Bangkok fights on

Thousands of volunteers have joined the effort to prevent flooding in Bangkok's most vulnerable districts as defences continue to crumble above the city.

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Race begins to defend the capital

Sai Mai turns into a strategic battleground

POST REPORTERS

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is defending the eastern part of the capital by speeding up reinforcement of flood barriers in Sai Mai district to avert threats from rising floodwaters.

Sai Mai has become a strategic battleground for City Hall as failure to stop flooding there could see some northern and eastern districts close to inner Bangkok such as Don Muang, Bang Khen, Bang Kapi and Min Buri under water and inflict damage to the capital.

Supakorn Vejjajiva, president and Chief Operating Officer of the Post Publishing Plc, (left) leads company staff in filling sandbags in Sai Mai district yesterday. PATTARACHAI PREECHAPANICH

The BMA on Tuesday mobilised officials and volunteers to build "wider and stronger" dykes at Khlong Hok Wa canal in Sai Mai after being alerted by the government that it could not control floodwaters in Khlong 8 and Khlong 9 canals and their levels could reach 3.5 metres above the mean sea level and affect Sai Mai.

The six-kilometre-long dykes were built to a height of 2.5m above the mean sea level and more are under construction with 500,000 sandbags.

But that seemed not to be enough for the campaign as Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra said the BMA needed 2 million sandbags for the dyke in 48 hours. The BMA can produce 250,000 more per day and the government has promised to supply 1 million more.

"We need to make the barrier wider and stronger. That is our objective today," the governor said.

"Bangkok is my home. I'm the housekeeper for the whole of Bangkok, so I cannot allow flooding in any part of the city without trying to stop it," he added, as thousands of volunteers helped build a wall of sandbags to protect Khlong Hok Wa from the runoff of flooding north of the capital.

Other areas where dykes were reinforced yesterday included those in Liap Khlong 2 road and the U-turn under a bridge of Phahon Yothin road close to Rangsit Prayoonsak canal as the spot connects to Don Muang.

MR Sukhumbhand hoped the government would keep its promise to limit the drainage of floodwaters from Pathum Thani to wait for Bangkok to reinforce its dykes and help protect the capital.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said the government would drain floodwater from Pathum Thani province through Raphiphat and Rangsit Prayoonsak canals and the eastern part of Bangkok into the sea. She said locals would be affected but most of the floodwater would pass fields.

But the water level of Raphipat canal in Khlong Luang district in Pathum Thani continued to rise and waters had poured through a damaged flood wall.

Authorities and volunteers were attempting to repair the flood wall quickly, as main roads could be cut off if more water entered the area.

Yesterday floodwaters from the North inundated Phahon Yothin and Rangsit-Pathum Thani roads as well as the Rangsit market in Thanyaburi district of Pathum Thani.

Inbound lanes of Phahon Yothin Road from Rangsit area to the Zeer Rangsit shopping centre in Lam Luk Ka district were flooded.

The Ratanakosin 200 Years housing estate near the Rangsit railway station was 1.5m under water. Many people in deeply flooded communities in Rangsit were evacuated.

defend – to prevent something from failing or being damage or destroyed ปกป้อง, ป้องกัน
capital – the most important town or city of a country, usually where the central government operates from  เมืองหลวง
strategic – carefully planned in order to achieve a particular goal, especially in war, business, or politics ทางยุทธศาสตร์
battleground – a place where a battle (a major fight, especially in war, but in this case against a flood) is being fought or has been fought สนามรบ, แนวรบ
Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) – the local government of Bangkok กรุงเทพมหานคร
reinforce – to make stronger เสริมให้แข็งแรงขึ้น
barrier – a wall, pile of sandbags, etc., that prevents water from entering สิ่งกีดขวาง
avert – to prevent something bad or harmful from happening ป้องกันไม่ให้เกิด
threat – a danger อันตราย
inflict – to cause something bad to happen to someone or something ทำให้เสียหาย
mobilise – to organise a group of people to do something ระดมกำลัง
volunteer – someone who is not paid for the work that they do อาสาสมัคร
dyke – a wall built to prevent the sea or a river from covering an area, or a channel dug to take water away from an area เขื่อนกั้นน้ำ
alert – to tell someone in about a danger or problem so that they can take action to deal with it เตือนภัย
level – the amount of liquid that there is in a container, river, dam, etc., which can be seen by how high the liquid is ระดับ
mean – an amount that is calculated by adding several numbers together and dividing the total by the original number of things that you added together ค่าเฉลี่ย, ตัวกลาง, มัชฌิม
under construction – being built  กำลังก่อสร้าง
campaign – a series of actions intended to produce a particular result การรณรงค์
objective – what you plan to achieve; goal; aim; purpose เป้าหมาย
runoff – rain, water or other liquid that runs off land into streams and rivers น้ำหลาก
spot – the particular place where someone or something is  ที่, สถานที่
limit – to stop something from increasing beyond a particular amount or level จำกัด
drainage – the process of taking away of water or other liquids from an area  การระบายน้ำ
pour through – to flow past a whole in something in large amounts ไหลผ่าน
authorities – people who have the power to make decisions or enforce the law เจ้าหน้าที่ผู้มีอำนาจ
repair – to fix something that is broken or damaged ซ่อมบำรุง
inundate – to flood; to submerge ท่วม, ทำให้จมลงใต้น้ำ
inbound – travelling towards a particular point, particularly into a city ขาเข้า (opposite of outbound ขาออก)
housing estate – residential estate; an area containing a large number of houses or apartments built close together at the same time บ้านจัดสรร
community – the people living in one particular area ชุมชน
evacuate – to leave a place because it is not safe อพยพออกจากพื้นที่