Kepler habitable

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Dooms Day Deluge in Thailand & US Modulators . The Premier may open more gates on the inner city due to pressure of the protesters (23 Nov 2011) -














Thailand Floods, 24th November, 2011-Bangkok May Have to Accept More Floodwater

Bangkok May Have to Accept More Floodwater as Protests Grow - Bloomberg
Bangkok May Have to Accept More Floodwater as Protests Grow

By Suttinee Yuvejwattana and Supunnabul Suwannakij - Nov 23, 2011 5:42 PM GMT+0700

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said officials will have to let more water into Bangkok to appease residents from flooded districts who have held daily protests against measures to protect the inner city.

“Residents in flooded areas are suffering,” Yingluck told reporters today at Government House. “I’d like to ask for cooperation from people in Bangkok to let some water flow into the area to ease the burden.”

Polluted water more than a meter (3.3 feet) deep is still inundating thousands of homes in northern and western areas of the city. Officials are maintaining a network of canals, dikes and sandbags to keep water out of inner Bangkok, sparking clashes with residents living outside the flood defenses.

Hundreds of people in Pathum Thani province north of the capital today blocked cars from using the outbound lane of an elevated highway to pressure the government to accelerate the drainage of water, the Thai PBS television network reported.

The protesters threatened to block both lanes of the major highway if their demands aren’t met, the report said.

“This is a challenging task for the negotiation team as people in areas that are now dry don’t want to be flooded again, and those who have been inundated are still suffering,” Yingluck said. “Areas that are dry should allow some water to flow into drainage systems or to empty into the sea.”

Protecting Bangkok 

Floods caused by above-average rainfall and water released from dams in Thailand’s north have spread across 64 of the nation’s 77 provinces in recent months, claiming 610 lives and swamping the homes of 13.4 million people, according to the government. Seventeen provinces are still affected.

Authorities have tried to protect Bangkok by diverting the slow-moving pool of water around the city, which sits at the southern tip of a river basin that empties into the Gulf of Thailand.

Authorities agreed today to open three floodgates on the Mahasawas canal in western Bangkok after protests by local residents, said Pracha Promnog, who heads the government’s flood-relief operations.

Protests will continue “if there is more flooding,” Pracha said. “It’s difficult both for people who live north and south of the barriers. The most important thing is to drain water before the sea level peaks again on November 25.”

‘Severe’ Impact 

Water that swamped seven industrial estates north of the capital has receded, and companies are expected to resume production over the next two months, the industry ministry said yesterday in a report submitted to Thailand’s Cabinet.

The disaster has had a “severe and broad-based impact” on the economy, central bank Governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul said today, adding that gross domestic product will contract in the fourth quarter and the forecast for full-year growth will be “significantly” cut from an estimate of 2.6 percent.

“We will need to monitor inflation because post-flood spending and government measures may also add pressure to inflation,” he said.

Bank of Thailand policy makers are scheduled to meet on Nov. 30 to discuss monetary policy, and have signaled there is room to cut rates to prop up growth.

“On one side, the floods will hurt the economy, especially in the fourth quarter,” Prasarn said. “It will also affect confidence. This will require easing. On the other side, inflation pressure may rise in the medium term. So we will need to consider the appropriate move to maintain confidence and make sure inflation won’t return to be a problem.”

Yingluck has proposed spending 130 billion baht ($4.2 billion) on rebuilding and measures to prevent future floods.

While the government should invest in water management infrastructure, it should also “keep some bullets” spare in case the global economic outlook worsens, Prasarn said.
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Thailand Floods, 24th November, 2011-Bangkok May Have to Accept More Floodwater

Bangkok May Have to Accept More Floodwater as Protests Grow - Bloomberg

Bangkok May Have to Accept More Floodwater as Protests Grow

By Suttinee Yuvejwattana and Supunnabul Suwannakij - Nov 23, 2011 5:42 PM GMT+0700

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said officials will have to let more water into Bangkok to appease residents from flooded districts who have held daily protests against measures to protect the inner city.

“Residents in flooded areas are suffering,” Yingluck told reporters today at Government House. “I’d like to ask for cooperation from people in Bangkok to let some water flow into the area to ease the burden.”

Polluted water more than a meter (3.3 feet) deep is still inundating thousands of homes in northern and western areas of the city. Officials are maintaining a network of canals, dikes and sandbags to keep water out of inner Bangkok, sparking clashes with residents living outside the flood defenses.

Hundreds of people in Pathum Thani province north of the capital today blocked cars from using the outbound lane of an elevated highway to pressure the government to accelerate the drainage of water, the Thai PBS television network reported.

The protesters threatened to block both lanes of the major highway if their demands aren’t met, the report said.

“This is a challenging task for the negotiation team as people in areas that are now dry don’t want to be flooded again, and those who have been inundated are still suffering,” Yingluck said. “Areas that are dry should allow some water to flow into drainage systems or to empty into the sea.”

Protecting Bangkok

Floods caused by above-average rainfall and water released from dams in Thailand’s north have spread across 64 of the nation’s 77 provinces in recent months, claiming 610 lives and swamping the homes of 13.4 million people, according to the government. Seventeen provinces are still affected.

Authorities have tried to protect Bangkok by diverting the slow-moving pool of water around the city, which sits at the southern tip of a river basin that empties into the Gulf of Thailand.

Authorities agreed today to open three floodgates on the Mahasawas canal in western Bangkok after protests by local residents, said Pracha Promnog, who heads the government’s flood-relief operations.

Protests will continue “if there is more flooding,” Pracha said. “It’s difficult both for people who live north and south of the barriers. The most important thing is to drain water before the sea level peaks again on November 25.”

‘Severe’ Impact

Water that swamped seven industrial estates north of the capital has receded, and companies are expected to resume production over the next two months, the industry ministry said yesterday in a report submitted to Thailand’s Cabinet.

The disaster has had a “severe and broad-based impact” on the economy, central bank Governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul said today, adding that gross domestic product will contract in the fourth quarter and the forecast for full-year growth will be “significantly” cut from an estimate of 2.6 percent.

“We will need to monitor inflation because post-flood spending and government measures may also add pressure to inflation,” he said.

Bank of Thailand policy makers are scheduled to meet on Nov. 30 to discuss monetary policy, and have signaled there is room to cut rates to prop up growth.

“On one side, the floods will hurt the economy, especially in the fourth quarter,” Prasarn said. “It will also affect confidence. This will require easing. On the other side, inflation pressure may rise in the medium term. So we will need to consider the appropriate move to maintain confidence and make sure inflation won’t return to be a problem.”

Yingluck has proposed spending 130 billion baht ($4.2 billion) on rebuilding and measures to prevent future floods.

While the government should invest in water management infrastructure, it should also “keep some bullets” spare in case the global economic outlook worsens, Prasarn said.

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