Thai Officials Clash Over Monkey-Cheek Water Retention Projects
Following heavy flooding in Thailand, officials have clashed over water retention ponds known locally as monkey-cheeks and whether cancelled infrastructure projects contributed to the capital’s inundation, bangkokpost.com reported.
Prime Minister Anutin Orders New Studies on Bangkok Retention Zones
Following the unexpectedly heavy inundation of Bangkok at the end of September, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul ordered the Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning to study ways to develop water retention areas around the capital in order to prevent future floods. Water retention ponds, championally recognized as a solution put forward by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej The Great, hold excess water when drainage into rivers and the sea reaches capacity. While these retention areas are a proven tool for flood management, officials are divided on how aggressively they should be built and where capital investments should be directed.
Atavit Suwanpakdee Accuses Governor Chadchart Sittipunt of Project Abandonment
Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt faced criticism from United Thai Nation Party MP Atavit Suwanpakdee for dropping a royal initiative centred on the monkey-cheeks approach to flood management. The dispute centers on the Bung Khu Bon retention project in eastern Bangkok. The design for that particular scheme aimed to create a storage basin spanning roughly 130 rai with a water capacity of 870,000 cubic metres.
Chadchart Defends Cancellation Over Financial Realities
Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt argued that the decision not to proceed with the Bung Khu Bon project was based on practical and financial considerations. Land acquisition and infrastructure development alone were estimated to cost about 11 billion baht. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) maintained that alternative investments in drainage channels, tunnels, and existing retention areas could offer better value for money.
Abhisit Vejjajiva Calls for Investigation Into BMA Handling
Former prime minister and Democrat party MP Abhisit Vejjajiva called for an investigation into the BMA’s handling of the issue. Noting that the BMA had failed to put forward substitute options, Abhisit posed critical inquiries regarding the site’s real estate development and suggested possible links to well-connected parties.
What Is Still Unknown in the Bung Khu Bon Dispute
It remains unclear whether alternative BMA investments in drainage channels and tunnels will match the storage capacity proposed by the Bung Khu Bon project, or if the ongoing political disputes will result in concrete infrastructure changes before the next seasonal rains. No definitive timeline has been provided by the Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning for when Prime Minister Anutin’s newly ordered study on Bangkok retention areas will conclude.