Phumtham’ boarded a helicopter to inspect the water situation at the Wang River, Kiew Lom Dam, and Kiew Kho Ma Dam in Lampang Province. He listened to a presentation from the Provincial Irrigation and Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office, confirming that the dam can still hold water. He admitted that he was relieved that Lampang was not as worried as the social media said that the dam would break and that the water would definitely not flood Bangkok.
Mr. Phumtham Vejjayachai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, Mr. Prasert Jantarawongthong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Economy and Society, Ms. Thirat Samretwanich, Deputy Minister of Interior, Gen. Nattapol Nakphanit, Deputy Minister of Defense, and relevant officials took a helicopter from Lampang Airport to inspect the water situation in the Wang River, Kiew Lom Dam, and Kiew Kho Ma Dam in Lampang Province before landing the helicopter at Chae Hom Witthaya School to travel to Kiew Kho Ma Dam in Pong Don Subdistrict, Chae Ho
m District to listen to a water situation briefing from the province. It was found that the impact of Tropical Storm Soulik caused flash floods that flooded houses and agricultural areas. Rainwater flowing into Kiew Kho Ma Dam exceeded its capacity to prevent damage. Therefore, it was necessary to release water into the Wang River, causing a higher volume, affecting people in 12 districts and 55 subdistricts. It was confirmed that Kiew Kho Ma Dam and Kiew Lom Dam can still receive water and will store water for use in the dry season.
Mr. Phumtham said that he came here today because he was worried. This morning (September 28), he went to Mae Sai, Chiang Rai Province with the Prime Minister, who was almost in tears because the villagers hugged him and told him not to abandon him. In Mae Sai, the most serious problem is mud. The government is currently coordinating with all government agencies to come and fix the problem in the area. They have received good cooperation from both the government and private sect
ors in Chiang Rai. It is expected that in 30 days, everything will return to normal.
For Lampang Province, social media said that the Kiew Lom Dam will break, and the people downstairs will have problems. They were shocked, so they had to come and inspect. They saw that the amount of water was this much, so they had to release it. However, from listening, Lampang Province warned the people 2 days before releasing the water, which made them feel at ease. They wanted an assessment and conclusion on how to solve the problem. From the information they received today, what they felt at ease about was that this year, Bangkok definitely won’t flood like in 2011. We will slowly release the water, and the warning system we set up will communicate the warnings all the time. The Prime Minister will mobilize a team to solve this problem, which is a big issue, as he had previously stated that he would make it a national agenda. This kind of problem has always existed, but the problem is the budget that needs to be used,
which is in the hundreds of billions. Thailand has many big issues, so we have to find a way to solve them.
Source: Thai News Agency