Bangkok’s sinking crisis may arrive within a decade, Prof Dr Suchatvee warns

Prof Dr Suchatvee Suwansawat, leader of the Thai Kao Mai Party, has warned in a video published on his online channels that Bangkok has a “one million per cent” chance of being submerged below sea level if water management continues in the same way.

He called on the Bangkok governor and the government to urgently invest in large-scale and sustainable flood-prevention infrastructure, rather than continuing to spend budgets on short-term fixes, in order to prepare for a crisis that could arrive sooner than expected.

A sinking crisis that may arrive earlier than expected

Prof Dr Suchatvee said that although earlier projections suggested the crisis would become severe in 2037, the latest assessments by several experts, including Assoc Prof Dr Seri Supharathit, a specialist in climate change and disasters, and Dr Chawalit Chantararat, a specialist in water resources engineering, indicate that the problem could arrive earlier.

As Thailand is now in 2026, this means there may be only around 10 years left to prepare, he said.

“The main problem is that the current sea level is higher than the water level in the Chao Phraya River, and the water level in the Chao Phraya River is higher than the water level in major canals such as Khlong Saen Saep and Khlong Lat Phrao. This means the natural drainage system can no longer function,” he said.
 

Bangkok described as a ‘water-pumping city’ fighting nature

On water management, Prof Dr Suchatvee said Bangkok has effectively become a “water-pumping city” that tries to fight nature by pumping water from alleys onto roads, from roads into canals, and from canals into the Chao Phraya River.

He compared the system to using “a yoghurt-drink straw to suck water out of a concrete pan”, saying it cannot solve a major problem without serious flood-prevention infrastructure.

He said the reason Bangkok has sometimes escaped major flooding is that upstream provinces such as Ayutthaya have been forced to carry the burden instead. Water released from upstream areas has left parts of Ayutthaya flooded for as long as six months, which he described as unfair in overall water management.

If water were allowed to flow naturally, Bangkok would already have suffered severe impacts for a long time, he said.

Budgets should be pooled for permanent flood protection

Prof Dr Suchatvee called on the Bangkok governor to take the lead in addressing the problem. He said the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration should reorganise its budget of more than 100 billion baht instead of spreading funds too thinly on items such as water pumps or canal dredging alone.

He said greater benefit would come from pooling these scattered budgets into major projects capable of protecting the city from storm surges and rising sea levels.

Prof Dr Suchatvee said he believed that if the BMA used its authority and budget to the fullest, the situation could be improved by at least 50%.

“What needs to be done requires courage, a reform mindset, determination and seriousness. If we had joined forces, by now we would already have had a project capable of protecting us from rising seawater,” Prof Dr Suchatvee said.

Source: Bangkokbiznews, https://www.facebook.com/suchatvee.ae/?locale=th_TH