Anutin orders faster drainage and relief as floods ease

About 11,000 households have received relief payments, says the prime minister

The overall flood situation has improved, with waters in Chachoengsao and Prachin Buri provinces beginning to recede, as the government steps up drainage and recovery efforts in affected areas, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Friday.

Mr Anutin, who is also interior minister, said the government would accelerate drainage in affected areas.

In Bangkok, the government has mobilised personnel and relevant agencies to support the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), following a request from governor Chadchart Sittipunt, he said. Mr Anutin spoke after a meeting of the National Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Command at about 8.50am on Friday.

He said large-scale clean-up operations would be a priority once floodwaters receded. This includes quickly collecting and removing accumulated rubbish that could obstruct drainage systems and disrupt traffic and transporting it to appropriate disposal sites.

Mr Anutin attributed the improvement to rainfall being lower than forecast and provincial authorities’ comprehensive preparations. Relevant agencies have been providing support in line with decisions made by the National Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Command, which holds daily morning meetings to monitor the situation.

Rubbish awaiting collection piles up at the entrance to Soi Nawamin 6 in Bangkok’s Bang Kapi district on Oct 6, as the flood situation eases. (Photo: Varuth Hirunyatheb)

On water management, he said equipment, machinery and personnel were ready to accelerate drainage in flood-hit areas. However, operations must consider the capacity of receiving areas and prevailing sea levels.

About 11,000 households have already received relief payments, he said.

Mr Anutin said he had instructed relevant agencies to continue surveying affected communities and compiling lists of eligible recipients, without waiting for the entire flood situation to end or for all names to be collected before submitting applications.

Instead, agencies should submit verified lists in batches as information becomes available, so affected residents can receive assistance as quickly as possible.

He stressed that agencies must expedite the submission of eligible recipients’ names while carefully checking their qualifications against the assistance criteria to ensure payments are made correctly.

Relief payments could be difficult to recover if they were found to have been made in error, the prime minister added.

Floodwaters are pumped from a municipal area in Prachin Buri on Oct 8. (Photo: Prachin Buri provincial public relations office)