Flood situation improving: PM

Yingluck non-committal on inner Bangkok; Ban, Clinton to visit Bangkok on Wednesday

The flood situation in Bangkok is getting better with water receding in many places, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said yesterday, although she declined to say how far the flood water would stray into inner Bangkok and whether the Bangchan Industrial Estate will be safe.

Yingluck said the flood situation in Bangkok would be less severe than in the provinces, although there will be a high-tide period in mid-November. She said water drainage in the west of Bangkok needs further improvement.

Answering a reporter's question on how far she expected the water to reach inner Bangkok, the premier said, "It's difficult to say. I have to see the situation on November 13 today first as we are doing something to prevent the flood and we need to see to what extent it works."

If the water is drained to Saen Saeb Canal and the sluice Watergate can work well, everything would be all right, she said.

Earlier, in her weekly television and radio programmer, the prime minister said the "big bag" barriers - the temporary flood-prevention dykes made from 1-2 tonne sandbags - could delay water coming from the north of Bangkok, allowing time for better water management to the east of the capital.

Yingluck said she had ordered the Royal Irrigation Department to drain the water in the upper areas of the big-bag line to Rangsit Canal and then to the sea as soon as possible. 

Besides the order for the Interior Ministry to give help and compensation to residents of the areas affected by the use of big bags, which would slow down water drainage from their areas, the government had provided 70 large pumps, according to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's request, so that water can be drained faster.

The water drainage must be done quickly while the sea tide is not so high, she said.

In the west of Bangkok, Yingluck said, the repair of broken dykes at 14 points was expected to be finished by the weekend. If successful, then water trapped in Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi and the west of Bangkok should recede.

It is hard to make the west of Bangkok flood-free as the dyke system on this side is not as strong as in the east of Bangkok, she said. 

Moreover, the canal system was aligned in a vertical direction. The government had ordered canal dredging to expedite water drainage to the sea, Yingluck added.

The Transport Ministry is expediting recovery of road No 340, which was earlier flooded, to serve as a back-up road to the South in case Rama II Road becomes unusable, she said.

Regarding compensation, Yingluck said the Cabinet on Tuesday had approved Bt3.1 billion assistance for over 600,000 households in 30 districts of Bangkok. Each household would get Bt5,000 within 45 days.

Meanwhile, over 470,000 flood victims, or 90 per cent of the total, in 36 provinces have already received compensation. The Government Savings Bank would give the money to the remaining victims by Tuesday, she said.

Up to Bt30,000 assistance would be paid if a victim's house is fully damaged; up to Bt20,000 would be paid in case of partial house damage; up to Bt25,000 assistance in case of death and up to another Bt25,000 in case of death of the head of the family, she said.

Yingluck said the flood situation in the central region was improving, with many provinces having almost returned to normal, including Ayutthaya, Nakhon Sawan, Sing Buri and Ang Thong. 

Some provinces had organised "big cleaning day" campaigns to clean up their provinces and bring them back to normal.

Yingluck expressed gratitude for help from foreign countries such as Switzerland, the Netherlands and the United States and also thanked the MPs for the vote on the first reading of the 2012 Budget Bill. She promised the money would be used transparently and for the best benefit of the people.

On Wednesday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit Thailand. They will visit flood-affected areas in Bangkok in separate missions before discussing assistance to Thailand, Yingluck said.

She would also clarify the country's plan in different phases: rescue, restore and rebuild, she said.

Yingluck said she was scheduled to attend the Asian Summit in Bali from Thursday to Saturday. She said she would clarify to the international community the flood situation and rehabilitation plan so as to rebuild confidence in Thailand among foreign investors.

During the Summit, she will also meet US President Barack Obama, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Chinese President Hu Jintao.