Opinion on the success of the "big bags" experiment in alleviating the flooding menace in Bangkok is divided.
Troops and city officials created barriers of 4,000 large bags stuffed with crushed and carbonate rocks and coarse sand, weighing up to 2.5 tonnes each.
The barriers were put up north of Bangkok to slow water from Khlong Rangsit from flowing into the city.
The government has credited the bags with regulating the flow of water and allowing authorities enough time to pump water out through the canals.
A source at the Flood Relief Operations Command (Froc) hailed the big bag operation a success.
Staff had borrowed the idea from Wat Phra Dhammakaya in Pathum Thani, although other sources said Pairoj Thungthong, the former Uthai Thani MP, had first proposed that oversized bags designed for transporting tapioca flour be filled with gravel and sand and laid as an anti-flood embankment.
Wat Phra Dhammakaya erected the bags around the temple as a defence line against the overflowing Raphipat canal.
The idea was conveyed to Transport Minister Sukumpol Suwanatat, who is in charge of erecting the big bags, by his adviser Chadchart Sittiphan who has a close relationship with the temple.
The minister said the bags were transported by train, a process which took a week to complete.
A source close to ACM Sukumpol said the military, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, the Highways Department and the Land Transport Department took part in building the barriers.
Thaweejit Chandrasakha, president of the Association of Siamese Architects, has doubts about whether the big bags really helped.
The bags could help manage water to a certain extent but when flooding became too bad, water must be allowed to take its course, he said. Water that surges fast will subside fast and this is better than prolonging its flow.
"If not, it is like keeping a patient ill," he said. "The big bag issue was also political. If the government is seen as sitting on its hands, it will be criticised.
It will want to do something, and the bags helped achieve that impression," Mr Thaweejit said.
Deputy Prime Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit said residents behind the big bag barriers where water is still being retained may be given special assistance. He did not elaborate.
Earlier, residents in Don Muang district protested against the big barriers by threatening to close the Don Muang Tollway to traffic.
Others want to sue the government for leaving them inundated for longer than necessary.
Big bag barriers have been formed for 6km along the rail tracks from Pathum Thani to Vibhavadi Rangsit Road; 2km across Don Mueang airport; 2.5km along Chantharubeksa Road; 4km from Khlong Hok Wa to Khlong Phraya Suren; and 1km along Sai Mai Road.
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