has refused to declare a state of emergency because it would mean sending the army into the streets.
However, three months of heavy monsoon rains have left swathes of the country flooded. Northern and central regions were worst hit initially but now the run-off is draining south to the sea, threatening Bangkok.
The capital is protected by floodgates, and barriers in key areas have been reinforced with sandbags. But suburbs to the north of the city are now under water. The authorities want to drain the water to the east and west of the city, to avoid the central hub.
The tourism industry has been largely unaffected so far, with southern islands escaping the flooding. The main international airport is operating as normal and its flood defences have been fortified.
Nevertheless, a few weeks of heavy monsoon rains have come with a hefty price and look set to cost industry more than US$ 3 billion, hitting economic growth.
Water now covers a third of Thailand's provinces, or some 1.6 million hectares in the north, northeast and centre of the country, killing at least 342 people since July. Manufacturing areas to the north of Bangkok have been devastated.
Central bank Governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul said economic growth this year could be closer to 3 per cent than the 4.1 per cent the Bank of Thailand had forecast. Finance Minister Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala is less confident, saying that growth might be barely 2 per cent.
For Fr Daniele Mazza, a PIME priest based in Nonthaburi, a town some 20 Km north of Bangkok, flooding has come with a “great cost for the nation”. And big businesses are not the only ones paying a price.
Speaking to AsiaNews, he related the story of a small mushroom grower who had her business inundated. “It’s a small investment of 5-6,000 dollars, which may not seem much, but here, it is huge,” he said. Many other people have already lost the work of a lifetime.
As a result, tensions are rising along with the floodwaters. Many Thais find it hard to accept the government’s choices. “As the level rises, containing water becomes harder and harder,” Fr Mazza said.
In some areas, there is no drinking water or power, he warned. Drinking water has in fact “been contaminated” so that some areas there may be no drinking water for weeks if not months. (DS)
In Bangkok, residents in the northern districts have been told to move their belongings to higher floors. Volunteers and ordinary Thais are piling sandbags and building leves to protect the city.
So far, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has refused to declare a state of emergency because it would mean sending the army into the streets.
However, three months of heavy monsoon rains have left swathes of the country flooded. Northern and central regions were worst hit initially but now the run-off is draining south to the sea, threatening Bangkok.
The capital is protected by floodgates, and barriers in key areas have been reinforced with sandbags. But suburbs to the north of the city are now under water. The authorities want to drain the water to the east and west of the city, to avoid the central hub.
The tourism industry has been largely unaffected so far, with southern islands escaping the flooding. The main international airport is operating as normal and its flood defences have been fortified.
Nevertheless, a few weeks of heavy monsoon rains have come with a hefty price and look set to cost industry more than US$ 3 billion, hitting economic growth.
Water now covers a third of Thailand's provinces, or some 1.6 million hectares in the north, northeast and centre of the country, killing at least 342 people since July. Manufacturing areas to the north of Bangkok have been devastated.
Central bank Governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul said economic growth this year could be closer to 3 per cent than the 4.1 per cent the Bank of Thailand had forecast. Finance Minister Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala is less confident, saying that growth might be barely 2 per cent.
For Fr Daniele Mazza, a PIME priest based in Nonthaburi, a town some 20 Km north of Bangkok, flooding has come with a “great cost for the nation”. And big businesses are not the only ones paying a price.
Speaking to AsiaNews, he related the story of a small mushroom grower who had her business inundated. “It’s a small investment of 5-6,000 dollars, which may not seem much, but here, it is huge,” he said. Many other people have already lost the work of a lifetime.
As a result, tensions are rising along with the floodwaters. Many Thais find it hard to accept the government’s choices. “As the level rises, containing water becomes harder and harder,” Fr Mazza said.
In some areas, there is no drinking water or power, he warned. Drinking water has in fact “been contaminated” so that some areas there may be no drinking water for weeks if not months. (DS)
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