Thai PBS scores with its flood updates

Tuesday 22 Nov 2011
Thai PBS has won a vote of confidence from the Thai public who had previously been starved of accurate flood news, the Bangkok Post reports.

For over a month now, flood-weary citizens in Bangkok and its vicinities have been glued to TV every night watching the popular news programme, Vikraw Satanakarn Nam (Analysing the Flood Situation) on the Thai PBS channel.

The 15-minute programme is hosted by Associate Professor Seree Supratid, a lecturer on disaster management at Rangsit University, and Darin Klongugkara, the Thai PBS News Editor.

With elaborate and easy-to-understand graphics of flood routes and maps, the programme provides flood warnings and predictions with great accuracy and in great detail, complete with the flow direction of floodwaters, the timing of their arrival and areas at risk. It gives localised analyses and real-time warnings which people had not been getting from the government or the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA).

The programme’s success has made Mr Seree a household name. The 51-year-old lecturer and the Thai PBS team visit inundated areas daily and advise local residents how to drain out flood water.

His flood analyses and forecasts have often hit the mark, making him somewhat of a celebrity with Bangkok residents when he’s out inspecting the flooding in their neighbourhoods.

Explaining why he accepted to become flood analyst and adviser to the channel Thai PBS, he said there was utter confusion among the public: ”Somebody needed to check out, visit the site and investigate the cause,” said Mr Seree, who joined Thai PBS over a month ago.