Even though the Chao Phya has not overflown, several communities in the eastern districts of Lad Krabang and Prawet have been swamped after heavy downpours. The BMA and Suvarnabhumi Airport, which possesses its own state-of-the-art flood-prevention system, are blaming one another for the flooding.

Both the BMA and Suvarnabhumi rely on powerful pumps to drain floodwater into irrigation and natural waterways outside their floodwalls and dykes. The airport also pumps floodwater out directly into the sea. The trouble is that in recent weeks, both have been pumping water into the same waterways, which, especially when those waterways are filled to capacity, could compromise both flood-prevention systems.

Instead of squabbling over the situation, both sides should put their heads together and find ways to cooperate to bring about mutual benefits and serve the public interest. It must be pointed out that both sides had foreseen this problem even before the airport opened. Instead of resolving their dispute and working out a solution, they chose to adopt the confrontational approach that has led to the current stand-off. This is part of the negative legacy of the Thaksin government, which, once it had set its mind on moving up Suvarnabhumi Airport's opening date, rushed the airport's construction, including the flood-prevention system. This, despite the potential problems arising from conflicting claims between Bangkok's eastern suburbs and the airport on the right to use surrounding waterways to drain floodwater.

It was an open secret that the Thaksin government and the BMA, controlled by the opposition Democrat Party, had engaged in turf battles on several fronts, particularly in connection with key infrastructure projects on which the central government insisted on having a say just because it held the purse-strings.

This must stop. There must be a way for the two sides to come to terms with the need to mitigate the suffering of people in flood-hit areas in Bangkok's eastern suburbs as well as the need to protect the airport from floods.

Most of Bangkok is approximately 1 metre or less above sea level. Its main defence against flooding caused by run-off floodwater consists of 2.8-metre-high, 80-km-long floodwalls along the banks of the Chao Phya River. The city's key method of draining excess rainwater from heavy downpours involves unclogging its drainage pipes and maintaining a low level of water in its inner canal system, which is regulated by gates and powerful pumps. Over the past decades, the central government and the BMA have spared no expense in building up a gigantic flood-prevention system, mostly through trial and error. For example, it was discovered that the diversion of floodwater into swampy, unused areas within the city, such as the Makkasan area, complemented the holding capacity of the city's canal systems. Some road projects, such as the Romklao-Lad Krabang Road, were designed to double as flood prevention walls to keep floodwater out of Bangkok proper.

After it was discovered that the Bang Na-Trat Highway prevented floodwater from draining into the Gulf of Thailand, the government came up with the Klong Dan project to free up the flow of floodwater. This dramatically increased Bangkok's draining capacity.

North of Bangkok, the Pasak Chalasith Dam in Lop Buri was built mainly to regulate water in the Pasak and Chao Phya rivers.

Keeping floodwater out of Bangkok has become relatively easier with all these flood control mechanisms in place. It would be a pity to see this system, in which so much has been invested, undermined because the BMA and the airport authorities refuse to work together.