123
8.4 Infrastructure
During the last decade the cities in Thailand have increased significantly infrastructure investment and all the cities selected for the study have invested on road network, storm
water drainage, flood protection etc. Since most of such projects do not have provisions to consider the risk of flooding during initial stages, such newly built infrastructure also
contributed to flooding to some extent in subsequent years. Then the cities have executed flood risk reduction programs which included improving the facilities for flood prevention
and storm water drainage. This is applicable to all the cities under the study to a considerable degree. Usually these infrastructure systems have a typical service period of around 100 years
or less. In many cities and small urban centers the main problem associated with such infrastructure development is the lack of provisions for integrating the needs of long term
climate change impactssuch as all weather roads, sewers, drainage, etc and lack of capacity to address the same after undertaking such projects with large investments.
Figure 8.20. Inundation area due to flood Source: ADPC TUDMP, ADPC RECLAIM II, Municipality
More importantly once they built following certain standards it is difficult to replace or improve if destroyed due to extreme weather events as they have no or limited provisions for
such improvements due to design conditions. This is one of the central issues with regards to vulnerability of infrastructure because most designs of infrastructure facilities do not take in
to consideration the long term impacts other than the usual return periods of events such as floods. When designing such structures the designers follow the permissible criteria given in
the design codes that have been established before the climate change discussions came in to effect. Therefore it is difficult to focus on adjustments to infrastructure which can withstand
any future extreme weather events. In addition another important factor added to the factor of vulnerability is the fact that the limited local capacity of cities to design implement and
124 maintain the necessary adaptation measures. While funding infrastructure projects by cities
usually consideration is given to optimization of cost and benefits and when the importance of integration of climate change is not understood by authorities it will be difficult to expect
additional allocations for such adjustments. Deficiencies in infrastructure and utility services including storm water drainage and surface drainage systems also created due to no or lack of
proper maintenance.
Figure 8.21. Damaged infrastructure due to disaster in Muang district Source: DDPM, Municipality
125
Figure 8.22. Flood protection systems in Udon Thani Source: Municipality
126
Figure 8.23. Flood protection systems in Chiang Rai Source: Field survey
127
Figure 8.24. Flood protection systems in Hat Yai Source: Field survey
Figure 8.25. Coastal erosion protection system in Samut Sakhon Source: Municipality, Field survey
128 Extreme events such as floods, drainage congestion and water logging due to excessive
rainfall often cause very serious damage to roads, highways, bridges, culverts etc in Chiang Rai, Udon Thani, Hat Yai provinces as serious flood events have been observed in 2000 in
Hat Yai, 2005 in Udon Thani, 2008 in Chiang Rai. In addition water logging due to continuous rainfall is a near regular occurrence in the rainy season in Udon Thani, Chiang
Rai, Hat Yai cities. The effect of water logging and flooding to inter city transportation as well as between cities also is considerable and it also causes inconvenience to city dwellers
that used to commute to work stations, offices, factories etc.
Figure 8.26. Example of flood protection scheme in Udon Thani Source: Municipality
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Figure 8.27. Example of flood protection scheme in Hat Yai Source: Municipality
130
8.5 Utility services
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