PM Calls Urgent Meeting on Bangkok Flooding, Orders All Agencies to Speed Up Drainage
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Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul called a meeting of relevant agencies at Government House to accelerate efforts to resolve flooding in Bangkok and to monitor relief and assistance measures for affected residents. The Prime Minister ordered the Governor of Bangkok to serve as the single command in the area and instructed that water-pushing machines, pumps and equipment from all agencies be mobilized to reinforce key drainage points to improve the efficiency of draining water out of Bangkok. Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Supajee Suthumpun directed provincial commerce offices nationwide to inspect price labeling on goods and to regulate prices to prevent excessive pricing, and to set up a Single Command center, with Jakra Yodmanee, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Commerce Ministry, as the central point for receiving reports of goods shortages. The center will coordinate with the Ministry of Defence to deploy military trucks to support the transport of consumer goods, and coordinate with Bangkok to provide fresh and dry food to more than 30,000 affected people in the Lat Krabang area. At the same time, discussions were held with Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas to seek an initial central budget allocation of about 300 million baht for a project to sell consumer goods at low prices, building on the Thai Helps Thai cost-of-living relief program, before seeking approval from the Cabinet meeting. Separately, Deputy Government Spokesperson Ploytalay Laksameesangchan disclosed data from the Department of Rural Roads as of September 27, 2026, showing that rural highway networks in 18 provinces have been affected by flooding, totaling 88 routes, of which 51 remain passable and 37 are impassable. Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit ordered Wichaya Kaewmee, Director-General of the Royal Irrigation Department, to go to the Khlong Raok Reservoir, also known as Khao Chuk Reservoir, in Klaeng District, Rayong Province, to oversee repairs to the spillway wall that was eroded by heavy rain. This reservoir is a medium-sized reservoir with a capacity of about 20 million cubic meters, built 34 years ago, and the Royal Irrigation Department confirmed that the damaged point is the soil beside the wall, not the reservoir dam itself, and that the situation remains under management. Meanwhile, the selection committee for the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, or NBTC selection committee, resolved to issue an administrative enforcement measure ordering Dr. Sarana Boonbaichaiyapruck to stop performing his duties as NBTC chairman and to file a petition with the Central Administrative Court seeking an order for Dr. Sarana to cease performing his duties, after the Central Administrative Court dismissed a case seeking the revocation of the selection committee's ruling on September 25, 2026.