Sandbags in Lat Krabang sewer not an act of sabotage, Chadchart clarifies

Chadchart said the sandbags were not dumped in the sewer to cause flooding and discredit him, as suspected by his supporters on social media. The clip was widely shared on Wednesday.

The clip showed a unit of Navy personnel pulling out sandbags from a manhole on a corner of Lat Krabang Road, which was under water. A huge pile of sandbags was retrieved.

Chadchart’s supporters said it was an act of sabotage to cause flooding so as to ruin his reputation.

Chadchart said he saw the clip at 3am on Thursday and he called the Lat Krabang district director immediately to find out what had happened.

He said the director explained to him that the use of sandbags to block a sewer was a technique for preventing water from flowing back when officials drained floodwaters from a road.

After the floodwaters were drained, workers would have to retrieve the sandbags, Chadchart quoted the director as saying.

He said he did not believe the explanation right away so he cross-checked with his adviser, Atthaset Phetmesee, who is in charge of drainage.

“He confirmed that it was the right technique. But in the past, workers might have forgetten to retrieve the sandbags after the drainage was done,” Chadchart said.

The governor added that he has instructed the Sewerage and Drainage Department of the city administration to check all the sewers for possibly forgotten sandbags.

“In the clip, it seems that officials forgot to retrieve sandbags after the floodwaters were drained. When it rained here, it caused floods while other spots were dry so local residents sought help from the Naval personnel,” Chadchart said.

“I don’t think it’s an act of sabotage. If so, the district director would suffer first because such a malicious intention cannot be hidden. I would like to thank the people for alerting us.”