Water water everywhere - except Pattaya

[Gaybutton]

If you have been following the news, you've seen that many areas of Thailand have had torrential rains and have been having severe flooding problems. There was a landslide in Phuket a few days ago that killed 13 people.

But in Pattaya we have had hardly any rain at all. We've had a few short lived thunderstorms and drizzling rains, but nothing more than that. A few times there was rain enough to cause flooding at the usual areas - the ones the city keeps promising to fix - but the water quickly dissipated.

The problem is the Maprachan Reservoir, Pattaya's main water supply, is as close to empty as it gets. It is actually possible to walk across the reservoir now without getting your feet wet. I've seen it for myself.

The city has not mentioned anything about an upcoming water shortage and has not asked people to conserve their use of water. Maybe they finally have another good source of water, but I have not seen anything published about it.

This same situation happened a few years ago and in Pattaya we all were forced to buy high price water from water delivery trucks - and your guess is as good as mine as to where they were getting it from. But it was either that or no water at all. It lasted several weeks before city water was restored normally.

Hopefully those of us in Pattaya won't have to go through that again. If the city is smart, they would use this opportunity to dredge out the reservoir so that it could hold much more water, but so far no indication of any such operation.

[Jun]

A good idea, but here's where it falls down:

If the city is smart

[Gaybutton]

A good idea, but here's where it falls down:

If the city is smart

Unfortunately quite true.

They could easily have dredged the last time the reservoir dried up, but nothing was ever done. I can't even imagine they're going to do it now either. They also have done nothing to channel rainwater into the reservoir. So much water ends up wasted.

[Jun]

Thailand also manages to pour excessive amounts of concrete into favoured infrastructure projects.

For some strange reason, water supply, drainage & flood prevention seem to be a lower priority.

Although if the reservoir is empty and you still have water, perhaps something has been done ? Such as a pipeline to another reservoir.

[Gaybutton]

Although if the reservoir is empty and you still have water, perhaps something has been done ? Such as a pipeline to another reservoir.

Nothing has been published about that, at least nothing I've seen. It's been promised for years. Maybe for once they came through.

[Gaybutton]

Destructive torrential rains throughout Thailand, yet not enough rain in Pattaya to keep the Maprachan reservoir from drying out.
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Another Landslide in Phuket! Nine Houses Buried, Residents Flee in Panic

August 28, 2024

Another landslide has struck Phuket, burying nine houses under mud, water, and debris from the mountain with a thunderous noise like a lightning strike. Panicked residents fled for their lives, but fortunately, no one was injured.

At 5:30 a.m. on August 28, 2024, Police Lieutenant Colonel Sakon Krai-nara, Deputy Superintendent (Investigation) of Phuket City Police Station, received a report from the 191 emergency hotline about a landslide that had damaged several homes in Thep Buri Village (Ban Kuku) in Ratsada Sub-district, Mueang District. The police were asked to inspect the scene.

After receiving the report, the lieutenant immediately informed Police Colonel Prateuang Pholmana, Superintendent of Phuket City Police Station. He, along with officials from the Municipal Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department of Ratsada Sub-district and staff from the Kusoldharm Foundation Phuket, rushed to the scene.

Upon arrival, they found residents, who were the homeowners and occupants of the affected village, standing outside their homes amidst continuous rain that had been falling for several hours.

A preliminary inspection revealed that nine two-story commercial buildings were damaged. Officers discovered that the soil at the back of the buildings was still making cracking noises. For safety reasons, the homeowners and residents were initially evacuated from the buildings as the saturated soil posed a risk of further landslides.

Mrs. Kanyarat Chakrawatee, 45, a homeowner who had just moved in 13 days earlier and was still settling in, recounted, "At around 5:00 a.m., we were all sleeping downstairs since we had just moved in. I heard a loud crash, so I turned on the light and saw water flowing from the kitchen. I tried to get everyone out, but the water kept coming because it was still raining. We were waiting to have the air conditioning installed upstairs, so we hadn't moved up there yet. The upstairs room was blocked by soil, so we couldn't open the door."

Mr. Nop, another homeowner, said, "Water from the mountain came crashing down, bringing soil and mud because there were no trees on the mountain. There used to be trees, but they were removed, so the soil couldn't retain water.

It's been almost a year since the trees were removed. My house is at the end of the alley. It was only slightly damaged on the roof, while other houses were more severely affected. I heard a loud noise at first and thought it was a lightning strike. When I came out to look, everyone was already standing at the entrance of the village."

Story and photo: https://aseannow.com/topic/1336654-anot ... =240828-11

[Jun]

Elsewhere in the country, here are some flood prevention measures that seem to be working.
I would not want to live there.
I would not want to park my car there either, unless very confident this is peak water level.