Thailand Flood: Setback for east Bangkok

New deluge as flood hit residents of Pathum Thani district damage sandbag barrier before talks with BMA Wider opening of canal sluice gate following demand by angry victims expected to inundate more areas in Bangkok

Eastern Bangkok, where flood waters had just started to recede, may face another bout of high flooding after a dispute over the barrier along the lower Khlong Hok Wa caused partial damage to the sandbag embankment while protests led to the opening of the Khlong Phraya Suren sluice gate to a metre wide yesterday.

Fed up with the polluted flood water in their area, about 200 residents from Tambon Lad Sawai of Pathum Thani’s Lam Luk Ka district yesterday tore up a 50 metre wide section of the sandbag barrier along the lower Khlong Hok Wa. They also demanded that the Khlong Phraya Suren sluice gate, at the time open 20cm wide, be opened by one metre. The residents also sought more monetary compensation, clarity in water management and urged that the whole flood wall be turned into a weir instead.

Read more: The Nation