Environmental Justice

Ayutthaya’s sacrifice: Discontent rises over flood control in Thailand

Photography by Luke Duggleby

Somsri Duangwiset paddles through her submerged village which is located between the Noi River and the Bang Ban retention field. For months, by boat is the only method of transport they can use with their cars parked on higher ground. Photo: Luke Duggleby/HaRDstories

By
Pratch Rujivanarom

Published 27 November 2024
7 min read

For years, the people of Ayutthaya have been living with severe flooding to keep Bangkok safe from seasonal inundation. Now, they are demanding an end to the unjust flood prevention policy that has forced them to sacrifice their homes and livelihoods.

Driving along the rural road that encircles the low-lying flatlands of Bang Ban Field in Ayutthaya’s Bang Ban district during the late rainy season, one could easily mistake the flooded fields for a large reservoir. Only a few trees and half-drowned houses dot the surface – a clear sign that this vast stretch of water is a disaster zone.

A line of tents and temporary shelters is set up along one side of the road where the residents of several flooded villages have sought refuge.

“It’s uncomfortable living on the road like this. You can’t sleep through the night, as trucks are always passing by and there are no toilets, but we don’t have many choices here,” said Ampornthip Kampanglor, who sought shelter on the roadside as floodwaters left her home uninhabitable.

The 52-year-old rice farmer said her family lost nearly all their income during the prolonged flooding period. As soon as the water recedes, they will not only have to pay to repair their home but also allocate a substantial sum for planting new crops.

This is not the first time that Ampornthip’s village has been ravaged by floods. Located in the Chao Phraya River Basin, the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) designated the area as a flood retention zone in 2017 to protect the capital city from seasonal floods.

Bangkok’s flood safety comes at a steep cost for the residents of Ayutthaya’s flood retention areas. While the capital remains protected, Ampornthip and her neighbours are left to endure months of devastating flooding. After years of feeling overlooked, these communities are now seeking a more active role in the management of their homeland, hoping to find a more equitable solution to the annual flood threat.

Calculated disaster

Situated upstream from Bangkok in the Chao Phraya River Basin, the ancient city of Ayutthaya is surrounded by low-lying fields that are seasonally flooded for around two months from September to October, as the river and its tributaries overflow after the monsoon season.

“These flood retention areas are an essential part of Bangkok’s flood defences. We use these fields to take up excess water from the Chao Phraya River when its velocity exceeds 3,000 cubic metres per second,” said Supachai Mapol, director of the Royal Irrigation Department’s (RID) Phak Hai Operation and Maintenance Project.

Six of the eleven flood retention areas are in Ayutthaya, with a combined land area of 640 square kilometres, nearly a quarter of the province’s total area. Before the RID diverts water into these zones, it notifies affected communities via the Line application, Supachai explained.

“We don’t use these fields every year, and we carefully manage the diverted floodwater in accordance with the real-time water situation to minimise the length and severity of the flood,” he said.

In the future, a water diversion canal currently under construction will help manage the overflowing Chao Phraya River downstream and avoid putting pressure on a crucial choke point near the historic city of Ayutthaya, Supachai added.

Despite the efforts to soften the impacts on the affected communities in the flood retention areas, the people in these low-lying fields remain largely unhappy with the RID’s floodwater management.

Renu Kasikun, a local expert on environment and agriculture of Bang Ban Field, said people in the floodplains of Ayutthaya can live with seasonal floods without a problem, but the severe floods from the governmental flood retention project are entirely different.

“In the past, the water would just overflow from the river into the fields, so the flood was not as high. The water would recede in just a few weeks. And the floods would also bring many fish and deposit river sediment, enriching our farmlands,” Renu said.

However, she stressed that flooding from the diverted floodwater is now much worse, as the water rises higher, is unpredictable, and stays longer. As a result, it causes significantly greater impacts on the local communities.

“No one has consulted us on whether we agree to let our homeland be a flood retention area,” Renu said. “We have no say at all in the local water management and planning, as everything is dictated by the central agencies in Bangkok.”

The toll of prolonged flooding

Many affected villagers in the governmental flood prevention projects also report a lack of sufficient public assistance during the flood and proper compensation for damages afterward.

“My village has been in high flood water for a week now, but we still have not received any aid from the authorities. We need rice and canned food as supplies, as it is difficult for the people to go out and buy food at the market, and many of us have lost our income during the flood,” said Somsri Duangwiset, a retired village head of Moo 3, Tambon Bang Luang in Bang Ban district.

Most community members in her village are elderly and have underlying illnesses, making them especially vulnerable during such intense flooding. The travelling difficulties mean that most of them are stuck in their homes.

“We also do not have enough boats to ferry the people from their home to the road in order to go to work, to school, or see a doctor,” Somsri said.

The government provides compensation of 9,000 baht (about 260 USD) for every household in Ayutthaya affected by the flood this year and up to 4,000 baht per rai for damaged crops. But this compensation is too little compared to the losses suffered by many people in the chronic flood zone, Somsri argued.

“Some people have to spend 100,000 Baht or more to raise their house foundation. So, many of us suffer heavy debt after the flood,” Somsri said.

In a 2020 assessment report, the RID found that the flooding of the designated flood retention areas caused severe financial impacts on the local people. The average damages were about 13,000 baht per household. The largest costs were vehicle damages, followed by crop damages and building damages.

Washed away incomes

The report also found that the flood left 96 percent of the people in affected communities without any income during the flooding period.

“Since most people in the flood retention areas are farmers, the change in farming pattern is another major problem that they have to face,” Renu said.

Paddy fields within the flood retention areas are usually submerged under floodwater up to five metres deep. Because it takes over four months for the water to drain and the fields to be ready for farming, the farmers have to adopt a new farming schedule imposed by the RID.

Under the new farming schedule, the farmers are instructed to reduce the annual rice farming cycles from three crops to only two, one in December and another in April. They also have to harvest all their produce by mid-September to avoid crop damage and clear the fields for floodwater storage.

However, according to Renu there are many problems with the new farming calendar. The farmers not only earn less annual income from reducing crop cycles, but they also suffer from water scarcity, which delays farming and risks missing the harvest deadline in mid-September.

“The farmers often face water shortages even though our field is used as a flood retention area for many months, as all the floodwater is drained after November. As a result, we have to pay additional expenses for pumping water from the canal for planting our crops,” she said.

A call for inclusive water management

Pui Saengnak, a local activist who campaigns for more public involvement in water management and flood prevention in Ayutthaya, argues that the unjust flood management is the main reason for worsening water problems.

“Water regulation and management are dictated by the centralised policy that favours the industrial and business sectors in the cities,” Pui said. “As a result, flood prevention and irrigation infrastructures primarily serve the interests of those in urban economic centres rather than mitigating the burdens of poor rural villagers,”.

Pui sees this disparity in water management as the reason for widening inequality in society and the risk for widespread water conflicts.

“The people need to have more of a voice in the water management planning and development of their neighbourhood,” he said. “We are the ones who live with the problem, so we are the vital part for solving the problem.”

Although the RID has recently invested in many large projects to relieve the chronic flood and drought problems in the lower Chao Phraya River Basin, he insisted that unless the authorities tackle the unjust water management that forces rural communities to suffer in the urban dwellers’ stead, the problems and conflicts will persist.

He stressed that the RID needs to reverse their top-down water management policies and instead start from the bottom up by focusing on the people’s problems and considering more of the people’s solutions.

Komluck Chaiya, a lecturer and researcher at the Community and Social Development Department, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Phranakhon Si Ayutthaya Rajabhat University, also highlighted the need for public involvement to improve flood prevention and water management.

“Since the big flood in 2022, the people of Ayutthaya have become increasingly aware of the problems with water management. They have become more active in having their voices heard and pushing forward their agenda,” Komluck said.

He sees the major flaw in the current centralised flood management in that the authorities solely rely on information reported to them in Bangkok, which is often untimely and imprecise.

Although the RID has performed quite well in the management of flood retention areas during this flooding season, successfully minimising flood damage and livelihoods disruptions, the riverside communities have instead suffered more heavily than usual, he argued.

“I think this shows the lack of understanding of the real situation in the field by officers in Bangkok,” Komluck said. “This could be mitigated by allowing the local people to participate in the planning and execution of water management in their area.”

Pratch Rujivanarom writes about environmental justice and human rights in Thailand and Asean. After graduating with a Master’s degree in International Journalism from Birmingham City University, he started his career as an environmental reporter at The Nation newspaper in 2015.

Luke Duggleby is a long-time Thailand based photographer. He regularly works on stories related to human rights, the environment and the impact of pollution and development on local communities.