Thai King’s warning against flooding unheeded

The flood,the worst in half a century,is something King Bhumibol Adulyadej has tried harder than perhaps anyone to prevent. He has sounded alarm bells,not always heeded,against overdevelopment and come up with ideas that have mitigated the damage of floods.

The country’s current woes,nearly 400 dead and 110,000 displaced,illustrates the price paid for ignoring his warnings.

However,even now,the world’s longest reigning monarch is offering advice on how best to channel the unprecedented buildup of water from northern highlands into the sea. But unlike times past,the constitutional but powerful monarch is unable to undertake inspections or cajole,sometimes reprimand,ineffective bureaucrats into action.

Heir to a legacy of Thai kings who saw the controlling of water as a royal task,one of Bhumibol’s first development projects was a reservoir in 1963 to trap fresh water and prevent salt intrusion in the seaside resort of Hua Hin. Today,these royally initiated projects number more than 4,300,with 40 per cent related to water resources.

Although never formally schooled in the subject,the US-born king exhibited an engineering and scientific bent which in the early 1990s he turned to Thailand’s vulnerable capital.

“If we can find a way to keep floodwater in reserve and to use it when it’s needed,it will be a double boon,” the king said. “The major cause of the flood is the fact that we built our houses on wetlands. My point is that humans have changed nature so much from what it used to be,” Bhumibol said.

As early as 1971,the king warned that massive logging of the northern forests would trigger future floods. Deforestation,which reduces the land’s ability to absorb water,is today recognised as a contributor to the flooding.