Thailand as well as the rest of the Southeast Asian countries have often faced flooding problems throughout history. However, the current flooding situation caused by the monsoon season provides an unusual problem in the Thai government's agenda. Experts are currently blaming the government officials, arguing that the main causes of the current flood are deforestation, excessive building in catchment areas, the damming and diversion of natural waterways, urban sprawl, and the filling-in of natural waterways, urban sprawl, and the filling-in of canals, as well as bad planning by the government. Smith Dharmasaroja also stated that he had alerted the government multiple times only to be rejected and labeled 'a crazy man.' Smith had also stated that poor water management by the government had caused the dams to hold more water and the current attempts to discharge water would only cause more flooding for the low-lying areas. Could this 'bad' management have been caused by the dissent in the government among the different political parties?
However, other sources have indicated that this flooding situation has actually brought the country together and creating more unity. Because of this disastrous situation, people, regardless of which political party they support, are coming together and helping each other. An article from CNN by Moni Basu states, "Everyone helped each other. It was hard to imagine that last year, Red Shirts battled Yellow Shirts in a deadly political street protests that prompted a state of emergency in Thailand and left a nation deeply divided. Disaster brought them back together this week." Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Sinawatra, the first female Prime Minister of Thailand, promised, "I will try my best to protect the capital of Thailand." But can she maintain the current unity in the country or will the country become divided yet again by the different political parties?
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Hi!
ReplyDeleteI think it would be interesting to investigate whether all of the deforestation and damming projects are conducted by the government or by private groups as well. What is there to be gained? Also, does Thailand have any natural preservation policies? Are interest groups trying to appeal to the government to curb these projects?
Good luck researching!
PMI
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ReplyDeleteThanks for your questions.
ReplyDeleteWell, first of all, the focus of my research is on the internal conflict between the Red Shirts and Yellow Shirts, the overthrowing of the former Prime Minister Thaksin Sinawatra and whether this is a process of democratization.
Secondly, deforestation and damming projects are being conducted and controlled by the Thai government. This is managed by the government and because of their recent failure to properly manage the dams, the flooding situation has become worse than it was anticipated to be. Third, the focus of my articles is on the fact that this flood situation has brought 'unity' within the Thai population despite their different political associations.