Floods: Duel of the sluicegates

Rogue red shirt police major takes law into own hands with locals, back & forth sluicegate duel: half meter up, half meter down, Bangkok governor says stop ...

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Lum Luk Ka sluice gate row heats up, Sukhumbhand says locals must obey law by Pongpat Wongyala & Pakawat Sunpituksaree

Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra has refused to negotiate with Pathum Thani residents after they raised the Khlong Phraya Suren sluice gate to 1.5 metres again without permission.

The Lam Luk Ka sluice gate, with stagnant water on this side, floods running off on the other.

MR Sukhumbhand yesterday said he would negotiate only after the sluice gate was lowered back to 1m. He stressed that the law must be upheld in place of mob rule.

The governor made the statement after red shirt leaders in Pathum Thani demanded to meet him for talks on opening the sluice gate. The red shirt leaders included Sa-ngiam Samranrat, also a staff member of the Flood Relief Operations Command (Froc) and a political-office holder at the Prime Minister's Office, Wutthipong Kotthammakhun and Sornsak Malai.

The red shirt leaders led more than 200 residents from Pathum Thani's Lum Luk Ka district to raise the sluice gate to 1.5m on Monday night after the gate was lowered to 1m on the orders of the Bangkok governor.

On Sunday night, a group of about 30 people, led by Pol Maj Sa-ngiam, cited an order by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and the Froc director Pracha Promnok, to lift the gate to 1.5m, prompting the governor to order the gate lowered. MR Sukhumbhand said he was unhappy that someone in authority at the PM's Office had tampered with the sluice gate without permission.

He was referring to Pol Maj Sa-ngiam, who led the Pathum Thani residents to lift the gate on the two occasions. 

The governor said he would not bow to any pressure and would file a lawsuit against Pol Maj Sa-ngiam.

City Hall spokesman Wasan Meewong said the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) would ask the Froc to try to control Pol Maj Sa-ngiam who led residents to lift the sluice gate. 

Mr Wasan said City Hall would take strict measures to prevent the unauthorised lifting of sluice gates in Bangkok and raise the issue with the Froc to restrain their staff from doing so. 

Mr Wasan said that Pol Maj Sa-ngiam is a staff member at the Froc and he has already repeated the unauthorised action with the gate twice.

If the Froc fails to control its staff, then this would encourage similar mob rule or copycat actions in other areas, Mr Wasan said.

However, Pol Maj Sa-ngiam said he had acted on behalf of people who had been affected by floods, and denied suggestions by City Hall that he had tried to misuse his authority to raise the sluice gate.

He said it was clear that the order by the prime minister had instructed the Bangkok governor to open the gate when the need arose to ease the suffering of flood victims.

Previously, Mr Wasan insisted that it was not an order but only a Froc request letter asking for the gate to be raised. City Hall had already turned down the request, saying that complying with it would cause flooding in many areas of the capital.

Royal Irrigation Department former deputy director-general Weera Wongsangnak, who chairs Froc's committee on water management, yesterday said that the group led by Pol Maj Sa-ngiam was not associated with either the Froc or the area representative who met with Pol Gen Pracha earlier.

The director of Thailand's National Disaster Warning Centre Somsak Khaosuwan yesterday said the overall situation in Bangkok is returning to normal and the Froc would continue with the dismantling of big bag barriers.

He said about 140 big bag sandbags along the train tracks in Don Muang were removed on Monday and more were being taken away every day.

(Source: Bangkok Post, Lum Luk Ka sluice gate row hots up, Sukhumbhand says locals must obey law, 30/11/2011, Pongpat Wongyala & Pakawat Sunpituksaree, link) 

Water Wars Vocabulary
 
duel - 1. a conflict or fight between two people or two groups; 2. hundreds of years ago: a formal fight between two people with swords or pistols to settle an quarrel  การแข่งขันระหว่าง 2 คน,  การต่อสู้ระหว่าง 2 คน (See Wikipedia)

sluice gate – a gate that can be opened or closed to control the flow water along a passage ประตูน้ำปิดเปิดบังคับการไหลของน้ำในคลอง
raise the sluice gate -
lower the sluice gate
open the sluice gate
close the sluice gate

Pathum Thani residents raised the Khlong Phraya Suren sluice gate to 1.5 metres again without permission.
the gate was lowered to 1m on the orders of the Bangkok governor.

rogue - behaving differently from others of the same kind, often causing damage (example: rogue programs crashing computer systems, a rogue agent planted in a foreign country, Falstaff is Shakespeare's loveable rogue) (See Wikipedia)
rogue police - police that break the law and do not follow the orders of civilian authories

takes law into own hands - taking action and doing what you think the law should be (rather than leaving this to the police and legal system)
rogue red shirt police major takes law into own hands

row - fight, argument
row heats up - the fight gets more violent and intense
sluice gate row heats up

locals - people who live in a particular place ชาวบ้าน
locals must obey law

negotiate - to successfully travel on a road or path that is difficult to travel on or through ฝ่าไป
residents - people who live in an area ผู้อยู่อาศัย ผู้อาศัย ราษฎรในบริเวณนั้น

permission - allowing someone to do something การอนุญาต,การอนุมัติ,การยินยอม
without permission - so something, take some action (without permission from the government or organization controlling an activity first)

refused to negotiate with Pathum Thani residents after they raised the Khlong Phraya Suren sluice gate to 1.5 metres again without permission.

stagnant - not moving นิ่ง, หยุดนิ่ง,
stagnant water  - water that is not moving or flowing, and therefore usually is dirty and smells bad น้ำทรง, น้ำในลำน้ำธรรมชาติ ที่มีปริมาณคงที่อยู่ ไม่ขึ้นไม่ลงเท้อ, น้ำนิ่ง   

stress that ... - say that this is important ....
uphold law - support and help the law, follow the law (obey the law, do what the law tells you to do, report or arrest people when they break the law) 

mob rule - rule by a crowd of people or mass of people who do not obey authorities, also called "Ochlocracy", a major factor in the rise and maintenance of the Roman Empire (See Wikipedia)

stressed that the law must be upheld in place of mob rule

talks - negotiations, formal discussions of problems between different sides in a conflict in order to solve the problem
talks on opening the sluice gate 

staff - workers, employees; people who work for a company or organisation พนักงาน
staff member of the Flood Relief Operations Command (Froc)

a political-office holder at the Prime Minister's Office

cited - mentioned (to support a point you are making or arguing) กล่าวถึง
cited an order by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and the Froc director Pracha Promnok, to lift the gate to 1.5m

prompting - causing
prompting the governor to order the gate lowered

authority - the power to make decisions or tell people what to do อำนาจ, อำนาจในการสั่งการ

tamper - try to change something when you shouldn't (have no permission or authority to change)
tamper with the sluice gate without permission -
unhappy that someone in authority at the PM's Office had tampered with the sluice gate without permission.

referring to - talking about, mentioning

on two occasions - happened two times
led the Pathum Thani residents to lift the gate on the two occasions. 

pressure - trying to force someone to do something, when people are being pushed or forced to so something
bow to pressure - do something, after being forced to do it
would not bow to any pressure

file - to take official action, in this case, to make an official complaint ยื่นคำร้อง
lawsuit - a case that a court of law is asked to decide involving a disagreement between two people or organisations คดีที่อยู่ในระหว่างการฟ้องร้อง
file a lawsuit against Pol Maj Sa-ngiam

strict - very careful and exact เข้มงวด
measures - actions taken to deal with a problem มาตราการ
unauthorised - without having permission to do something ที่ไม่ได้รับอนุญาต

City Hall would take strict measures to prevent the unauthorised lifting of sluice gates in Bangkok 

issue -  an important subject that people are arguing about or discussing ประเด็น
raise an issue - mention an important subject to get people talking about it and considering it

restrain - prevent a person from taking some action 
restrain staff - prevent employees from taking some action

raise the issue with the Froc to restrain their staff from doing so. 

he has already repeated the unauthorised action with the gate twice.

encourage - give energy to continue doing activity, motivate, give confidence ปลุกใจ
copycat - similar to something else and considered to be a copy of it เลียนแบบ

If the Froc fails to control its staff, then this would encourage similar mob rule or copycat actions in other areas

he had acted on behalf of people who had been affected by floods

denied - said it was not true
misuse - to use something in an unsuitable way or in a way that was not intended ใช้ในทางที่ผิด

denied suggestions by City Hall that he had tried to misuse his authority to raise the sluice gate.

clear - easy to understand
it was clear

ease - to make or become less severe, difficult, unpleasant, painful, etc ทำให้ง่าย บรรเทา
suffering - physical or mental pain or problems ความทุกข์ทรมาน
ease the suffering - reduce the pain that people are feeling and experiencing

victims - people who are killed injured or harmed in some way from an accident, natural disaster, crime, etc.
flood victims - people who have been injured or harmed by the flood (example: property damage)

open the gate when the need arose to ease the suffering of flood victims

insisted - say firmly that something must happen or is true, and will not change mind  (didn't give in or stop)
insisted that it was not an order but only a Froc request letter asking for the gate to be raised.

turned down the request - said no, will not do it, after being asked to do it

complying - following the rules or laws
capital - the city that is the center of government in a country เมืองหลวง
complying with it would cause flooding in many areas of the capital.

deputy - a person who is given the power to do something instead of another person, or the person whose rank is immediately below that of the leader of an organisation รอง, ตัวแทน,ผู้รักษาการแทน
deputy director-general Weera Wongsangnak

X associated with Y - to officially be a member of some group or an employee of an organization or company
the group led by Pol Maj Sa-ngiam was not associated with either the Froc or the area representative who met with Pol Gen Pracha earlier.

the overall situation in Bangkok is returning to normal

barrier - something that prevents movement through a place อุปสรรค
big bag barrier - floodwalls made with very large sandbags, here is Suranand Vejjajiva's definition: "The mother of all sandbags is of course the famous (or infamous) 'big bag'. This is a bag weighing one tonne and standing one metre high. Each requires a crane to lift and place down to create the floodwall barrier" (See his article)

big bag sandbag - the very large one tonne sandbag used to make the "big bag barriers"

dismantle - take down, take apart (some structure that was built or erected) (example: After the defeat of the city, the walls of the city were dismantled.)
the Froc would continue with the dismantling of big bag barriers