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Most of the news we are hearing from Southeast Asia today is about No. Korea. That is important, but for the benefit of a few on my flist, I wanted to bring this little piece from Thailand.

Lost in the news about the change in government is the fact that there continues to be massive flooding in the North. It has gotten so bad that the Chao Phya River, which runs through Bangkok and serves as a highway for goods and tourist boats, will soon inundate the city.

Experts at Kasetsart University (my friend works there in fisheries management) have come up with a plan to divert the waters by flooding more farmland in Ayutthaya instead. Since August, the flooding and heavy rains have killed 39 people and some 138,000 have been sickened by water-borne parasites and illnesses. Quoting AP:
"Officials were working to determine the cost of damage from the floods, which have destroyed 1.6 million rai (648,000 acres; 262,000 hectares) of rice fields and farmland and washed away 17,000 fish and prawn farms, the disaster center said." The toll on these people who were already living a tenuous exist must have been devastating.

When we were there, my friend pointed out places where the monuments at Ayutthaya had been repaired for the celebration of the anniversary of the Kings reign. The monuments are a treasured archeological site and I hope they are not damaged.

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lurkitty

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