Flood confidence tested

A Bangkok University poll reported city residents believe the government will keep them dry once more during the annual flood season. Residents in neighbouring provinces, who mainly voted to bring the Phuea Thai party to power, are not so sure after a test went widely wrong and flooded parts of Ayutthaya province. Of 1,152 interviewed Bangkok residets, 58.2% said if floods occurred this year, the government could handle the situation while 41.8% said it could not Asked if the government had used its budget wisely to deal with flood threats, 43.5% thought so, while 21.1% disagreed saying that the budget should be allocated for other matter and 35.4% said they were unsure. Bangkok residents gave the government 5.96 points out of 10 on their confidence on flood management. Outside the capital the rating would drop dramatically as residents correctly fear that they will again be sacrificed to save Bangkok if there is another crisis on the scale of last year. The now infamous test that went wrong, was aborted, or never happened depending on which officials the media talks to  failed to reassure anyone that measures and management are in place  that would remove the threat of serious flooding. Reliable sources that recognise the challenges say it could take  five years to implement a plan to reduce the risk of flooding in the central plain provinces bordering Bangkok. But that would depend on a status quo in nature and environment changes. As those two factors are far from stable, due to global warming, it could be a losing battle and a long term plan to shift the capital to higher ground might be in order. From ttrweekly