Organic vegetables for a bargain

Organic vegetables from flood-hit Nong Sua, Thanya Buri and Bung Cham Aw districts in Pathum Thani will be on sale at the Bank of Thailand tomorrow and on Friday from 6am-2pm.

The sale is arranged by the Green Market Network to help farmers who for weeks have been unable to deliver their produce to the market because roads links to their villages were severed by flooding.

Faced with the prospect of seeing their produce perish, the network assembled a fleet of trucks capable of wading through floodwater to collect the produce from villages and put them on sale at the central bank, located in Phra Nakhon district of Bangkok.

Interested parties are required to bring their own tote or re-used plastic bags.

Damage estimate needs revision Central bank

The Bank of Thailand will further revise its estimates of economic damage from the floods to take into account factors such as disruptions to the services sector and commercial activity in Bangkok, says Suchada Kirakul, deputy governor for monetary stability.

The central bank on Oct 19 estimated losses of 120 billion baht in industrial output from floods that damaged industrial estates and severely inundated the western side of Bangkok.

The most significant impact has been on electronics and automotive firms and consequently on global supply chains for those industries.

The fact that large companies normally have insurance coverage for their assets would help to mitigate damage to some extent, she said.

JP Morgan said the severe impact on local makers of hard-disk drives and other components would cut global PC production by up to 15% this year, but a recovery would begin in the first quarter of next year.

The floods are also expected to reduce tourism revenues by 20 billion baht with up to 800,000 visitors cancelling plans, Mrs Suchada said.

She also noted that bond yields had been falling as investors expect the central bank to cut its interest rate to help the recovery.

"The central bank could play a role to help the private sector through decisions by the Monetary Policy Committee," she said. "This is a straightforward thing that we can do."

The MPC is due to hold its next meeting at the end of this month. At its Oct 19 meeting it left its interest rate unchanged at 3.5%. 

The central bank currently has enough policy space to adjust to accommodate private-sector activities, after continual interest rate increases," Mrs Suchada said.

"Demand for bonds] in the central bank's auctions has recently increased, compared to a shortage of demand in the past. This showed that the market has priced in the MPC's future rate cuts. It is currently a good time to issue bonds."

The political cost of a natural disaster

ANALYSIS: The govt faces mounting pressure as critics savage its flood response efforts

The Yingluck Shinawatra government is falling out of public favour because of its handling of the country's flood crisis.

The government was sworn into office in early August, unaware that the first major test of its resoluteness was already creeping up on it _ the worst disaster in 50 years.

The cabinet seats were barely warm when a vast ocean of water built up in the northern provinces and began a steady march on central Bangkok, ravaging all provinces from the North to the Central Plains along the way and bringing death and destruction on a scale no one could conceive of.

Today, with the disaster far from over, the government is already counting the cost not just of the damage and clean up, but the effect on its standing among the population. Its declining popularity is reflected in a recent Suan Dusit poll in which 46.9% of respondents said it had failed its first test and was ill-prepared.

Like the districts still untouched, the pressure is bearing down on Ms Yingluck from all sides.

In hindsight, she had ample time in early August to brainstorm ideas from experts to mitigate the impact of floods in the North and the Central Plains and deal with the threat to the capital.

In reality, little could be done for many of the provinces north of Bangkok, such was the extent of the deluge. Yet she and her cabinet cannot avoid responsibility for the catastrophe.

Their responses is perceived as tardy and lacking an offensive approach.

By the time floodwater began to swamp Ayutthaya, the sense of urgency to protect Bangkok needed no elucidating _ it was real.

But flood prevention lines were built belatedly and additional water pumps procured only after the situation turned critical.

Flood management and relief efforts have been rendered ineffective by a lack of coordination among state agencies and politicians engaging in finger-pointing and the blame game.

Sombat Thamrongthanyawong, rector of the National Institute of Development Administration (Nida), said crises always prove a government's worth, and if it can keep damage to a minimum it can win the recognition of the public.

Mr Sombat said that since the flood disaster began, the government has been defeated on every front.

Even though the crisis has been hard to predict, the onus is on the government to gather input from professionals and experts, not amateurs, to ensure accurate data and come up with the right solutions, Mr Sombat said.

He stressed it is important to put the right man in the right job and not deal with problems as they crop up.

He noted the Interior Ministry, which has the largest number of personnel and vast amounts of manpower at every level of government across the country, was not put in charge of flood relief. Instead, the job was offered to the Justice Ministry, which Mr Sombat says is not suited to the task.

But Ms Yingluck has an ally in Bangkok Senator Rosana Tositrakul, who has voiced her disagreement with calls for the PM's resignation.

She urged the government to focus on tackling the floods rather than trying to thwart political side-issues.

Ms Rosana said Ms Yingluck cannot not be held responsible alone, rather all those involved in flood management should take collective responsibility, and if anyone is to be replaced, then they all should be replaced.

Thousands refuse to leave as floodwaters threaten central Bangkok

Murky floodwater is slowing moving towards the heart of the Thai capital Bangkok as thousands of people ignore orders to evacuate the city.

Relief workers are distributing aid to evacuation centers in central Bangkok, but they say they are struggling to reach residents still refusing to leave their homes.

"I believe thousands of people are in their homes and are still not evacuating," relief co-ordinator Rungsun Munkong told CNN. "(They) possibly will be stranded with little food and water as time goes by."

He says other agencies have attempted to reach people trapped in tower blocks "but the scale is just massive."

"I think it will be difficult down the road to get help to these people," Munkong says, adding, "People need clean water, that's the first important thing. Cooked ready-to-eat food is also quite important, baby milk and so on."

Thailand has been inundated with its worst flood in half a century, affecting at least 25 of the country's 77 provinces.

More than 500 people had been killed in the deluge according to figures released Sunday by the country's interior ministry.

A Thailand Disaster and Mitigation Department report, issued Sunday and reported by MCOT, estimated about 3.1 million people have been affected and 4 million acres of farmland have been damaged. Moreover, the department said two people are believed missing and about 75 highways have closed.

In the provinces of Nakhon Sawan and Ayutthaya, cleanup efforts were under way.

On Sunday, the Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra visited Nonthaburi, near Bangkok. There, the government provided 100 boats to help transport people and disperse relief supplies after requests by local officials, according to MCOT.

Despite public criticism of the government's overall response, Yingluck said she would not shake up her Cabinet -- in the short-term, at least.

She explained that the focus first is to address the situation, with a full evaluation and possible shuffling to be done after the crisis abates, reported MCOT.
I think it will be difficult down the road to get help to these people
Rungsun Munkong, relief co-ordinator

Floods are an annual occurrence in the country but have been particularly acute this year, and some residents and analysts have criticized the government's response.

"Now the government is sending a mixed signal that the situation is fine, but the truth is it the situation far from over," political analyst Supong Limtanakul told CNN. "It is a slow suffocating death of (the) Bangkok business area."

The city's main airport and two large industrial sites are also at risk, Supong said.

Supong said the government did not have enough resources to deal with floodwaters, noting that officials had recently asked the private sector for water pumps to help drain water out of Bangkok.

Paribatra, Bangkok's governor, told MCOT that it may take up to two weeks to drain water out of Bangkok's main roads, and months to drain water from smaller roads.

Thai Floods Edge Closer to Central Bangkok

Floodwaters edged closer to central Bangkok today, reaching the northernmost station on the city’s inner-city rail system, as Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra warned the deluge may take as long as three weeks to drain.

“The amount of water is massive,” Yingluck said after visiting a flooded district on the city’s outskirts. “It may take two to three weeks for the water to drain to the sea, so we are asking people to be patient.”

Authorities completed a 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) wall of sandbags along a canal north of Bangkok, part of a network of levees that are being used to help divert a slow-moving mass of water around the city center and protect industrial zones east of the capital, 

Yingluck said. Thailand’s floods have claimed 506 lives since late July and shuttered 10,000 factories in provinces north of Bangkok, disrupting global supply chains.

Floodwaters that forced the closure of one of the nation’s biggest shopping mall in the Ladproa district last week have continued moving south toward the city center, and may reach Din Daeng and Victory Monument, Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra said on his official Facebook page late yesterday.

The monument, erected in 1941 to commemorate the Franco- Thai War, is a major traffic intersection northeast of the city center, and a stop on Bangkok’s elevated railway network known as the skytrain. Floodwaters reached the Mochit skytrain station yesterday, though operations weren’t disrupted, according to the government’s travel website.

Angry Residents

The Thai capital is facing a dual threat from floodwaters from the north and angry residents intent on tearing down defensive walls and the government’s so-called “big-bag” dike, Yingluck said.

“Please don’t destroy the big-bag dike and other barriers,” Yingluck wrote today on her official Facebook page. “Please think about the overall benefit so we can get through this problem together.”

Bangkok’s business districts of Silom and lower Sukhumvit Road remain dry and Suvarnabhumi Airport and public transport links are unaffected. The airport’s perimeter is protected by a 3.5-meter-high dike, Airports of Thailand Pcl said last week.

Evacuations have been ordered in almost a quarter of Bangkok’s 50 districts, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration said.

Floodwaters were as deep as 60 centimeters in Ladprao, the government’s Flood Relief Operation Command said in an e-mailed statement late yesterday. Water reached TMB Bank Pcl’s headquarters on Phaholyothin Road and flooding also affected Chatuchak market, the state agency said.

Monsoon Rains

The disaster worsened last month, when rainfall about 40 percent more than the annual average filled dams north of Bangkok to capacity, prompting authorities to release more than 9 billion cubic meters of water down a river basin the size of Florida, with Bangkok at its southern tip.

The deluge spread over 64 of Thailand’s 77 provinces, damaging World Heritage-listed temples in Ayutthaya province, destroying 15 percent of the nation’s rice crop and flooding the homes of almost 10 million people, according to government data.

The floods have already swamped seven industrial parks, halting production at factories operated by companies including Western Digital Corp. and Nidec Corp.

The Bank of Thailand, which last month slashed its 2011 economic growth forecast to 2.6 percent from 4.1 percent, expects expansion to slow as the global economy weakens and the impact of the nation’s flood crisis increases, according to the minutes of its Oct. 19 meeting.

Rehabilitation

Rehabilitation efforts have begun in parts of Nakhon Sawan province and will start soon in Ayutthatya as flood waters recede, Yingluck said yesterday. 

The government has an initial budget of more than 100 billion baht ($3.3 billion) to help rebuild damaged areas, she said, adding that Cabinet will discuss new measures to help the economy recover on Nov. 8.

“We can’t lose the battle this time,” Army chief Prayuth Chan-Ocha told reporters Nov. 4. “If we’re defeated, the damage to the country will be tremendous. Now we’re still fighting, but the enemy is massive.”

Floods Edge Closer to Central Bangkok, Prompting Evacuations

Floodwaters edged closer to central Bangkok today, forcing the evacuation of more districts, as authorities rushed to repair damaged dikes to save the inner city from inundation.

Evacuations have been ordered in almost a quarter of Bangkok’s 50 districts, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration said today, after telling people to leave Bang Khae, an area on the western edge of the city. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra asked residents living outside the city’s flood barriers not to damage levees to save their own homes.

“We all feel your suffering,” Yingluck told reporters today. “Destroying levees along canals doesn’t reduce the floodwaters but causes water to spread. The government has plans to assist people who have been affected.”

Bangkok officials are struggling to maintain a system of dikes, canals and sandbag barriers designed to divert a slow- moving mass of floodwater around the city center. Floods that spread over 63 of Thailand’s 77 provinces over the past three months have killed 437 people and shuttered 10,000 factories north of Bangkok, disrupting global supply chains.

Yingluck yesterday ordered water gates to be narrowed on the Sam Wa canal in northeastern Bangkok amid concern spillover may flood the Bang Chun and Lat Krabang industrial zones, home to factories operated by Honda Motor Co. and Unilever. Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra this week asked police to protect the levee from local residents who damaged part of it to ease flooding around their homes.

The government is balancing the need to protect an area that accounts for about half of the nation’s industrial output with demands from residents to drain water from parts of outer Bangkok where homes have been inundated for weeks.

Monsoon Rains

Thailand’s flood crisis began in late July, when monsoon rains filled dams north of Bangkok to capacity, prompting authorities to release more than 9 billion cubic meters of water down a river basin the size of Florida, with Bangkok at the bottom. Rainfall this year has exceeded the average by about 40 percent, according to government data.

Flooding is mainly limited to northern, eastern and western areas of Bangkok and low-lying places near canals. The business districts of Silom and lower Sukhumvit remain dry and Suvarnabhumi Airport and public transport links are unaffected.

The death toll from the disaster rose to 437, according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. Twenty- five provinces are still affected by flooding, the agency said on its website today.

Evacuations

Water levels in Bangkok’s northern districts rose yesterday, the Flood Relief Operation Command said in an e-mailed statement.

“Residents in some areas of Chatuchak, Nong Kaem, Klong Sam Wa, and Ladprao have been advised to evacuate to safer areas,” the flood-center said.

Siam Commercial Bank Pcl, Thailand’s third-biggest company by market value, started sending workers home as floodwaters rose around its headquarters in Chatuchak, which is also the location of Bangkok’s most popular weekend market.

“The water is about 20 centimeters high at the main road in front of our office,” spokeswoman Ongorn Abhakorn Na Ayuthaya said today by phone. “We normally have about 3,000 staff working at the headquarters. Now we have only about 1,000 who are involved in critical roles.” Staff levels may be reduced to 500 if the situation worsens, she said.

Unilever and Chevron Corp., which have offices in the same area, are allowing some employees to work from home, the companies said in separate e-mailed statements.

Chao Phraya

Yingluck said floodwaters have risen in Thonburi, on the western bank of the Chao Phraya River, because barriers are leaking at 10 different points. Repairs should be completed by Nov. 13, before the next series of peak tides, she said.

Yingluck said water has receded in provinces north of Bangkok, where floods swamped seven industrial parks, halting production at factories operated by companies including Honda, Western Digital Corp. and Nidec Corp. Sony Corp. yesterday said supply chain disruptions in Thailand will delay the introduction of high-end NEX and Alpha cameras, and erode annual profit by 25 billion yen ($320 million).

The Bank of Thailand, which last week slashed its 2011 economic growth forecast to 2.6 percent from 4.1 percent, expects expansion to slow as the global economy weakens and the impact of the nation’s flood crisis increases, according to the minutes of its Oct. 19 meeting released yesterday. Thailand’s inflation rate held above 4 percent for the seventh straight month in October as food costs climbed, government data released Nov. 1 show.

Industrial Estates

Thailand’s government will start pumping floodwater from the Rojana industrial estate in Ayutthaya province on Nov. 7, Permanent Secretary for Industry Witoon Simachokedee said earlier this week.

“The drainage should be done within two weeks and the companies can start to get into their properties to fix machinery,” Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong said yesterday.

Rehabilitation of the Nava Nakorn Industrial Estate will start on Nov. 15 and take 45 days, Nipit Arunvongse Na Ayudhya, managing director of Nava Nakorn Pcl, said yesterday.

“The situation should be back to normal by New Year or early January,” he said. “Still, it may take a few more months for some plants, depending on their businesses.”

--With assistance from Daniel Ten Kate and Suttinee Yuvejwattana

in Bangkok. Editors: Tony Jordan, Paul Tighe