Industrial estates go all out to avoid repeat of 2011 flood disaster
Operators confident that the flood prevention measures in place will be sufficient to avoid damage to factories
Industrial estates in the lower Central region have been increasing their efforts to prevent flooding to avoid any repeat of the catastrophic damage caused by the Great Flood of 2011, which particularly affected the estates in Ayutthaya and Pathum Thani provinces.
The move came after floods in the North and Northeast regions started to move downward to Central Thailand, raising concerns that rising water levels could damage several factories in this area, potentially crippling the country’s industrial sector.
Thavich Taychanavakul, executive president of Hi-Tech Industrial Estate in Ayutthaya, said the company has been monitoring the flood situation closely and is confident that it will not be as serious as in 2011.
“The situation this year differs significantly from 2011, as the floodwater is the result of heavy rains in the North and reservoirs in the Central region are not yet at their full capacity,” he said.
He added that after the 2011 flood, the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) had approved a budget to build a 4-metre high flood levee in Ayutthaya province.
The flood wall is estimated to prevent water from entering industrial estates in the province even if the Chao Phraya Dam discharges water at 3,000 cubic metres per second, he said, adding that the current discharge rate is only 1,700 cubic metres per second.
A news source from Rojana Industrial Park in Ayutthaya said that the company has increased flood prevention efforts since the incident in 2011, and is also confident that this year’s situation will not be as severe.
Perayaluk Tangsunawan, managing director of Nava Nakorn Industrial Zone in Pathum Thani, said that the industrial estate’s team of engineers is following the water situation in the province closely, and will issue warnings to factory operators if the water level outside or inside the industrial estate increases.
“We are monitoring the water level in Pathum Thani and coordinating with water stations in Ayutthaya province, which report water levels online in real time,” she said.
Perayaluk added that the company has been checking the 26-km. long flood levee built after 2011 flood and fixing places that are damaged to ensure that it can efficiently prevent flooding in the industrial zone and surrounding communities.
