Damming up fears of a tragedy
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Fears that two large dams in Kanchanaburi will crumble and cause a catastrophe continue to persist, even though the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand has always brushed aside the fears.
Even though Nepal is 2,000 kilometres away from Thailand, fears of a dam tragedy have returned after Smith Dharmasaroja, a disaster expert famous for his warnings about the 2004 tsunami, said last week that he was worried the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Nepal on April 25 may be the catalyst for a second tsunami hitting Thailand and could also result in the Srinakarin and Vajiralongkorn dams collapsing because both are situated on fault lines.
If the dams crumbled, the meteorologist warned that Kanchanaburi could be hit by a 22-metre high wall of water.
In response, Egat said that a study it undertook in conjunction with Kasetsart University confirmed both dams were built based on high standards that would resist a 7.0-magnitude earthquake.
“Furthermore, if the epicentre [of the quake] is at least 60 kilometres away from the dam, there will be no impact,” it said.
The fears of a 22-metre-high wall of water were based on the unlikely scenario that the dam walls would completely collapsed, Egat said, adding that no dam wall anywhere in the world had completely collapsed. Based on a simulation, a disaster at Srinakarin dam could cause floods 3.2-metres high, with the water taking 15 hours to reach Kanchanaburi’s city centre, Egat said.
