Collapse of Bangkok Would Follow Classic Pattern
The entire city of Bangkok could be inundated, the Prime Minister has warned, with many parts of the capital submerged by up to 1.5m (5ft) of floodwater.
Disaster Calendar 2011 – October 26
[October 26, 2011] Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016. SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,603 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History
- Bangkok, Thailand. Bangkok is now primed to collapse. It’s no longer a matter of if but when the city would implode.
- FIRE-EARTH Models show that back-to-back disasters could strike Thailand, targeting the country’s largest urban area and capital city, in the coming months until the region becomes mostly uninhabitable.
- Bangkok is the center of a 20-million megalopolis, with more than 14.6 million people living in the metropolitan area.
- Mesmerized by the 1980s and 1990s Asian investment boom, a large number of multinational corporations set up their regional headquarters in Bangkok. Many of these companies have been inundated and unable to function.
- As of 2010, Bangkok was world’s 73rd largest city.
- The urban sprawl of Bangkok Metropolitan Area extends into five neighboring provinces.
- Bangkok accounts for about 41 percent of Thailand’s 587 billion dollar economy.
- Located in the The Chao Phraya River basin, and split by a major river of the same name, Bangkok [aka, “Venice of the East”] is cross-crossed by a large system of canals and lies just two meters (6.5 ft) above sea level, with its southern periphery bordering the Bay of Bangkok.
- The government has warned that a double whammy of floodwaters from north running into the sea and high tides in the weekend could overwhelm the entire city, and linger for weeks.
- “After assessing the situation, we expect floodwater to remain in Bangkok for around two weeks to one month before going into the sea,” Prime Minister Shinawatra said.
- Floods have inundated more than two third of the country (62 of Thailand’s 77 provinces), claiming up to 400 lives, destroying or damaging at least a million homes, displacing 2.4 million people and affecting up to 10 million more.
- Thailand is world’s largest rice exporter and was forecast to export about 10.6 million tons (or 31 percent of the global trade) of the grain this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.
- About 1.6 million hectares of standing crops (12.5 percent of total national cropped area) is destroyed or damaged according to the latest official estimates released last week. The actual figures could be as high as 3 million hectares or nearly a quarter of the total national cropped area.
- “According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, nearly 9.9 million heads of livestock are at risk. It is expected that this estimate will rise in the central plains as the flood waters are topped by water discharges from major dams which are beyond or almost at full capacity.” FAO said.
- The export price for grade B Thai white rice, Asia’s benchmark, has climbed by 13 percent so far this year to $625 per ton on October 19, reports said.
- As of today, many grocery stores in the capital are rationing what little food is left on the shelves.
- Drinking water has been contaminated in many areas, local reports said.
- About a million people have so far sought medical attention with complaints ranging from skin rashes due to prolonged water exposure to diarrhea and other waterborne diseases.
- Flooding has forced the closure of at least seven industrial parks bordering Bangkok.
- The tourism industry, which employes 2.2 million people and accounts for 6 percent of Thailand’s economy, is also hit hard.
- The cost of damage is estimated at 6 billion dollars and mounting.
[NOTE: Specific details of this forecast, which include the mechanisms of collapse and timeline, are not included. SEE blog content for explanation.]
Related Links
- Global Disasters in 2011 Could Impact 1/3 to 1/2 of the Human Population (FIRE-EARTH Forecast)
- Back to the Primordial Future
- Mass Die-offs (FIRE-EARTH Forecast)
- The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities (EDRO Forecast)
- 2011 Much More Disastrous: FIRE-EARTH Forecast
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