The Floods of 2011
Re: The Floods of 2011
I've just heard on the local UK news that the Honda factory in Swindon is being forced to work a 3 day week because of the floods in Thailand, and a breakdown in the supply chain.
Championship Plymouth Argyle 1 - 2 Leeds Utd 
Points 46; Position 23 RELEGATED
Points 46; Position 23 RELEGATED
Re: The Floods of 2011
This could really be serious if they establish a foothold and breed. My understanding is that the green is not a fierce as the black....but a very bad character none the less. Pete 
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakin ... 69078.html
15 green mambas on loose
November 2, 2011 2:08 am
Another terror from flood emerged Wednesday, as the public was warned of 15 green mambas that escaped from a flooded house in Nonthaburi's Pak Kred district since Tuesday night.
Those spotting these venomous two adult two-metre-long snakes and 13 young one-meter-long snakes must alert the Zoo and Wildlife Veterinary Society of Thailand via hotline 1362 or the Jor Sor 100 radio station at 027119160.
The Nation
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakin ... 69078.html
15 green mambas on loose
November 2, 2011 2:08 am
Another terror from flood emerged Wednesday, as the public was warned of 15 green mambas that escaped from a flooded house in Nonthaburi's Pak Kred district since Tuesday night.
Those spotting these venomous two adult two-metre-long snakes and 13 young one-meter-long snakes must alert the Zoo and Wildlife Veterinary Society of Thailand via hotline 1362 or the Jor Sor 100 radio station at 027119160.
The Nation
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Source
Re: The Floods of 2011
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Source
Re: The Floods of 2011
A water flow map which is the first of this type I've seen. Also, each day reading estimates, we seem to be creeping closer and closer to New Year before all this water is cleared. Pete
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/2 ... city-heart
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/2 ... city-heart
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Source
Re: The Floods of 2011
A snippet from a story concerning the Ayuddhya industrial estates. Pete
"In related news, officials will start pumping water out from the affected industrial estates from November 15, and it would take at least 15 to 20 days to clean up. Factories should start operating by late December or early January."
"In related news, officials will start pumping water out from the affected industrial estates from November 15, and it would take at least 15 to 20 days to clean up. Factories should start operating by late December or early January."
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Source
Re: The Floods of 2011
Floods in the old days were much more fun
David Lyman
Bangkok October 29, 2011 3:09 am
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion ... 68764.html
How did we deal with the floods in the "old days"?
Well, for the most part Bangkokians drove or waded through them. The floods were usually localised and with some exceptions, were drained through Bangkok's then many functioning and clear klongs (canals) into the Chao Phraya River and thence to the sea and were gone in a matter of days. As the heavy rains from monsoons and typhoons fell and the tides became high, filling the streets with water, awaiting the rains to stop and tides to subside, kids swam and played in the water. The population accepted the floods as inevitable and a nuisance, though not too disruptive. In a manner of speaking, they were fun times, full of opportunities to complain, to laugh, were good gambits for conversation. After all, floods and droughts have been a way of life for centuries in Thailand. The causes and cures thereof were rarely addressed with any sustained interest.
When in the 1950s my family was looking for a change of residence from Krung Kasem Road to a place nearer to my father's office on Hong Kong Bank Lane, off New Road, my father refused to move to Sukhumvit Road because the sois leading off Sukhumvit and Rama IV roads weren't paved. In the rainy season these sois were seas of mud. So we ended up on Soi Polo, near the Polo Club, for 32 years until both my parents had passed on.
Some of the low-lying parts of Bangkok, with the city already built on a flood plain, especially in the eastern suburbs, in the 1960s and 1970s and on into the 1980s, were quickly inundated and remained underwater for many weeks. The water table there was being depleted by drawing fresh water from some 14,000 artesian wells. The area was measured as sinking at about the same rate that a child grows. After the initial calamity of a new flood, the suburbs' plight was not really deemed newsworthy.
And so was then born the concept of protecting Bangkok at the expense of sacrificing the surrounding provinces to absorb the floodwaters.
Where the floods hit upcountry - that's any direction away from Bangkok - that was agricultural land and the flooded-out farmers were essentially ignored and suffered usually stoically. Farmers whose crops were devastated were given token compensation by the authorities. Not fair, of course, but the governments of the day were not really disaster prevention or mitigation conscious. Lip service was paid, yes, after the fact and until memories faded.
I have a March 1994 UNDP and Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) report prepared by the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre, which then identified some three dozen laws, nine ministries, 20 departments and 10 committees that were tasked to deal with disaster management in the Kingdom. This meant, obviously, that "disaster management" was then, and remains today, an oxymoron. In the intervening 18 years to the present, little has changed except that there are now more laws and more assigned agencies and more uninformed and unqualified interfering politicians involved.
I recall reading another report that focused on the management of the Chao Phraya River - at least some 40 different government units had varying degrees of jurisdiction and responsibility for what happened on and to the river. Hence no one was in charge and no one was responsible.
I'm probably being cynical, but I have a feeling that there are file rooms full of studies on disaster management risks, policies, strategies, structures and coordination that were commissioned but the recommendations embodied therein were not implemented with any sincerity or sustainability. Too bad, as I also suspect that there are many fine people assigned to concerned agencies who have long been frustrated by lack of commitment and political will to make the system work effectively and efficiently.
One of my secretaries once told me long ago that Thais are not known for being good planners but they are fabulous at coping. Experience has proven the validity of this axiom. But the trend today by the politicians is really neither, rather being addressed to maintaining an untarnished image of Thailand in the rest of the world.
The scale, scope and volume of this year's deluge far exceed the floods of the past. The damages sustained during the past floods pale in comparison to the calamity of this current event. And the floods of today are far from over. They have so far covered about a third of the country and are still flowing south towards the sea. I won't discuss the ever-evolving extent of the current floods, which are well reported by the local and international press.
David Lyman
Bangkok October 29, 2011 3:09 am
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion ... 68764.html
How did we deal with the floods in the "old days"?
Well, for the most part Bangkokians drove or waded through them. The floods were usually localised and with some exceptions, were drained through Bangkok's then many functioning and clear klongs (canals) into the Chao Phraya River and thence to the sea and were gone in a matter of days. As the heavy rains from monsoons and typhoons fell and the tides became high, filling the streets with water, awaiting the rains to stop and tides to subside, kids swam and played in the water. The population accepted the floods as inevitable and a nuisance, though not too disruptive. In a manner of speaking, they were fun times, full of opportunities to complain, to laugh, were good gambits for conversation. After all, floods and droughts have been a way of life for centuries in Thailand. The causes and cures thereof were rarely addressed with any sustained interest.
When in the 1950s my family was looking for a change of residence from Krung Kasem Road to a place nearer to my father's office on Hong Kong Bank Lane, off New Road, my father refused to move to Sukhumvit Road because the sois leading off Sukhumvit and Rama IV roads weren't paved. In the rainy season these sois were seas of mud. So we ended up on Soi Polo, near the Polo Club, for 32 years until both my parents had passed on.
Some of the low-lying parts of Bangkok, with the city already built on a flood plain, especially in the eastern suburbs, in the 1960s and 1970s and on into the 1980s, were quickly inundated and remained underwater for many weeks. The water table there was being depleted by drawing fresh water from some 14,000 artesian wells. The area was measured as sinking at about the same rate that a child grows. After the initial calamity of a new flood, the suburbs' plight was not really deemed newsworthy.
And so was then born the concept of protecting Bangkok at the expense of sacrificing the surrounding provinces to absorb the floodwaters.
Where the floods hit upcountry - that's any direction away from Bangkok - that was agricultural land and the flooded-out farmers were essentially ignored and suffered usually stoically. Farmers whose crops were devastated were given token compensation by the authorities. Not fair, of course, but the governments of the day were not really disaster prevention or mitigation conscious. Lip service was paid, yes, after the fact and until memories faded.
I have a March 1994 UNDP and Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) report prepared by the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre, which then identified some three dozen laws, nine ministries, 20 departments and 10 committees that were tasked to deal with disaster management in the Kingdom. This meant, obviously, that "disaster management" was then, and remains today, an oxymoron. In the intervening 18 years to the present, little has changed except that there are now more laws and more assigned agencies and more uninformed and unqualified interfering politicians involved.
I recall reading another report that focused on the management of the Chao Phraya River - at least some 40 different government units had varying degrees of jurisdiction and responsibility for what happened on and to the river. Hence no one was in charge and no one was responsible.
I'm probably being cynical, but I have a feeling that there are file rooms full of studies on disaster management risks, policies, strategies, structures and coordination that were commissioned but the recommendations embodied therein were not implemented with any sincerity or sustainability. Too bad, as I also suspect that there are many fine people assigned to concerned agencies who have long been frustrated by lack of commitment and political will to make the system work effectively and efficiently.
One of my secretaries once told me long ago that Thais are not known for being good planners but they are fabulous at coping. Experience has proven the validity of this axiom. But the trend today by the politicians is really neither, rather being addressed to maintaining an untarnished image of Thailand in the rest of the world.
The scale, scope and volume of this year's deluge far exceed the floods of the past. The damages sustained during the past floods pale in comparison to the calamity of this current event. And the floods of today are far from over. They have so far covered about a third of the country and are still flowing south towards the sea. I won't discuss the ever-evolving extent of the current floods, which are well reported by the local and international press.
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Source
Re: The Floods of 2011
Some serious words here. Pete
Pheu Thai and red shirts do nothing to help their own
Thanong Khanthong
thanong@nationgroup.com October 28, 2011 4:02 am
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion ... 68696.html
Pheu Thai and red shirts do nothing to help their own
Bangkok is falling, similar to the fall of Ayutthaya in 1765.
It is now too late to save Bangkok from flooding. I could never have imagined that the City of Angels would collapse before my eyes.
On Wednesday, a Nation photographer saw a group of people trying to destroy barriers protecting the Grand Palace from floods. This information appeared in my colleague's twitter account, @Tulsathit. Few paid attention to this. But it's a revelation, illustrating that the tragedy of modern Thailand is a conspiracy. If the Temple of the Emerald Buddha were to be completely underwater, Thais would have been dealt a big shock, losing all morale and strength to fight back. If the Emerald Buddha cannot protect the City of Angels, then the angels would have taken flight and the capital would have fallen.
Are we facing "shock and awe" similar to 9/11? The crash of the economy and whole nation? Let me raise several crucial questions that have to be addressed, because government agencies, ministers, Pheu Thai MPs and red shirts are apparently adopting a passive mode while disasters pile on the Thai people.
In spite of heavy storms this year, water levels in general have not been significantly worse than the great floods in 1995. More investigation is needed on water releases from the dams this year and in 1995. Water resources experts from Plamod Maiklad to Dr Smith Thammasaroj have asserted that floods could have been avoided. I was told that a Cabinet member spoke to irrigation and electricity officials not to release the water from dams, in spite of heavy downpours in September, so there would be enough water for farmers. "I shall assume sole responsibility for this," he said.
The delay in releasing water from dams, particularly Bhumibol Dam, in the North has caused mayhem because the water has to be released en masse otherwise the dams would have been broken apart. This Cabinet member has not yet come out to assume any responsibility for his decision that caused unprecedented floods to so far destroy 10,000 factories and plunged millions of Thais into bankruptcy and homelessness. What was his motivation? Was it meant to coincide with 9/11?
Prime Minister Yingluck initiated the Bang Rakam Model to tackle the floods in September after visiting Amphoe Bang Rakam, Phitsanulok. Bang Rakam (bang, small town; rakam, painful suffering) is far from being an auspicious name. She must have been informed about the serious threat of floods, which started in August. It was not until October 9 that she signed an executive order to create the Flood Relief Operation Centre (Froc). What happened during the interval on the flood prevention programme when ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra stole the news headlines?
Yingluck has put the wrong people in the wrong jobs. Does she know what she is doing? Froc is headed by Police General Pracha Phromnok, the justice minister. Pracha has virtually no knowledge of water resources and crisis management. Korbsak Sabhavasu, the Democrat's strategist, was surprised upon learning that Dhirachai Wuthitham served as secretary-general of Froc? He asked: "Who is Dhirachai? If he is unknown, how can he coordiate with all the agencies and ministries to combat the floods?"
The Interior Ministry sits on the sidelines doing virtually nothing to tackle the crisis. Interior Minister Yongyuth Vichaidit said the floods are beyond his and the ministry's ability to tackle, although the ministry has the country's largest manpower and resources network to respond to a crisis situation to help the people.
We have not seen the police on TV helping the flood victims. Police General Phriewphan Damarong, a younger brother of Pojaman Na Pombejra, has been appointed police chief. He made some news initially. After the floods become more serious, he did not appear in the public eye. The police force is an idle watcher of the tragedy. Instead, the military has sent out 40,000 personnel to help communities fighting the floods. Why does the police force adopt a do-nothing attitude?
Pheu Thai MPs and ministers are not helping flood victims. They are nowhere to be seen. Where are they?
Red-shirt leaders have not come out to help those affected by the floods either. In April and May last year, they campaigned against the elite and for democracy. This year their people are suffering badly, but not a single red-shirt leader has emerged to help the poor. Ironically, the provinces suffering from the floods are Pheu Thai territories. Where are they?
At the same time, Pheu Thai wants to go against the military by pushing for legislation to nullify the coup in 2006. Jatuporn Promphan, a red-shirt leader, is trying to have the Defence Ministry's regulations amended so that the government can have more control over the reshuffling of military posts.
Yingluck has refused international assistance although Thailand is facing bankruptcy from the floods. I was told that Ban Ki-moon, the secretary-general of the United Nations, asked the prime minister how the UN could help. Yingluck's response was to the effect that UN assistance would not be needed. The US offered to send aircraft carriers, which were also refused. Why did she refuse international assistance, which now has to go through private channels rather than official channels.
We do not see red-shirts coming out to help other red shirts in a systematic way. Food, drinks and other supplies are slow to be delivered to the flood victims.
These questions have really disturbed me as I watch the floods destroy Thailand. Yingluck is apparently a puppet prime minister who is dancing to a tune written by those around her. Who are the invisible hands who apparently have a malicious intent for Thailand?
Pheu Thai and red shirts do nothing to help their own
Thanong Khanthong
thanong@nationgroup.com October 28, 2011 4:02 am
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion ... 68696.html
Pheu Thai and red shirts do nothing to help their own
Bangkok is falling, similar to the fall of Ayutthaya in 1765.
It is now too late to save Bangkok from flooding. I could never have imagined that the City of Angels would collapse before my eyes.
On Wednesday, a Nation photographer saw a group of people trying to destroy barriers protecting the Grand Palace from floods. This information appeared in my colleague's twitter account, @Tulsathit. Few paid attention to this. But it's a revelation, illustrating that the tragedy of modern Thailand is a conspiracy. If the Temple of the Emerald Buddha were to be completely underwater, Thais would have been dealt a big shock, losing all morale and strength to fight back. If the Emerald Buddha cannot protect the City of Angels, then the angels would have taken flight and the capital would have fallen.
Are we facing "shock and awe" similar to 9/11? The crash of the economy and whole nation? Let me raise several crucial questions that have to be addressed, because government agencies, ministers, Pheu Thai MPs and red shirts are apparently adopting a passive mode while disasters pile on the Thai people.
In spite of heavy storms this year, water levels in general have not been significantly worse than the great floods in 1995. More investigation is needed on water releases from the dams this year and in 1995. Water resources experts from Plamod Maiklad to Dr Smith Thammasaroj have asserted that floods could have been avoided. I was told that a Cabinet member spoke to irrigation and electricity officials not to release the water from dams, in spite of heavy downpours in September, so there would be enough water for farmers. "I shall assume sole responsibility for this," he said.
The delay in releasing water from dams, particularly Bhumibol Dam, in the North has caused mayhem because the water has to be released en masse otherwise the dams would have been broken apart. This Cabinet member has not yet come out to assume any responsibility for his decision that caused unprecedented floods to so far destroy 10,000 factories and plunged millions of Thais into bankruptcy and homelessness. What was his motivation? Was it meant to coincide with 9/11?
Prime Minister Yingluck initiated the Bang Rakam Model to tackle the floods in September after visiting Amphoe Bang Rakam, Phitsanulok. Bang Rakam (bang, small town; rakam, painful suffering) is far from being an auspicious name. She must have been informed about the serious threat of floods, which started in August. It was not until October 9 that she signed an executive order to create the Flood Relief Operation Centre (Froc). What happened during the interval on the flood prevention programme when ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra stole the news headlines?
Yingluck has put the wrong people in the wrong jobs. Does she know what she is doing? Froc is headed by Police General Pracha Phromnok, the justice minister. Pracha has virtually no knowledge of water resources and crisis management. Korbsak Sabhavasu, the Democrat's strategist, was surprised upon learning that Dhirachai Wuthitham served as secretary-general of Froc? He asked: "Who is Dhirachai? If he is unknown, how can he coordiate with all the agencies and ministries to combat the floods?"
The Interior Ministry sits on the sidelines doing virtually nothing to tackle the crisis. Interior Minister Yongyuth Vichaidit said the floods are beyond his and the ministry's ability to tackle, although the ministry has the country's largest manpower and resources network to respond to a crisis situation to help the people.
We have not seen the police on TV helping the flood victims. Police General Phriewphan Damarong, a younger brother of Pojaman Na Pombejra, has been appointed police chief. He made some news initially. After the floods become more serious, he did not appear in the public eye. The police force is an idle watcher of the tragedy. Instead, the military has sent out 40,000 personnel to help communities fighting the floods. Why does the police force adopt a do-nothing attitude?
Pheu Thai MPs and ministers are not helping flood victims. They are nowhere to be seen. Where are they?
Red-shirt leaders have not come out to help those affected by the floods either. In April and May last year, they campaigned against the elite and for democracy. This year their people are suffering badly, but not a single red-shirt leader has emerged to help the poor. Ironically, the provinces suffering from the floods are Pheu Thai territories. Where are they?
At the same time, Pheu Thai wants to go against the military by pushing for legislation to nullify the coup in 2006. Jatuporn Promphan, a red-shirt leader, is trying to have the Defence Ministry's regulations amended so that the government can have more control over the reshuffling of military posts.
Yingluck has refused international assistance although Thailand is facing bankruptcy from the floods. I was told that Ban Ki-moon, the secretary-general of the United Nations, asked the prime minister how the UN could help. Yingluck's response was to the effect that UN assistance would not be needed. The US offered to send aircraft carriers, which were also refused. Why did she refuse international assistance, which now has to go through private channels rather than official channels.
We do not see red-shirts coming out to help other red shirts in a systematic way. Food, drinks and other supplies are slow to be delivered to the flood victims.
These questions have really disturbed me as I watch the floods destroy Thailand. Yingluck is apparently a puppet prime minister who is dancing to a tune written by those around her. Who are the invisible hands who apparently have a malicious intent for Thailand?
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Source
Re: The Floods of 2011
I think they may be going out on a precarious limb here:
And if the threat of drowning, disease, and crocodiles isn't enough, there's always this:
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/nationa ... 69114.htmlGovt dismisses health fears
And if the threat of drowning, disease, and crocodiles isn't enough, there's always this:
Another terror from the floods emerged yesterday - the public was warned that 15 green mamba snakes had escaped from a flooded building in Nonthaburi's Pak Kret district on Tuesday night.
Officials say the highly venomous snakes include two adults - 2 metres long - and 13 one-metre-long young ones.
Anyone spotting the snakes must alert the Zoo and Wildlife Veterinary Society of Thailand via hotline 1362 or the Jor Sor 100 radio station at (02) 711 9160.
Chisanu Tiyacharoensri, vice president of the Wild Animal Rescue Foundation of Thailand, said green mambas were yellowish-green and larger than green snakes. He urged people to stay away from the snakes and be careful not to be bitten because there was no serum available in Thailand at present to counteract their venom.
Chisanu said the victim of a mamba bite would feel drowsy and could die in 20 minutes. If he or she survived, the victim would be on respiratory aid while waiting for antivenin to come from South America in two or three days.
For first aid in case of snakebite to a limb, Chisanu said the wound should be cleaned gently with soap and water, and a piece of cloth should be wrapped tightly at least 7 centimetres above the bite. A second piece should be wrapped 7cm above the first. The victim should lie down before being quickly transported to hospital.
He warned not to squeeze or cut the wound.
-- The Nation 2011-11-03
My brain is like an Internet browser; 12 tabs are open and 5 of them are not responding, there's a GIF playing in an endless loop,... and where is that annoying music coming from?
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Re: The Floods of 2011
Not accepting help from a US Navy Aircraft Carrier group just to 'save face' is a very poor decision and incredibly stupid.
Re: The Floods of 2011
One of our staff who has a house in Bangkok showed me this website for monitoring flooding in specific areas in real time: http://www.gamling.org
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? - Hunter S Thompson
Re: The Floods of 2011
Passenger numbers dive at main airport
The severe flooding coupled with foreign governments' advisories against travel to Thailand has begun to take its toll on passenger traffic through Suvarnabhumi airport.
Passenger numbers at Bangkok's main airport started to decline during the last week of October, falling by 7% year-on-year, and the decline is likely to become more pronounced as flooding problems intensify, scaring more international travellers away.
"The drop-off in passenger numbers started on Oct 25 after holding steady over the previous 24 days," said Somchai Sawasdeepon, a senior executive vice-president of Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT).
Before the deluge began affecting Bangkok, Suvarnabhumi was handling about 130,000 passengers on 800 flights per day.
Airline executives have also begun to see falling bookings and cancellations for travel to the country, where flooding is being perceived internationally as on the same scale as Hurricane Katrina that hit New Orleans in 2005, thereby fostering fear.
Several carriers have already slashed their frequencies through Bangkok, and further cutbacks are looming on the horizon.
Cathay Pacific has reportedly halved its Bangkok-Hong Kong service to two flights a day, while Orient Thai Airlines has suspended its daily flight on the same route covered by a Boeing 747 jumbo jet.
The moves come as more Hong Kong tourists cancel their journeys in the wake of their government raising its travel advisory bar for Thailand to "red".
"We are witnessing a virtual standstill of traffic from North and East Asia _ China, Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong," Udom Tantiprasongchai, the founder of Orient Thai Airlines, which concentrates on that region, told the Bangkok Post.
The flag carrier Thai Airways International (THAI) is pondering a similar move, possibly cutting back service on some routes such as to Colombo and Hat Yai, said an airline official.
Suspension of the Bangkok-Athens route is also being considered, but that is due mostly to the economic crisis in Greece.
Mr Somchai of AoT conceded it would be difficult to woo back traffic.
"The message we're trying to put across is that not all of Thailand has been flooded. Tourists can still use Suvarnabhumi to hop over to their favourite destinations such as Phuket and Chiang Mai, which are flood-free," he said.
AoT is also trying to dispel the grave perceptions abroad that Suvarnabhumi is next in line to be flooded after Don Mueang airport was forced to close a week ago.
"We're highly confident that our flood protection will prevent any halt to the operation of Suvarnabhumi," said Mr Somchai.
He added that experts from Japan and Germany endorsed that statement after inspecting the flood protection barriers just days ago.
(Bangkok Post)
The severe flooding coupled with foreign governments' advisories against travel to Thailand has begun to take its toll on passenger traffic through Suvarnabhumi airport.
Passenger numbers at Bangkok's main airport started to decline during the last week of October, falling by 7% year-on-year, and the decline is likely to become more pronounced as flooding problems intensify, scaring more international travellers away.
"The drop-off in passenger numbers started on Oct 25 after holding steady over the previous 24 days," said Somchai Sawasdeepon, a senior executive vice-president of Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT).
Before the deluge began affecting Bangkok, Suvarnabhumi was handling about 130,000 passengers on 800 flights per day.
Airline executives have also begun to see falling bookings and cancellations for travel to the country, where flooding is being perceived internationally as on the same scale as Hurricane Katrina that hit New Orleans in 2005, thereby fostering fear.
Several carriers have already slashed their frequencies through Bangkok, and further cutbacks are looming on the horizon.
Cathay Pacific has reportedly halved its Bangkok-Hong Kong service to two flights a day, while Orient Thai Airlines has suspended its daily flight on the same route covered by a Boeing 747 jumbo jet.
The moves come as more Hong Kong tourists cancel their journeys in the wake of their government raising its travel advisory bar for Thailand to "red".
"We are witnessing a virtual standstill of traffic from North and East Asia _ China, Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong," Udom Tantiprasongchai, the founder of Orient Thai Airlines, which concentrates on that region, told the Bangkok Post.
The flag carrier Thai Airways International (THAI) is pondering a similar move, possibly cutting back service on some routes such as to Colombo and Hat Yai, said an airline official.
Suspension of the Bangkok-Athens route is also being considered, but that is due mostly to the economic crisis in Greece.
Mr Somchai of AoT conceded it would be difficult to woo back traffic.
"The message we're trying to put across is that not all of Thailand has been flooded. Tourists can still use Suvarnabhumi to hop over to their favourite destinations such as Phuket and Chiang Mai, which are flood-free," he said.
AoT is also trying to dispel the grave perceptions abroad that Suvarnabhumi is next in line to be flooded after Don Mueang airport was forced to close a week ago.
"We're highly confident that our flood protection will prevent any halt to the operation of Suvarnabhumi," said Mr Somchai.
He added that experts from Japan and Germany endorsed that statement after inspecting the flood protection barriers just days ago.
(Bangkok Post)
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Re: The Floods of 2011
Our neighbours arrived from Sweden today (with a bottle of aquavit pour moi - hah! 
). They were met by their usual taxi chap and had no problems getting here, although traffic was slow due to parking on the express ways.
The universities are planning to start the semester 4 weeks late on 28/11. Ho hum...
). They were met by their usual taxi chap and had no problems getting here, although traffic was slow due to parking on the express ways.The universities are planning to start the semester 4 weeks late on 28/11. Ho hum...
This is the way
Re: The Floods of 2011
Yes, it's always the same when these kind of negative things happen; those with ties (or should that be Thais) with Thailand will keep on coming but the downturn comes from those tourists that are choosing a holiday and are looking at a brochure filled with a choice of destinations around the world.
Re: The Floods of 2011
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Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Source
Re: The Floods of 2011
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Source