Thamanat assures Bangkok and nearby areas will not face flooding as serious as in 2011
Thamanat assures Bangkok will not face 2011-level floods as Bhumibol Dam increases discharge. Officials say water levels will normalise within a week.
Although the Bhumibol Dam has had to speed up its water discharge to prevent overcapacity caused by heavy upstream inflows, Deputy Prime Minister and Agriculture Minister Thamanat Prompao has assured residents in Bangkok and surrounding provinces that the current flood situation will not be as severe as in 2011.
Government raises Bhumibol Dam discharge rate
The plan to release between 50–55 million cubic metres of water per day from the Bhumibol Dam in Tak province was agreed during a meeting at Government House of the national water resources management committee.
PM’s Office Minister Paradorn Prissanantakul told reporters after the meeting that the discharge rate had to be raised from 45–48 million cubic metres per day to prevent the dam from reaching full capacity.
He explained that water inflow into the dam had surged to about 90 million cubic metres per day due to earlier heavy rainfall, leaving only 100 million cubic metres of storage space before full capacity is reached.
Coordinated water management across major dams
The Bhumibol Dam traps water from the Ping River, which flows into the Chao Phraya River, joining with the Nan River, where the Sirikit Dam in Uttaradit controls flow.
Paradorn said that since the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) could discharge water at only 2,800 cubic metres per second, the outflow rate still could not match the combined discharge from the two upstream dams.
To balance the system, the government ordered the Sirikit Dam to reduce its water release by 5 million cubic metres per day, while the Chao Phraya Dam in Chai Nat was instructed to increase its discharge capacity.
Measures to protect communities and farmland
Paradorn said the RID would divert more water into the western and eastern canal systems to ease the impact of increased discharge from the Bhumibol Dam.
Although low-lying water retention fields on both sides of the Chao Phraya may be affected, authorities will attempt to minimise disruption. Once the river level subsides, stored water from these fields will gradually be released.
Thamanat acknowledged that both upstream and downstream communities along the Chao Phraya River, especially in Ayutthaya, Ang Thong, and nearby provinces, have been affected but assured that the situation should return to normal within a week.
No repeat of 2011 floods, officials say
Thamanat added that the RID would accelerate drainage through tributary canals east of Bangkok, diverting water into the Gulf of Thailand to protect riverside communities.
He reassured residents of Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Samut Prakan, and Bangkok that flood levels would remain under control and would not approach the scale of the 2011 floods.
Meanwhile, Paithoon Kengkarnchang, deputy secretary-general of the Office of National Water Resources (ONWR), said the Chao Phraya Dam increased its discharge to 2,900 cubic metres per second on Monday – significantly lower than the 3,700 cubic metres per second recorded in 2011.
Paithoon added that this would likely be the final adjustment to release residual northern floodwaters, as the Meteorological Department and Hydro-Informatics Institute forecast a decline in northern rainfall from November 13.
The ONWR expects the discharge rate at the Chao Phraya Dam to drop below 1,000 cubic metres per second by mid-December.
