Leader of the Thai Kao Mai party, Professor Suchatvee Suwansawat, is proposing the excavation of several trenches across the Lop Buri Ramet Road in Hat Yai, to allow the massive amount of water in the district to drain out and into the Songkhla Lake, thus easing the devastating flooding in the town.
A professor of civil engineering at King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Suchatvee said in his Facebook post today that the road is blocking the path of water and the only effective way to drain it out of Hat Yai quickly, according to engineering theory, is to carve several large trenches in the road to allow water to flow into the lake.
He pointed out that the satellite images from GISTA’s THEOS satellite platform clearly show that the massive amount of water in Hat Yai is being blocked, or at least slowed down, by the road.
He said that Bailey bridges, from the Army Corps of Engineers, can be deployed over the gaps on the road to maintain traffic flow and, when flooding has receded, the gaps can be closed and the road repaired.
He urged Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to show the courage and leadership needed to do as he proposes.
Suchatvee also criticised the Public Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Centre of Hat Yai municipality for its complete failure to assess and warn of the danger of flooding.
He noted that accumulated rainfall in Hat Yai, and several southern provinces, between November 19th and 22nd was 595mm, but the municipality announced, on November 20, that the situation was “normal” or at a “green flag” status. Two days later, floodwater gushed in and Hat Yai was submerged.
Suchatvee said the normal practice is to warn the people five days in advance.
