Thailand Country Report on Flood

Thai National Mekong CommitteeOctober 2003

Mekong basin in Thailand comprises of 5 sub-basins:

River basin Catchment area (sq.km.)

1. Kong 57,422 2. Kok 7,895 3. Chi 79,477 4. Mun 69,700 5. Tonle Sap 4,150

Total 188,644

KongKong

ChiChi

MunMun

Tonle SaTonle Sapp

KokKok

Lesson learned

National Water Resources Committee (NWRC) chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister, has responsibility for the overall national water resources

Dept. of Water Resources (DWR), found in Oct 2002, has its power and functions to be a focal point for natural water management & serve as a secretary of NWRC

Past activities:1. Selected 15 provinces as flood risk areas2. Organized workshops to coordinate with the flood risk provinces,

to prepare & integrate plan to solve & mitigate flood, & setup flood mitigation center

3. Collected & analyzed work plans & projects of each province urgently in order to request budget from the Government. The Government has supported 181 projects, which cover 15 provinces, with the budget of about 624 million Baht.

15 Provinces Flood Risk Areas

North: Petchabun, Pichit, Phrae, Sukhothai, and Nakorn Sawan

Northeast: Chaiyaphum, Roi Et and Ubol Ratchathani

Central: Ang Thong, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, and Chanthaburi

South: Pattanee, Nakhon Si Thammarat, and Yala

Main Flood-prone Areas in the Lower Mekong Basin

Long-term Implementation Plan

• DWR has now completed two projects on water resources management plan including flood problem solving namely Ping Basin & Pasak Basin

• Projects for other two basins are on-going

•Other seven basins are planed for next year

Recommendations

Flood problem solving:- Identify risk area & flood prone- Install flood warning system- Land-use zoning - Improve natural wetland- Institutional strengthening- Improve distribution & drainage

system- Providing polder system- Construct diversion canals/tunnels to

divert excess water directly to the sea

Recommendations (cont.)

Non-structural measures:• Improve water management of existing & natural

wetlands• Setup design standards & study on the flood

impacts from overall basin structure, review design regulations & review efficiency of all construction works

• Floodplain management - land use guidance, identify risk areas & control

groundwater extraction - flood forecast & warning system, flood emergency

management process (flood encounter system) & recovery measures

Non-structural measures

• Reforestation to protect soil erosion • Promote conservation campaigns

for forests, canals, rivers & ditches • Land use zoning• Water fund establishment• Amend relevant laws & regulations• Develop entire basin management

Recommendations (cont.)

Structural measures• Install flood protection system in urban

areas• Promote the Royal Initiated “Monkey Cheek”

(detention pond) Project• Construct cutoff channel/diversion, &

remove the runoff obstructions• Construct pumping stations & improve

drainage system • Develop tributaries to store/retard flood,

develop dikes, & improve river channels• Develop large scale water resources project

Recommendations (cont.)

Outline of data flow for operational flood forecasting & flood warning

Data (1)xx rain gauges

Data (2)yy WL gauges

Data (3)Reservoir releases

Agency (1): MDRainfall forecasts

Data (4)MRC

Mainstreamforecasts

Agency (2):DWR,RIDStreamflow monitoring

Agency(3):RID,EGAT

Reservoir operation

Agency(4): DWR,RID,MD

Flood forecasts

Agency(5):DWR,RID,MD,DDPM

Flood warnings

Agency (6):DWRDamage control

Agency (7): RIDDamage control

Agency (8): DDPMDamage control