Ayutthaya’s Industrial Estates Learns Lessons Managing Floods

Thailand floods in 2011 have inundated more than 2,700 factories and 1,000 brand new Honda cars in Ayutthaya, but all five industrial cities there confirmed that they will not let this happen this year. Bongkote Jamtawee, Chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries Phranakorn Si Ayutthaya Chapter, noted that despite that Ayutthaya became a water field; the industrial sector considers 2011 flood a lesson they have learned and developed its tools for dealing with floods since then. Kowit Janwattanakul – Deputy General Manager of Mektec Manufacturing Corporation (Thailand) Ltd. (Thailand), Ayutthaya’s privileged location was the main reason behind most factories staying in Ayutthaya even after the great flood, and Ayutthaya was in the top 10 provinces on primary productivity scale for a long time with more than 659,000 million baht of investment value. The province is also one of the largest rice-growing areas in Thailand and is where the Ayutthaya Historical Garden, a World Cultural Heritage site, is located.