Bangkok Flood Relief Lagging Due to Weak Local Administration
Pharadon Prisananantakul warned that flood relief payments for Bangkok are lagging due to weak local administration, unlike the rapid progress seen in provinces where village heads and local organisations drive the process. He said only about 600,000 of the estimated 2.3 million affected households have received aid, with the rest to be funded from the 2070 central budget, and questioned whether Bangkok MPs and city councillors should be deployed to accelerate verification. The minister affirmed that the government has sufficient funds and that pre‑October flood damage is covered by the state while post‑October damage falls to insurance companies.
Pharadon Prisananantakul said that flood relief payments for Bangkok are slow because the local administration lacks strength, unlike provinces where village heads, subdistrict heads and local organisations speed up the process. He expressed uncertainty about whether Bangkok MPs and city councillors need to go out to help. Speaking at Government House on 19 October 2069, he said initial talks with the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department showed about 2.3 million households affected, but only around 600,000 have received payments so far. The remainder will be funded from the central budget for fiscal year 2070. He affirmed that everyone affected will receive government assistance, with pre‑October 1 incidents covered by the state and post‑October 1 incidents handled by insurance companies after the government arranged household insurance for all. He said the government has sufficient funds for relief. Regarding the registration system, he said the Digital Government Development Agency’s app allows people to check their eligibility, while local authorities must verify eligibility. He added that the biggest problem today is that affected people in Bangkok do not benefit from the strong local networks present in other provinces, where village heads, subdistrict heads and local organisations actively check on residents. In Bangkok, the responsibility falls to district directors and various officials and community committees, and he is unsure whether MPs and city councillors should be deployed to speed up the process.
