Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Flooding
Seasonal flooding is a common natural occurrence in some parts of Thailand due to the
nature of the monsoon rains. But high-level floods are an almost annual occurrence. The
record-busting 2011 floods were unlike anything the country has ever experienced before.
Prior to the start of the rainy season, a two-week period of heavy rainfall presaged trouble
ahead, causing flooding in southern Thailand, and temporarily stranding tourists on resort
islands. By midyear, tropical storms brought an inundation of rain that triggered a domino
flood effect spanning nearly three months and drowning almost every region of the coun-
try. Of Thailand's 77 provinces, 65 were declared flood disaster zones; there were 815
deaths and an estimated US$45.7 billion worth of damages, one of the world's costliest
natural disasters. Flood waters collapsed the barriers protecting the country's industrial es-
tates north of Bangkok, causing water inundation of international factories and a disrup-
tion in the global supply chain, including hard disc drives and automobile components. In
the aftermath of the 2011 floods, residents of severely affected communities charged the
national government of protecting Bangkok by redirecting water into their backyards.
The 2011 flood trumped the previous year's record-setting event in which the late-arriv-
ing rains transformed reservoirs in Nakhon Ratchasima Province from parched pits into
overflowing disaster zones. There were 177 deaths in the 2010 floods, and a massive dis-
aster relief response that lasted for several months after waters subsided. Another record
flood occurred in 2006 with 46 affected provinces, mainly in the north, and again in 2008
along the Mekong.
There are myriad suspected reasons for these extreme weather patterns. Many environ-
mental experts attribute human alteration of natural flood barriers and watercourses and
deforestation as potential causes. Increased incidents of flooding along the Mekong is of-
ten linked to upstream infrastructure projects, such as dams and removal of rapids for
easier navigation, and increasing human populations along the river that infringe on fores-
ted floodplains and wetlands. Another emerging component is the role of climate change
in the increase of seasonal rains.
