***Angry Thais accuse their authorities of being unprepared for the worst floods in half a century. But in the country's dash for growth the contingency planning and infrastructure required to cope in such a crisis has been largely neglected.***

AS water seeped into the workers' two-stor-ey wooden homes In a flooded Bangkok street.-Pramod Niempeim and his family waded across the road to a wall of sandbags and began tearing it down.

Pramod and his neighbours were furious. The embankment. erected by city officials, protects a nearby luxury residential development oWned by wealthy people, while flooding their homes. For them, the barrier is a symbol of everything that is wrong with the haphazard way the authorities have tackled Thailand's worst floods for half a century.

After three months of severe monsoon deluge, the world-renowned smile of the Thai people was not the only casualty, as officials counted the damage.

Up to early November, the toll stood at 250 people dead, two billion baht worth of crops destroyed, and more than 130 million baht lost In the livestock and aquaculture industries. Damage to public buildings was thought to total 1.37 billion baht.

Much of Bangkok had been under water, and, for a while, transport by boat and other makeshift vessels became part of everyday life. Forecasters also warned that more rain inland could lead to further flooding along the Chao Phraya river, which runs through the capital, later in November

Thailand might be touting itself as a booming Asian tiger' economy, but the flood losses expose the country's continued vulnerability to the vagaries of nature. Behind the facade of city skyscrapers and neon lights lies a lack of planning and infrastructure to deal with disasters.

Only last year, for example, much of Thailand was suffering drought problems after three years of poor monsoons, with thousands of urban homes hit by water shortages.

"Thailand's infrastructure development over the past 15 years < an be best described as guided anarchy ." says an economic analyst in Bangkok. It has lagged so far behind the country s rate of economic development that the situation has now reached a critical stage

Thailand has enjoyed double-digit economic expansion rates since the mid-1980s, and despite a slight slowdown. growth is still expected to be 8 5 per cent this year

The recent flooding was not unprecedented, and critics ac cuse Bangkok authorities of falling to heed the lessons of 1942 and 1984 when the last big Hoods struck

A massive construction boom has taken place in the capital and surrounding areas in recent years without any regard for the natural drainage system of a city barely a metre above sea level, says Kasem Chandranol of Bangkok a Chulalongkorn University

The capital Is typical of a

metropolis which has developed without any apparent long-term vision. Buildings have sprung up over swamp lands which traditionally soaked up excess water

Some of the old waterways and canals in what has been called both the Venice of the East" and the "City of Angels" have been over for use by vehicles. Ai 3 result. floor! wbteri 'have re-| stricted'means of escaping into the sea.

The problem is exacerbated - -by seasonal high tides in October and November, which push upstream. In addition, water stored behind dams in the north reaches a peak at the time of the monsoon, and when released, adds to the floods washing over fields and villages and draining down to Bangkok.

Meanwhile, the uncontrolled sinking of wells has caused the water table to drop — posing a subsidence threat In the city.

Before this year's floods came drought. Last year was one of Thailand's worst dry seasons, when many traditional water sources dried up. Environmentalists said the problem had been considerably worsened by increasing deforestation, the conversion of woodland to commercial agriculture and tourist resorts. and damage to water tables.

Increased pumping of water from the Chao Phraya caused salt water to flow upstream from the Gulf of Thailand — further reducing supplies. As a result, water was rationed aerdss much of Bangkok, while farmers inland were discouraged from planning a second rice crop to save water.

At the same time, the growing number of golf courses found sufficient supplies to keep their courses green throughout the year — creating tension between farmers and leisure-industiy developers.

"As has been the case with floods this year rural areas outside Bangkok are always asked to sacrifice their crops and fields for the sake of the city, while the city has taken few measures to change its haphazard and dangerous course of development." said a Bangkok political science student.

One of the main reasons for the country's lack of longterm planning lies in Itsr changeable political climate.' according to Wittayakom Chh angkoon. a writer on social issues A lack of continuity in government since the 1970o has left many infrastructure plans unfulfilled

Shaky coalition governments have failed to share "a commitment to a particular agenda, policy or ideology", he adds As a result, even proper drainage, sewerage and watertreatment systems have not been implemented Growing corruption among bureaucrats and i has only worsened the problem GEMINI NEWS