AYUTTHAYA THE FLOODED CITY

THE ROLE MODEL OF WATER MANAGEMENT.

Ayutthaya is a well-known site because of its historical records, as one of the world’s largest cities of its time and a major political, economic and religious center. People also call Ayutthaya a flooded city because it’s always flooded when it’s raining. But in 2012, Ayutthaya has been named the role model in water management by the government. 

Ayutthaya is an island that placed in the middle of three rivers; the Chao Phraya River, the Lopburi River and the Pa Sak River. All rivers were commonly called “Mae Nam” or “Mother of Waters”. Visitors will need to cross the river by ferryboat. Government has allocated TBH 2.4 billion for special budget for the post-flood rehabilitation. The budget was spent on the elevation and the repair of highways and road that have been damaged by flood. The government also elaborated that the elevation of highways and roads are designed to blocks future floodwater from coming to the city and all industrial parks. The government tried really hard to prevent the flood to coming to the city area and make the people save. That is why the government has laid out a new water management mechanism;

1.     Legal Aspect: Water Resource Act has been drafted, and is now under the deliberation of the National Legislative Assembly.

2.     National Level organisation: National Office of Water Resources was established to tangibly mobilise policies and directives, monitor, and follow up on the operations.

3.     Water resource management strategic plan:

-       Developing water supply in village and urban areas, expanding school water networks, ensuring quality and affordable consumption of water.

-       Ensuring sufficient water budget for sustainability and security.

-       Alleviating flood damages in urban and major economics areas.

-       Developing wastewater management system in 201 areas

-       Rehabilitation of forest watersheds and degraded areas

-       Establishing and systematising water-related organisations, law, database, and publicity

Here only few people can understand and speak English, so it is a little difficult to make a communications here. Ayutthaya is famous for their temples and architectures, so people that want to explore Thailand should go here because there are so many great places to discover. People here usually go here by:

-       Car

-       Train

-       Bus

-       Minibus

-       Boat

And People can travel around Ayutthaya using:

-       Bicycle

-       Tuk-tuk (motorised 3-wheeler)

-       Mini bus

-       Boat

-       Songteow (share truck, taxi, or bus)

-       Cyclo (sitting on the seat and the driver will take you around)

-       Motorbike

After I did a research about this Ayutthaya, they trying really hard to manage and improving their place. I become more open minded about my country and the transportation as well. Here in Singapore people can go everywhere using a bicycle, but for them they need to use boat just to go to the Ayutthaya it self. Also they have a lot of traditional, ancient ruins and I think that is really beautiful. Not only they protect it and take care of it but they also develop their cultural stuff and trying to make it shining as long as possible. For an Indonesian, I always know that Indonesia is a really cultural and beautiful place but I never think about conserve my own culture and tradition, but after doing a lot of research of Ayutthaya I think I need to be proud of my own culture and tradition because Indonesia is also a very beautiful place.

RESOURCE:

https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/576

https://wikitravel.org/en/Ayutthaya

https://onestep4ward.com/ayutthaya-bangkok-day-trip/

https://www.tatnews.org/2016/10/find-out-why-ayutthaya-is-considered-the-historical-heart-of-thailand/

https://reliefweb.int/report/thailand/pm-emphasizes-govt-s-progresses-and-plans-national-water-management