Hope everyone has a safe New Year!

New Year road death toll reaches 209
By Digital Content

BANGKOK, Dec 31 -- A total of 1,818 road accidents have claimed 209 lives and resulted in 1,931 injuries over the first four of the seven dangerous days of the New Year holiday, according to Thailand's Road Safety Centre.

Chanvech Boonpraderm, advisor to the Office of the Vocational Education Commission, told a press briefing that on Monday alone, 48 people were killed, six less than the previous year; and 541 others were injured in 496 road accidents, explaining that most accidents resulted from drunk driving, followed by excessive speeding.

After being accident-free initially, the first accidents in four days occurred in Chaiyaphum and Samut Songkhram so now all provinces have had accidents.

Meanwhile, Nakhon Sawan recorded the highest number of accidents at 66 while Nakhon Ratchasima recorded the largest number of injuries at 81.

Nakhon Ratchasima has also seen the highest number of fatalities at 13. (MCOT online news)


-- TNA 2013-12-31

24 Provinces underwater in Thailand with more rain on the way!

Thailands rainy season is getting into full swing. Although the Pattaya - Chonburi area has not yet been hit hard, Thailands Northeast "Issan" and Central Plains are feeling the effects!

This article for this mornings "The Nation" tells which provinces are flooded along with how Bangkok and the Chao Praya River are coping.

 

 Northeast, East brace for tropical depression approaching from Vietnam

BANGKOK: -- The Royal Irrigation Department is keeping a close eye on the impact of the upcoming tropical depression from Vietnam, which might affect several provinces in Thailand's Northeast and Eastern regions.

Ubon Ratchatani, Si Sa Ket, Surin and Prachin Buri would likely be affected by the upcoming depression. These areas are already severely hit by floods, the department's deputy director-general Suthep Noipairoj said yesterday.

He expressed concerns about the flood situation in Prachin Buri as the Pasak Chonlasit Dam is now nearly full and needed to discharge some volume of water before the new tropical depression arrived.

To date, the volume of water in Pasak Chonlasit Dam was 785 million cubic metres while the full capacity of the dam was 960 million cubic metres.

"We have to discharge about 8.9 million cubic metres per day from the dam to prepare for the upcoming depression," he said.

Meanwhile, Chao Phraya River should drain water at 2,300 cubic metres per second, which exceeds its capacity of 2,195 cubic metres per second.

Suthep explained that the department would drain the excess amount of water into the fields on the western and eastern banks of Chao Phraya River.

However, he explained that most of the flood-affected areas were located along the river and waterway and that is why they were at risk from the adverse impact of the flooding.

Floods have already affected more than 2.1 million people this month and ravaged more than 1.14 million rai of farmland.

Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department director-general Chatchai Phromlert said yesterday that floodwater had also damaged 2,310 roads, 6,900 houses and 145 bridges. "Of the 29 flood-hit provinces, the situation in just five has returned to normal as of today," he said.

Still under water are Surin, Si Sa Ket, Ubon Ratchathani, Buri Ram, Amnat Charoen, Chaiyaphum, Yasothon, Mukdahan, Phitsanulok, Phichit, Kamphaeng Phet, Phetchabun, Nakhon Sawan, Uthai Thani, Lop Buri, Saraburi, Chainat, Prachin Buri, Sa Kaew, Nakhon Nayok, Chachoengsao, Ayutthaya, Angthong and Suphan Buri.

Many of these provinces are heavily flooded. The worst-hit spots in Chaiyaphum are about 2.8 metres under water.

In Buri Ram, floodwater levels have soared above three metres in Krasang district, marooning more than 200 families. Officials are making desperate efforts to get relief items to these victims.

Working alongside local administrative bodies, the department has mobilised thousands of volunteers to deliver assistance. More than 1,500 boats have been dispatched to reach the victims. Not all, however, are happy with the authorities' response.

Anong Thongsri, a 46-year-old resident in Prachin Buri's flooded Kabin Buri district, lamented that assistance efforts had failed to reach all those affected. "The floodwater level is also rising," she said.

Department of Religious Affairs chief Preecha Gunteeya said, meanwhile, that 295 temples in 12 provinces were flooded, affecting 2,014 monks.

The Government Housing Bank has offered a debt moratorium for flood-hit customers, whose loan repayments will be suspended for up to nine months depending on the severity of their situation. During that period, no interest will be charged on the loans.

Should flooding damage the whole house of a loan recipient, the bank will write off all outstanding debt on the house, leaving just the debt from the land purchase to pay.

Flood-hit loan recipients can contact the bank for help at (02) 645 9000.


-- The Nation 2013-09-27

Thailand braces for first Tropical Depression of the rainy season

Bangkok Thailand and its North East region of "Issan" are bracing for heavy rains and flooding 

 

 

 

 

This article from this mornings "The Nation"

Tropical depression already drenching parts of Northeast

BANGKOK: -- Authorities have identified 37 flood-prone spots in Bangkok in the face of a coming tropical depression.

The depression, which entered Thailand's Northeast yesterday morning, is expected to reach the Central region today. It is expected to bring rain.

Traffic Police chief Pol Maj-General Piya Tavichai yesterday said Bangkok residents should avoid all of the 37 flood-prone spots, if possible, during heavy downpours.

Among these spots are a portion of Rajavithi Road between Suan Dusit Rajabhat University and the Krung Thon Buri Bridge; a portion of Phya Thai Road in front of the Livestock Development Department; and a stretch of Ratchadaphisek Road in front of Robinson Department Store.

Sanya Chenimit, deputy permanent secretary of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), said some of the capital's low-lying spots had already been drained in preparation for possible rain.

Based on what he has seen so far, Sanya expects the coming depression to affect the city only indirectly.

"It may cause light rain, but will not bring any serious downpours," he said.

As part of the preparations, Sanya said officials had been instructed to conduct constant checks to ensure that no garbage blocked drainage pipes. Clogged pipes are often blamed for flooding.

He added that people could ease the problem of clogged pipes by putting garbage into bins.

In a separate interview, PM Yingluck Shinawatra emphasised the need for the BMA to dredge canals and drainage pipes.

"I don't want to see the BMA [waiting to] talk about drainage until upstream run-off water has already arrived," she said.

She said the central government had worked hard on managing water volumes in upstream and midstream areas so as to minimise the impacts on Bangkok.

At the peak of the 2011 flood crisis, the central government and the BMA quarrelled over how best to manage the water volume. The floods submerged some parts of the capital.

Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department director-general Chatchai Phromlert said the depression would increase rainfall in Mukdahan, Amnat Charoen, Ubon Ratchathani, Yasothon, Roi Et, Si Sa Ket, Surin, Sa Kaew, Rayong, Chanthaburi and Trat during the next two days.

"We are now paying close attention to risky areas such as at the foot of mountains and low-lying areas," he said.

Meanwhile, downpours continued in many parts of Phitsanulok yesterday.

The province's Disaster Prevention and Mitigation office warned people in Wang Thong, Nakhon Thai, Chat Trakan, Wat Bote and Noen Maprang districts to beware of possible flash floods and landslides.

Phitsanulok is among the flood-prone provinces that Yingluck has expressed concerns about.

-- The Nation 2013-09-20

Outbound Bangkok trains, bus terminals crowded by Songkran exodus

If you are thinking of heading up country for this years Songkran you should check out this article from Thai Visa








BANGKOK, April 11 -- Train stations and bus terminals in Bangkok are crowded with passengers beginning to flow out of the capital to celebrate the Thai traditional new year, or Songkran long holidays, and homecoming trips.

Revellers started arriving at Hua Lamphong Railway Station early morning to catch trains to their hometowns. The northeastern route was on highest demand followed by the northern route.

Additional holiday April 12

The Cabinet approved an additional holiday April 12 as a special case during Songkran to enable people to return home during the festival, making it a 5-day holiday (April 12-16).

The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) has implemented measures to facilitate and ensure the safety of passengers during April 11-18.

Eight extra trains will be provided on top of 250 daily train services April 11-12 and 18 extra trains from April 15-18 which could carry an additional 13,000 passengers daily on average.

Meanwhile, Mo Chit Bus Terminal was gradually crowded since early morning, particularly the northeastern route.

More than 210,000 passengers are expected to use the interprovincial bus services today.

The Transport Company increased the numbers of services by 2,000 trips and expected to cope with the high demand of passengers.

No stranded passengers were expected by midnight.

At Suvarnabhumi Airport, it is expected that more than 164,000 passengers will use the airport on Thursday, a highest number during the festival.

Various airlines have provided more than 400 chartered flights to respond the demand of passengers. (MCOT online news)

 
 -- TNA 2013-04-11