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Explanation about the project of blocking the mass water on Phaholyothin Road
The concept of protecting the mass water not to flood the inner areas of Bangkok
The current mass water is overflowing Rapeepat Canal down to Rangsit Canal, is flooding Khukhot, Saimai, Don Muang, Laksi, Bangkaen districts and is going to the inner areas of Bangkok. Its source is in Ayutthaya province. The water flowed on Phaholyothin Road from the North to the South, Kilometer No. 55 – 79, about 150 million cubic meters per day. This amount is as much as half of the water of Chao Phraya River that normally flows to Thai Gulf. So, if we can block the water not to flow on Phaholyothin Road, the total water pressure to Bangkok will be decreasing rapidly and the water will flow down to Chao Phraya River and Thai Gulf at last.
The water is flowing over three important areas on Phaholyothin Road which are
1. From Kilometer No. 55 to 57. The water is flowing 1,500 meter long. The deepest point is about 80 centimeter deep and 600 meter long.
2. From Kilometer No. 59 to 62. The water is flowing 350 meter long. The deepest point is about 50 centimeter deep and 150 meter long.
3. From Kilometer No. 65 to 66. The water is flowing 800 meter long. The deepest point is about 60 centimeter deep and 400 meter long.
The amount of water which is flowing from Kilometer No. 55 to 57 is estimated about 70% of the total water. If we can control the water from this area, the problem will be relieved and if we can control the water from the two remain areas, we will be able to block 90% of the total water. When the less water flows to Rapeepat Canal, we will be able to close the Phra-In Watergate and the Watergates at Khlong No. 1 to 6, so the water flowing to Rangsit and Bangkok will be less which will enable to open Phaholyothin Road for traveling again. In the contradiction, if the water still floods on Phaholyothin Road, it is estimated to be flooded at least two weeks. This means that Bangkok may be flooded in months.
The concept of protecting the water not to flow on the road
1. The area which is 80 cm deep or more: We will place the containers, 12 meter long, to block the water flow.
2. The area which is 40 – 70 cm deep: We will place the giant sand bags, 1,000 kilogram weigh, parallel each other to block the water flow and then, insert the small sand bags to plug the gaps.
3. The area which is 10 – 40 cm deep: We will place the concrete posts provided by the Department of Highway and they are 4 meter long, we will place them contiguously and put the small sand bags to plug the gaps. Another method is placing the 1 meter diameter concrete cylinder pipes in the water, insert the sand bags in the pipes to make them heavy enough to resist the water pressure, put the small sand bags to plug the gaps and also put the small sand bags on the top to prevent the water overflow.
Answers of the questions about this project
1. The project of blocking the mass water is the government’s project which the main authorities are the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Transport. They ordered through the Department of Highway and asked Dhammakaya Temple for cooperation because we have tools, equipments and people including our success in protecting the dyke at Rapeepat Canal between Khlong Nueng to Khlong Sam. So we sent the monks, staffs and volunteers to carry the sand bags.
2. The objectives of this project are
a. To increase the traffic way on Phaholyothin Road for the land travel to the North or the Northeastern Regions as soon as possible.
b. To open the way for the government officials and officers to give the relief packages to the flood victims in Pathum Thani and Ayutthaya provinces easily.
c. To block the mass water which is going to flow to Khlong Luang, Rangsit, Don Muang, Saimai districts and the inner areas of Bangkok. We estimated that if we can block about 30-50% of the total water and turn it to flow along the canals normally as well as the Bangkok Officials are pumping the water out of the inner areas, these will decrease the flood rapidly.
3. If we build the barriers to block the water on Phaholyothin Road successfully, we estimated that the increasing water level in the nearby areas will be less than or equal to 10 centimeter.
4. Information about Dhammakaya Temple
a. Dhammakaya Temple cooperated with the Khlong Luang, Khlong Nueng, Khlong Song and Khlong Sam people to build the dyke at Rapeepat Canal, about 8 kilometer long, and are monitoring it 24 hours a day. It relieved the troubles for over 150,000 people.
b. The temple packs the relief packages, over 3,000 packages per day and each package contains canned food and drinking water, to give the flood victims in Khlong Luang district and the nearby areas and cooks the fresh food, about 20,000 boxes per day, to give the flood victims in Pathum Thani province and the nearby areas.
c. For the communities around the temple, we give the relief packages and ready-to-eat food, about 3,000 – 3,500 average boxes per day, as well as sending the mobile medical units to help the flood victims in Khlong Luang district between Khlong Nueng to Khlong Ha, Wang Noi district between Khlong Nueng to Khlong Si and Navanakorn Industrial Estate by boat.
d. The temple has provided the free buses, during 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. everyday, since October 26th, 2011. The route is from the Motor Way (the East Ring road or the Highway No. 9) – Dhammakaya Temple – Bangkhan – the front of Talaad Thai for people who want to go back home in the country to get on another buses to go to Mo Chit Bus Terminal.
e. Now there are about 10,000 people staying in the temple which are over 2,000 monks and novices who live in Dhammakaya Temple and branches, over 1,000 laypeople and volunteers, over 4,000 disciples who pack the relief packages, cook the food for the flood victims and make the sand bags, the about 1,400 victims who contacted via the Sub-district Administration Offices to stay temporarily and over 1,000 staffs of the temple who became the flood victims stay with their families. However, Khlong Luang district is now one of the flood areas, so the temple has a plan to move the flood victims to stay in the safe area at the Youth Training Center in Lopburi province later.
5. We would like to inform that the dyke at Rapeepat Canal, Khlong Nueng to Khlong Sam sub-districts, is about 8 kilometer long and we cooperated to block the mass water on Phaholyothin Road because we had been invited to participate in this project. The benefits of this project are for the mass people and to protect Bangkok not to be flooded more than this. The benefits are not only for Dhammakaya Temple, but for the people and the flood victims in Khlong Luang, Rangsit, Pathum Thani, Saimai, Don Muang and the inner areas of Bangkok as shown in the figure. However, the temple stopped the operation on Phaholyothin Road since Thursday October 27th, 2011 and is waiting for the government to give us the clear operation.
Phra Sanitwong Vuḍḍhivaṁso
Public Relation Department
Dhammakaya Temple
October 27th, 2011
Translated by Chadawee Chaipooripat
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