The Democrat Party is joining forces with Khlong Chan Flats to prepare an administrative lawsuit against Bangkok and Governor Chadchart, urging them to speed up flood compensation. They point out four major deficiencies and call on the government to support vehicle owners burdened with car loans without insurance.
On 8 November 2026, Mr. Sakolthee Phattiyakul, Deputy Leader of the Democrat Party responsible for Bangkok, along with Mr. Rameth Rattanachewang, Deputy Secretary-General and Head of the party's legal team, visited the Khlong Chan Flat community in Bang Kapi district. Their mission was to follow up on residents' hardships and demand flood relief measures from Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, as assigned by party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva.
Mr. Sakolthee, Deputy Leader of the Democrat Party, said that after listening to residents' feedback, two main issues emerged. First, compensation payments have been significantly delayed, with many residents and business operators still not receiving aid. Those who have received payments got only a basic amount between 5,000 and 9,000 baht, which does not match actual damages — for example, a shop and bookstore in the community suffered damages up to 700,000 baht, including over 80,000 baht for a photocopier.
Second, the Khlong Chan Flats community reached a consensus with the Democrat Party team to prepare an administrative lawsuit against the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, led by Governor Chadchart Sitthiphan, to the Administrative Court. They seek full and fair compensation for damages, pointing out four major administrative failures of BMA:
1. Water management lacked preemptive drainage and adequate preparedness to handle the situation.
2. Allowing constructions to block drainage routes prior to the flooding incident.
3. Warning systems failed during the night of 25 to early morning of 26 November, as no alerts were issued by BMA agencies despite on-site staff being aware of the critical water levels before other agencies. This left residents in the Khlong Chan Flats and Romklao areas unprepared, causing thousands of vehicles to be submerged and damaged without appropriate compensation.
4. The readiness and effectiveness of water pumps are in question, as many pumps were found broken and unusable. The Democrat Party questions BMA leadership why, knowing it was monsoon season with heavy rainfall, they did not inspect and maintain pumps to ensure full operational capacity in advance.
Additionally, Mr. Sakolthee highlighted the severe hardship faced by owners of flooded private cars and motorcycles, especially those without first-class insurance who are still paying installments to financial institutions or financiers. This group is burdened with "empty key installment" payments—continuing to pay for damaged vehicles they cannot use. The damage was not due to the owners' negligence but resulted from inadequate and delayed warnings from government agencies.
He therefore calls on the government and relevant agencies to urgently assist and establish guidelines in cooperation with financial institutions to provide concrete compensation for this group. Regarding the lawsuit, the Democrat Party will collect evidence and damage documents from the public throughout this week to prepare the legal complaint. They expect to file the first case at the Administrative Court within two weeks and will welcome other affected individuals to join as co-plaintiffs in the future.
