Where is the long-term planning?

Surely she knew of our annual floods – her own minister Plodprasob Surassawadee took the Democrats to task in Parliament last year for being slow in managing the floods then.
She should start with a long-term vision. Begin with the end (goal) in mind. Where is she taking us over the next four years, and what water management plan will help take us there? Nationwide, what role will agriculture play vis-a-vis industry – and in which regions? The Irrigation Department warned developers long ago not to put industrial estates in Ayutthaya and Pathum Thani, as they are low-lying and susceptible to flooding, yet that’s precisely where such estates are the densest, and why the damage to our industries is so heavy. Yingluck should weigh the feasibility of moving these industrial complexes to where they would be less vulnerable, or at least ensure that roads don’t block the flow of floodwater to canals, as those in Pathum Thani do now.
At every step, involve locals and get their “buy-in”; that’s democracy at work, PM Yingluck, and will make implementation a lot easier – especially where sacrifices are involved. Keep national interests – not those of Bangkok – to the fore.
DPM Chalerm Yoobumrung often says he’s putting the “right man in the right job”, as shown by his rush to replace top cop Police General Wichien, presumably with Thaksin’s kin – yet he and PM Yingluck seem not to have used that approach here. Just in this month, for example, public communications responsibility about flood efforts shifted from Interior Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit to Science Minister Plodprasob to Justice Minister Pracha Promnok – though what water management has to do with science or justice, nobody knows.
PM Yingluck must have contingency “what if” plans as back-up, and frequent, unannounced drills. Let’s use this disaster as an opportunity to develop a water management scheme worthy of the name – before next year’s monsoons.
Burin Kantabutra
Bangkok