BKK doomed?

[GWR]

Two reports on what to expect in Bangkok in the not so distant future. Both from apparently reputable sources. This suggests that they might eventually have to dust off those old plans to move the capital to some place higher like Nakhon Nayok Province. Note that the latter comes from the man who predicted that a tsunami could happen not so long before it happened: -

Bangkok: 'urban heat island' (30.11.2006)

Bangkok is experiencing an ''urban heat island'', a phenomenon which sees temperatures in cities rise more than in the countryside, warns Jariya Boonjawat, an environmentalist at the Southeast Asia START Regional Centre.

''We have studied the urban heat island in Thailand and found that the temperature in the capital is 5C higher than in rural areas.

The result is in line with big cities around the world, like Tokyo,'' said the expert ''With the warming trend increasing, we can say that Bangkok will have less chance of experiencing a cool season in the next 40 years.''

Bangkok 'underwater in 15 years' (28.11.2006)

Bangkok will be underwater within the next 15 to 20 years unless barriers are constructed along the Chao Phrya River, warns the National Disaster Warning Centre. Smith Thammasaroj, chairman of the centre, said global warming that will lead to higher sea tides and heavier rainfall.

"The way to prevent the situation is to start building a permanent water barrier along the Chao Phrya River to prevent water overflowing into Bangkok and its adjacent provinces," he said on Monday.

http://www.bangkokrecorder.com/?p=redakt.news&ID=2&utm_source=CentralNews&utm_medium=TextLink

[ncr]

Bangkok gets that sinking feeling (http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories/topstories.php?id=118487) - Bangkok Post, 03 May 2007

BangkokPost.com from Reuters reports

Thailand's best known disaster prognosticator said on Wednesday global warming will put Bangkok a metre under water in less than 20 years, adding: "You will need a motorboat instead of a car." Smith Dharmasaroja, head of Thailand's National Disaster Warning Centre, told the Reuters news agency that rising seas and natural sinking will put Bangkok under water by 2025 - unless work starts now on a huge dyke to protect the capital. "If nothing is done, Bangkok will be at least 50 centimetres to one metre under water," Reuters quoted Mr Smith as saying during an interview in Bangkok.

Mr Smith gained notoriety 12 years ago when he predicted Thailand was in danger of being hit by a tsunami. Largely dismissed as a crackpot and retired from government service with the Meteorological Department, he was brought back as a disaster expert after the 2004 tsunami, which killed more than 5,000 people in Thailand alone. The problem, he says, is two-fold. The city is subsiding at a rate of 10cm per year, partly due to excessive pumping of underground water. Global warming is causing seas to rise and there is evidence of severe coastal erosion just downstream from Bangkok.

To avert disaster, Smith said, the city needed to construct a massive dyke to protect it from rising seas and increasingly violent storms. "The system has to be started right now. Otherwise it will be too late to protect our capital city," he said. Mr Smith, as usual, was scathing when asked about how authorities are facing the threat. "The government does not pay any attention at all."

[mdechgan]

Bangkok dissappearing into the sea isn't really a surprise. Everyone knows, its just no one does anything about it.

Just look at the flooding this past week. Drainage systems are all messed up and overflowing. Bangkok is built on a swamp plus with the Chao Phraya river running down the middle Bangkok is going to flood one way or another.

10 cm per year sink rate is very true. My yard and driveway is approximately 1 meter lower than it was 10 years ago. Since my house was built on piles the house doesn't sink but the yard does. In another 10 years I think I will have a free basement.

I heard pump underground water is illegal now but I think its too late. In some places they have no choise but to use underground wells because running tap water is not available in some areas yet.