Monkey cheek areas need careful management, expert warns

That was a comment by Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) water engineering expert Sutat Weesakul, at a discussion last Friday titled “AIT Returns Home: Towards a Sustainable Future”.

Faced with a flood crisis in which water kept rising every day, if “monkey cheek” areas were made to take water too early, a second wave of runoff – possibly of larger volume – could pour in fast, and could become difficult for officials to control, Sutat explained. 

“We should let them be flooded at a low level then when water overflows the [river] banks, we can divert the excess into the monkey cheeks.” 

“Monkey cheek” is a description used by HM the King that refers to water retention areas. It stems from monkeys’ ability to store water in their cheeks. 

Sutat said work should have started on such areas in 2008. The fact it required up to Bt30 billion in funding made it difficult but the project was proceeding now. 

He and other academics suggested solutions while analysing the flood disaster at an event that marked AIT Pathum Thani campus’ resumption after it was swamped by more than two metres of water in October 2011. 

For a long-term flood solution, the authorities had to study positive and negative consequences, Sutat said, suggesting they might have to sacrifice some areas – to be flooded at a controllable level, instead of holding as much water as possible until it spilled over and the situation became impossible. Local bodies also had to draw up flood strategies based on the government’s plan. 

For short-term solutions, he urged existing infrastructure to be repaired and well-maintained, so it is ready for any flood. 

Sutat said the water situation this year wasn’t so worrying but the government must prepare a water management plan that integrates knowledge and related experts to work together. Last year, Thailand had problems with information and communication, he said, and urged officials to improve flood warning systems, especially local ones, so they are timely and involve community participation.

Last year, warnings to people in areas at risk came too late – in fact local people didn’t know floodwalls on Greater Bangkok’s western bank had burst in 14 spots so they were not repaired in time. That led to a loss of water-level control, he said. 

The government also needed to quickly educate the public about floods, which could result from technical issues and need public cooperation rather than people protesting for what they want. 

He urged AIT to repair earth dykes damaged by last year’s flood and ensure offices and communities around the campus also survived.

Dr Seree Supratid, of Rangsit University, said being prepared was key because weather patterns in Thailand had fluctuated from drought to floods over the past decade, and it was difficult to make predictions. Possible solutions were a 2-million-rai flood retention basin, creating an eastern flood bypass channel, or an East and West flood bypass channel. 

Seree also suggested officials forecast the inflow to dams, with risk communication, a decision support system and land-use planning.