Channelling the Deluge--An Evening with Dr. Anond Snidvongs

Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand. Bangkok, Thailand. October 9, 2012. After last year's devastating floods, residents of Bangkok are understandably nervous about this year's rainy season, which is about to end. The anxiety has been compounded by the media, which gives out contradictory and inaccurate stories buttressed by a lot of hype. A true expert, Dr. Anond Snidvongs, Executive Director of the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency, and Director of the scientific think tank SEA-START, carrying lots of satellite images, graphs and charts to the FCCT, gave a thorough presentation of Thailand's current water situation. Although it is difficult to sum up all the data presented by Dr. Anond, it is fair to say that this year's overall rainfall and water levels are substantially below last year's, and that flooding this year mostly will be within natural catchment areas, but, of course, there will be some local areas under water. As for Bangkok, September was the wettest in history, which caused backup in the drainage system, which mainly dissipated within a few hours. Unless you're one of the unlucky few to be an "exception," extensive flooding and dislocations will not be experienced. One fact tells the story: rainfall this year is 30% less than last year, but flooding is down 75%.