Bangkok and the Floods of 2011: Urban Governance and the Struggle for Democratisation

Flooding is an endemic problem in Thailand, as it is in most of mainland Southeast Asia. The problem has been intensified by deforestation, urbanisation and global climate change. The floods in 2011 were particularly severe and caused the loss of more than 700 lives and a great deal of economic damage. It was also the cause of political crisis as different factions within the Thai society contested about how the flood issue should be treated and, in particular, who should be given priority in being protected. It is necessary to unpack the divisions within the society to understand why the governance system that was adopted did go into practice and why there has been so much deliberation over whether the post-flood infrastructure system should be implemented and if so, how. The limitations of what a democratically elected government in Thailand can achieve when obstructed by supposedly neutral public-sector organisations, the military and their allies are made clear. Trying to overcome these obstructions continues to prove beyond the ability of what elected governments can achieve in Thailand, and this seems unlikely to change in the foreseeable future. As a result, disaster governance will continue to be used as a pawn on the political chessboard and not as a means of saving lives and livelihoods.