CityNews Article Archive:
Sandbags Already in Place as Chiang Mai Braces Itself for Floods

CityNews – On June 19, Lord Mayor Tassanai Buranupakorn, along with members of the 33^rd precinct army, placed sandbags along the Ping River in preparation for the rainy season. 

We thought for a moment they were British sandbags…

The Chiang Mai municipality has prepared 100,000 sandbags to be set down in eight designated lowland areas around the Ping River and the Kawila monument, forming temporary dikes of a height of one-metre. They will remain there until the end of the rainy season.

According to Tassanai, the area that was most at risk of flooding was Pa Phrao Nok, because it addition to its low position close to the river, it is situated at one of the river’s narrowest points. However, he felt confident that the municipality had taken appropriate measures to prepare for the heavy rains, including laying the sand bags and dredging the river.

The municipality has also requested funds of 2 million baht for building one-metre embankments along the river to prevent floods in the future. Tassanai claimed that these embankments, which could be adapted into seating during the dry season, would not disrupt Chiang Mai’s scenery.

In the case that a flood does occur, soldiers of the 33^rd precinct have prepared two flood crisis centres equipped with materials and personnel to respond to calls for aid.

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? 19 ? 55  ? ? ?  ? ? ? 33 ? ? ? ? ? ? 100,000 ? ? 8 ? ? 1 ? ? ? 500 ? 800 ?

“? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 2 ? 1 ? ? ? ? 33 ? 2 ? 1 ? ?”  ? ?.