OPINION

Learn the lessons

Re: "Anutin's credibility shaken by floods", (Opinion, Nov 29).

The devastating flood in Hat Yai demonstrates how unprepared and incapable the current government is.

In 2001, Udon Thani saw its worst flood ever, though of a lesser magnitude than Hat Yai's. I remember my factory on the outskirts of Udon Thani was inundated overnight after then-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra ordered that water be pumped from the city with all the available water pumps in the region.

I accompanied an assistant provincial governor who toured the factory compound on a boat. But after the visit, I never heard anything from him, nor did I receive any flood relief from local authorities. As usual, the water naturally receded after a week following DIY remedies.

Shortly after the flood, a pragmatic governor named Chaiyapon Rattanaka took office. During his four years as Udon Thani governor, measures were implemented to improve flood control infrastructures. These included the expansion and widening of existing natural waterways and urban canals, the construction of a new drainage system in the city, and the development of multiple water retention ponds. Udon Thani hasn't seen any significant flooding since then.

From September 2023, PM Anutin Charnvirakul has been at the helm of the Interior Ministry, apart from the few months from June to August when his party withdrew from the Pheu Thai coalition government.

An interior minister should know well that many provinces, including Hat Yai, are prone to flooding, and implementing flood control projects and measures, if any, should be a priority.

Attention to the Hat Yai flood disaster will fade away once Mr Anutin calls a snap election. If Mr Anutin returns as prime minister, which is highly likely, he should draw the lessons from Hat Yai to improve flood control infrastructure and mechanisms throughout the country.

Expose the lie

Re: "Land Bridge built on shaky science", (Editorial, Nov 23).

This editorial deserves to have an expanded whitepaper, slideshow, and video presentation offered nationwide to illustrate the indisputable facts point by point.

Marine scientists, environmentalists and fishing communities have exposed the government's Environmental and Health Impact Assessment (EHIA) as a bald-faced mountain of lies.

Fraudulent science is the least of it, but it does illustrate well just how far the administration is willing to go to deceive people.

Is the government the greatest treasure of this land? Or are the magnificent natural wonders which the government wants to destroy worth more than their sorry selves?

If Thaksin (or any bejewelled bigwig, for that matter) rots in jail for crimes committed against the nation, will it bring back the treasures that will forever be destroyed to build this trillion-baht megaproject? Of course not.

Far worse than a war with Cambodia, there is no coming back from the devastation the Land Bridge project will wreak upon this nation.

Does Thailand really want to mow down the jungle, displace farmers, and put up new towns with Chinese signage everywhere while giant cargo ships putter around in the Gulf spilling bilge water and spewing diesel fumes?

If the government cannot understand this pending tragedy as the crime that it really is, then they must be removed for failing to protect Thailand's national interests. No two ways about it.