Officials, PM face blame of flooding

A landmark verdict in October 2010 that found fault with the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) in a water drainage operation and ordered payment of compensation to the plaintiffs could serve as a precedent in a complaint lodged with the Central Administrative Court in December against the prime minister and heads of 10 government agencies over mismanagement of the recent flooding.
The Central Administrative Court ruled in October 2010 that the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) was at fault in a water drainage operation in Sing Buri, which resulted in two rice mill plants being flooded by the swelling Noi River in the 2006 wet season. The court ordered the RID to pay compensation to both complainants.
This is the first time that Thailand’s prime minister and the directors-general of key agencies are facing litigation through an administrative judicial process.
Citing regulations stipulating the RID’s duties, which include “prevention of flood and adopting measures to prevent flood-caused damage”, the court ruled on October 8, 2010 that if the 12th Regional Irrigation Office, located in neighbouring Chainat – an RID subordinate unit – had not drained excessive volumes of flood water, the plants and rice products belonging to both complainants would not have been inundated and thoroughly damaged.

damage payouts
The complainants – Mana Fuengfoo Mill Limited Partnership and Mana Feungfoo Sing Buri Mill Limited Partnership – have received compensation from the RID for half of the damage suffered by their plants, and 30 per cent of other costs incurred by them to cope with loss.
The verdict found that the RID, which supervises the Chainat-based office, was at fault for causing damage to both the complainants’ mills, but did not impose any obligations on it or the office, under this administrative judicial process. Relying on legal adaptation relevant to the Tort Law under the Civil Code, the judges could only order the RID to pay the amounts they ruled at the request of both complainants.
The RID is obliged to carry out a number of duties under the 1942 organic law that created it and a 2002 law on administrative duties and good governance that all state agencies are required to follow. Apart from irrigation duties and flood and water management, the court said, the RID is also required to “prevent damage to be caused by its flood and water management and operations” along with dam operations and marine traffic in waterways under its supervision.
After hearing testimonies from both sides while verifying documentary and photographic evidence, the verdict said that the 12th Office released 3,000 cubic metres (units) per second from Chao Phraya Dam via the Noi River, which normally accommodated only 2,100 units per second on several occasions in the months before the flood peak in October 2006, without prior supervision and careful decision by the RID, which could have foreseen an extra amount of water travelling southwards.
“Since water management and subsequent water drainage are the RID’s duties, and the excessive water released by the 12th Office caused the Noi River to swell and flood the complainants’ properties, the RID, which is the 12th Office’s supervisory body, is therefore held responsible for the damage done,” the verdict concluded.
The RID’s defence that the extra huge volume of rainwater brought by storms that year from the widespread influence of global warming were not viable and not accepted, the court said. The excessive drainage rate at 3,000 units could have been avoided if the 12th Office and RID had jointly managed to seek better solutions, as the complainants’ evidence showed that other irrigation officers, who too faced the problem of excessive flood water, could cope well with it.

case against PM, govt heads
As for the amount of compensation the RID is required to pay, the court said it was cutting by half the amount of compensation to be paid for damage caused by the flood to the main plant and machinery of the complainants as full compensation would not be fair to the RID.
Also, complying with the demand for full compensation could cause problems in future flood and water management. The compensation for other costs was reduced to 30 per cent because the complainants did not provide a third-party account to verify the actual damage conditions, the court said.
Mana Fuengfoo Mill will receive Bt464,620.75, half of the amount for damage the flooding caused to its main plant and machines, and Bt41,400 for other costs it incurred, without annual 7.5 per cent interest because it was not requested. Mana Feungfoo Sing Buri Mill will receive Bt669,071 in damages for property, and Bt4.23 million for lost rice seeds, along with the annual 7.5 per cent interest until payment is fully made.
Stop Global Warming Thailand chairman Srisuwan Janya and 351 other flood victims lodged a complaint with the court on December 21 last year, accusing Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and the heads of nine departments, plus Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra, of mishandling flood and water management in various cases. That included the use of ‘big bags’ and drainage of water trapped in two key dams.
They have demanded a huge amount of compensation and asked the court to order them an overhaul of existing water and flood management for the future.