Partying on top of Tak dam to dismiss rumours

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Partying on top of Tak dam to dismiss rumours

The Nation December 31, 2011


A New Year countdown party will be held at the Bhumibol Dam in Tak in a move to dismiss rumours of the dam collapsing on January 1.

"The Tak Countdown Festival will take place right on the crest of the Bhumibol Dam," Deputy Governor Woot Sittisurat said yesterday. "I want to assure everybody that the dam is safe."

Assistant director of the dam operations Sirichai Saengsuwan said the compound would be open to public after sundown for the first time so as to ease worries.

"Sometimes, people have so much faith in rumours that they ignore facts," he said.

According to him, the Bhumibol Dam is strong and durable enough to withstand an earthquake of up to 7.5 Richter scale in magnitude. The dam is currently releasing 45 million cubic metres of water each day because it is at its capacity.

"But the dam has been able to store water to the fullest of its capacity thrice before and there have been no adverse impacts," Sirichai said.

Worries among the residents in Tak was evident as some were seen leaving home to camp out at a hill nearby for the New Year holidays.

Elsewhere, people were in a celebratory mood, especially in the North, where people have been gathering to enjoy cool temperatures.

"Normally, we have 90 buses coming in each day, but today more than 170 buses have already arrived," Somnuk Hasassilp, chief of the Chiang Mai bus terminal, said.

Wissanu Arunbamrungwong, who heads the Tourism Authority of Thailand's Mae Hong Son Office, said all hotels and resorts in Pai were fully booked for the New Year period. In addition, he said, Mae Hong Son's Khun Yuam district had also drawn a huge number of tourists because the sunflower fields there were in full bloom.