Flood rehabilitation will boost Thai economy by 1.5%

BANGKOK, February 13 (TNA) - The World Bank has predicted that flood rehabilitation will expand the Thai economy by 1.5 per cent, suggesting that the Thai government build floodways and warning systems to cope with, probably, future floods. The World Bank's senior economist for Thailand, Kirida Bhaopijitr, said Monday that a massive flooding in Thailand last year has caused a total damage to the Thai economy worth 1.4 trillion baht, projecting that flood rehabilitation and investment in infrastructure projects and industries, as well as domestic consumption will boost Thailand''s gross domestic product or GDP by 1.5 per cent this year. According to the World Bank's senior economist, the Thai government can restore confidence among international investors and consumers if it spends some 2.2 trillion baht on its infrastructure and flood prevention projects. The World Bank's senior economist warned that the ongoing debt crisis in Europe remains a risk factor for the Thai economy, but concerns over the possibility of repeated floods this year should only have minor impacts on the national economy, suggesting that the government, however, keep people and investors informed of the possibility so that they can prepare themselves. Meanwhile, a World Bank environmental expert in Thailand,Waraporn Hiranwatsiri, acknowledged that as much as 40 per cent of worldwide floods have happened in Asia and affected over 90 of the Asian population over the past three decades, saying that the best solution appears to be structural development projects such as floodways, wetlands, environmental buffer zones, flood warning systems, land use plans to prevent floods and reservoirs to delay water flows. The World Bank expert noted that the solution needs to be done immediately and need cooperation from all parties, namely the government, the private sector, the civil sector and educational institutions, and that Thailand has successfully developed tsunami warning systems; so the Kingdom should, in the foreseeable future, develop effective flood warning systems as well. (TNA)