As Thailand Floods Spread, Experts Blame Officials, Not Rains

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/14/world/asia/a-natural-disaster-in-thailand-guided-by-human-hand.html?hpw

As some of Thailand’s worst flooding in half a century bears down on Bangkok — submerging cities, industrial parks and ancient temples as it comes — experts in water management are blaming human activity for turning an unusually heavy monsoon season into a disaster.

The main factors, they say, are deforestation, overbuilding in catchment areas, the damming and diversion of natural waterways, urban sprawl, and the filling-in of canals, combined with bad planning. Warnings to the authorities, they say, have been in vain.