Royal Irrigation debunks online rumours of Chao Phraya bursting banks

The rumour was spread with a post by a Facebook user (name withheld) on Thursday that the department would speed up the release of water from the Chao Phraya Dam in Chainat on Friday.
The post claimed to know that the dam could no longer hold back incoming floodwaters from upstream.
The post claimed that the Saphan Daeng bridge in Pathum Thani’s Rangsit district had already been flooded and local people learned that the water would be released at a faster speed on Friday.
Not so, insisted the department in a statement released on Friday in which it labelled the post “misinformation” and said that the department had water management under control. Bangkok, Pathum Thani and Nonthaburi would not be affected as the post claimed.
The department noted that it has maintained the water release speed at the Chao Phraya Dam at 2,697 cubic metres per second since October 23.
The statement said the upstream water at the dam was diverted to the western and eastern irrigation canals at the speed of 767 cubic metres per second. With discharge under control, the department has no plans to increase water release.
The statement added that the water released at the speed of 2,697 cubic metres had already reached Pathum Thani, Nothaburi and Bangkok without causing floods as rumoured.
The department said that the flooded areas downstream from the dam in Chainat’s Sappaya district; Sing Buri’s In Buri, Perom Buri, and Mueng districts; Angthong’s Pamok district and Ayutthaya’s Bang Ban, Phak Hai, Sena and Mueang districts are located outside flood levees. Only 14 locations of these districts were flooded.
The department added that water flowing through the C.29A station in Ayutthaya’s Bang Sai district was now measured at 2,826 cubic metres per second, much lower than the rate that would cause flooding in Bangkok. It said Bangkok would be affected if the water at the Bang Sai station was flowing faster than 3,500 cubic metres per second.
The department said the water in Rangsit Canal increased because the canal was used to drain water from Pa Sak River to the Chao Phraya via the Phraram 6 Dam. It added that although the water level in Rangsit Canal had risen, the level remained under control and the canal would not overflow.