Govt slow on floods

The report of flash flooding in the Sai River in Chiang Rai yesterday has renewed fears among local communities that floods and mudslides will return in ever greater numbers. Their fears are valid.

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In less than an hour, the flooding in the Sai River swelled to knee level, forcing villagers along the river to move their property and elders, as well as bedridden patients, out of harm's way.

Last year, the plight of communities along the Sai and Kok rivers in Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai provinces made national media headlines when they were hit by floods and mud slides that came from upstream in Shan State, Myanmar.

It took months for the communities to clear the debris and remove the vast piles of dried mud from their houses.

Now, local villagers are again questioning whether their communities will face similar woes, as concerns have arisen that the man-made structures the government has installed to combat flooding may not be effective in protecting them.