Flood watch in many Thai provinces

BANGKOK, August 30 (TNA) - Authorities in Bangkok and even many other Thai provinces are watching out for, probably, floods following persistent downpours. In Ranong Province in the Thai South, where there have been continual downpours over the past five days, rainwater has now eroded a road in Muang District and a wall of the provincial public works office standing on the road appears to be collapsing. In Songkhla Province, also in the Thai South, Governor Krisada Boonrat has ordered local officials to prepare for flooding even though seven sluice gates have been opened in the province, instead of four gates, to release rainwater into the Songkhla Lake. In Chiang Mai Province in the Thai North, the Office of the Doi Suthep National Park has warned local people and tourists of possible flash floods, as water levels of the Ping River have kept rising. In the capital, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration or BMA is prepared for the government’s flood drainage exercise through canals in the city from September 5-7 and Deputy Bangkok Governor Theerachon Manomaiphibul confirmed that the dredging of canals in the capital has already finished. Science and Technology Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi told people in Bangkok to remain calm when government technicians test the flood-release efficiency in several parts of the city next week, giving assurances that the test will not result in Bangkok being inundated. Meanwhile, Defence Minister Sukumpol Suwanatat and Thai military top brass inspected activities to train 13,000 territorial defence students on flood relief at the 11th Infantry Regiment, where they learned to make sandbags and bags of necessities, take care of evacuees, give first aid, manage traffic flows and prepare food. (TNA)