Bangkok flood compensation almost done, airport reopening in March, canal dredging to be done by May

BANGKOK, 30 January 2012 (Xinhua) – Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra said Monday that the government had completed 80 percent of the compensation payments to flood victims in 30 districts in the capital city. But he said government approval is still pending for payments for some areas where the residents had yet to get compensation. In total, 30 districts out of 50 in Bangkok were inundated by the worst flood in 50 years last year. Over 620,000 households were affected by the flood which first began from late July in the northern part following heavy monsoons and back-to-back tropical storms. Across the country, more than 800 people were killed and over 1. 3 million hit by unprecedented flooding. Over all about 2.3 million families nationwide are entitled to compensation of 5,000 baht (160 U.S. dollars) for each household. 

Flood compensations in Bangkok almost done: governor

Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra said on Monday that the dredging of canals and sewers in the capital would be done before the rainy season starts in May. He said he had instructed the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s Drainage and Sewerage Department to speed up the dredging and have it completed before May. Sukhumbhand was speaking to reporters after a meeting with senior BMA officials. During the meeting, the Drainage and Sewerage Department reported on its plan for dredging canals and sewers in the capital to cope with possible floodwaters from upstream provinces, Sukhumbhand said. He said the department initially expected that dredging would be undertaken in June, July or August but that he had instructed the department to speed up the works. The department was also instructed to coordinate with the Army. Asked to comment on speculation by a Pheu Thai MP that he would resign before the end of his term in January next year, the governor, a member of the opposition Democrat Party, said if he decided to do so, reporters would be informed first, not a Pheu Thai MP. The governor added that the payment of compensation to flood victims in 30 Bangkok districts was now 80 per cent complete. He said the government has yet to approve compensation for 12 other districts.

Dredging of canals and sewers to be completed by May : governor

By Cassandra James, Asia Travel Examiner
30 January 2012 Good news and bad news from Airports of Thailand president, Anirut Thanomkulbutra, today. Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport, in the north of the city, will apparently reopen on March 6, 2012, after already being closed for more than three and a half months due to massive flood damage. According to Mr. Thanomkulbutra, all flood damage repair at Don Mueang will be complete by early March. Good news indeed, as the March reopen date is almost a month earlier than expected. Don Mueang is Bangkok’s second airport however so, as many Bangkok residents will tell you, it being closed hasn’t affected flights overly much. Particularly as all airlines simply relocated to Suvarnabhumi, Bangkok’s main airport when floods first hit in October, 2011.

Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport to reopen in March with flood damage repaired