Flood cleaning & repairs begin

Thailand's industrial estates start a two month long journey of cleaning & repair on the way back to normal business operations.

Photo of workers cleaning the sign for Western Digital at Bangpa-in Industrial Estate in preparation for a return to production in earnest (Photo: Pattanapong Hirunard). 

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INDUSTRIAL ESTATES: Bangpa-in ready for refurbishments by Nanchanok Wongsamuth

AYUTTHAYA : It's a big cleaning day at the Bangpa-in Industrial Estate, and some 2,000 workers have gathered to help clean up the place.

The estate is the first of the seven inundated estates that have finished pumping 8 million cubic meters of water out of the area, and Lukkana Meankumnerd, director of the Bangpa-in Industrial Estate Office, says factories will be operational within two months at the earliest.

Although the exact dates are up to each individual company, most of the factories that use mechanical machinery will recover faster than those that use electronic machinery, she said.

Floodwater entered all areas of the estate, which houses 90 factories, reaching four to five metres above sea level on Oct 15.

The water level started to recede on Nov 7, and the estate was fully dry on the 17th, with road and infrastructure repairs completed at that time.

Kutsuyuki Kunikata, vice-president of Nippon Super Precision Co Ltd, a manufacturer of computer hard-disk drives, said plans to expand production 20% at its 3-billion-baht plant have been delayed until the government provides adequate plans for water management.

"We are still committed to maintaining production in Thailand, but we don't want the same problem to happen again. We want to see a clear plan by January; this needs to be done before the rainy season comes again," said Mr Kunikata.

With 1,000 employees, Nippon has production capacity of 1,200-1,300 parts per month, with 20% exported. It paid full wages to employees for the first month of flooding, and is now paying 75% of wages. 

"Most of our machinery is under water, but we expect to resume operations within two to three months," he said. 

Sukhum Srisobhanangkul, president of Kukubo Rock Ice (Thailand) Co Ltd, said its 250-million-baht plant is expected to be operational within 90 days. 

With a production capacity of 40 tonnes of ice per day, or 40,000 packs, the company received permission from the Food and Drug Administration to import 1 million packs of ice from Japan to sell locally at the same price. The ice is expected to arrive before Dec 20. 

Many Japanese companies said they wish to remain in Thailand, but if there is no clear [water policy] it may be a factor if they consider switching manufacturing bases, as electronic parts are easy to move," said Mr Sukhum, who is also vice-chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries' Ayutthaya chapter

Plew Trivisvavet, chief executive of Ch. Karnchang, said the estate will start constructing a five-metre concrete dyke around the 11-kilometre perimeter once the water outside the estate recedes in order to prepare for a worst-case scenario. 

The dyke will cost 700 million baht and be partly financed by soft loans from the government, with 200 million for reconstruction and water pumping.

The new dyke will take two years to build and be mixed with soil. It will be built in tandem with reconstruction of the existing dyke, which is 4.5 metres

Mr Plew estimated damage for the industrial estate to total 700-800 million baht, with lost opportunity costs totalling 100 million the past few months

(Source: Bangkok Post, INDUSTRIAL ESTATES, Bangpa-in ready for refurbishments, 22/11/2011, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, link)

Flood Recovery Vocabulary

recover (verb) - when the situation improves, gets better; getting better after suffering damage; to become healthy and fit again after an illness or injury การฟื้นไข้
recovery (noun) - process of recovery; of getting better after suffering damage

the factories that use mechanical machinery will recover faster than those that use electronic machinery

industrial estate - a special area for factories with special infrastructure (roads, ports, transportation, electricity, water, waste disposal, etc), also called "industrial park" (See Wikipedia)
estate - same as "industrial estate"

inundated - flooded ถูกน้ำท่วม, จมลงใต้น้ำ
seven inundated estates

earnest - serious and determined เอาจริงเอาจัง

refurbishment - cleaning and repairing something and providing it with new equipment; making it like new again 

operational (adjective) - able to work normally; working; able to be used ที่สามารถใช้งานได้
operations (noun)
factories will be operational within two months at the earliest

expected - believe will happen คาดว่า (จะเกิดขึ้น)
expected to be operational - expected to start working again
its 250-million-baht plant is expected to be operational within 90 days.

resume - start again after stopping temporarily (ธุรกิจ) ที่ฟื้นตัวอีกครั้ง ดำเนินต่อไปใหม่
resume operations - start production at factory again after stopping for a time 
we expect to resume operations within two to three months

up to - will be decided by, will be determined by 
X is up to Y - X will be decided by Y (X will make some choice and this will decide what will happen) (example: it's up to you where we eat dinner)

individual - relating to or involving a single, separate person or thing แต่ละบุคคล
the exact dates are up to each individual company

recede - to move back; to move further away into the distance ถอยหลัง
The water level started to recede on Nov 7

infrastructure - the high-cost facilities that everyone in the economy shares (water, roads, electricity, trains) สาธารณูปโภค
road and infrastructure repairs

expand - to become larger ขายตัวออกไป
expand production 20%

plant - factory
3-billion-baht plant

adequate - good enough or large enough for a particular purpose;  good enough to do the job; enough to achieve goals พอเพียง
adequate plans - plans that good enough to achieve goals
adequate plans for water management

plans to expand production 20% at its 3-billion-baht plant have been delayed until the government provides adequate plans for water management

committed - promise to continue doing something in the future (a sure thing) (example: the husband was committed to his wife and family)
we are still committed to maintaining production in Thailand

clear - easy to understand ชัดเจน ชัด
we want to see a clear plan by January

production capacity - the amount of something that can be produced ความสามารถในการ (ผลิต)

Nippon has production capacity of 1,200-1,300 parts per month
a production capacity of 40 tonnes of ice per day, or 40,000 packs

wages - the amount of money earned per hour by a worker
full wages - 100% of their wages
It paid full wages to employees for the first month of flooding,

permission - allowing someone to do something การอนุญาต,การอนุมัติ,การยินยอม

the company received permission from the Food and Drug

import - to buy or bring in products from another country นำเข้า
permission to import 1 million packs of ice from Japan

policy - a plan of action to guide decisions and achieve outcomes นโยบาย (See Wikipedia)
water policy -

factor - a fact or situation which influences a decision or the result of something ปัจจัย
manufacturing base
switching manufacturing bases - moving factories to a new place

 if there is no clear [water policy] it may be a factor if they consider switching manufacturing bases,

 the Federation of Thai Industries' Ayutthaya chapter  - the local branch of a large national organization

dyke - a water wall or flood wall; a wall that keeps water out of a place; a wall built to prevent the sea or a river from covering an area, or a channel dug to take water away from an area เขื่อนกั้นน้ำ
perimeter - a line around the outside of something; the outer edge or boundary of it ขอบนอกสุด, อาณาเขต, เขต, เส้นรอบวง

build dyke around the perimeter  - build a wall to keep water out of a place around the outside of a place
the estate will start constructing a five-metre concrete dyke around the 11-kilometre perimeter
 
scenario - a possible situation in the future; the way a situation could develop in the future การสมมติสภาพ
worst-case scenario - การสมมติสภาพที่เลวร้ายที่สุด
prepare for a worst-case scenario

soft - not strict; weak อ่อน
soft loans - loans with easy terms (low interest rates, long payback period or low fees)
partly financed by soft loans from the government,

reconstruction - the process of building or creating something again that has been damaged or destroyed การสร้างใหม่, การประกอบใหม่
200 million for reconstruction and water pumping

in tandem - at the same time as
built in tandem - build at the same time as
built in tandem with reconstruction of the existing dyke - build at the same time as reconstruction of the existing dyke

opportunity - a situation when it is possible to do something that you want or need to do (See glossary)
opportunity cost - the value of lost opportunities when a decision is made, this idea from economics is important in making business decisions (for example, the decision to produce at a factory at an industrial estate that is flooded, the flooding results in lost business)  (See Wikipedia)

lost opportunity costs
lost opportunity costs totalling 100 million the past few months