A national water data centre should be a government focus to pool all fragmented water information resources, involving over 30 state agencies, says Royol Chitradon, director of the Hydro and Agro Informatics Institute.

The centre would manage and analyse data, including rainfall volumes, water catchments, water release, sea water levels, canal and river levels, weather forecasts, flood-risk areas and water pump and gate operations.

"The hardware required for all this data can be easily obtained. But we need to integrate the data exchange to make it available for all parties involved," said Dr Royol, who is a representative of the Strategic Committee for Water Resources Management.

The Thai government has been bombarded with a slew of questions and complaints from the public in the wake of the floods, but couldn't answer many of them due to a lack of basic data. More accurate data and the ability to analyse it are critical factors for the country's decision-makers to manage water so Thailand can avoid a repeat of the current disaster.

Dr Royol urged the government to use light detection and ranging technology (LIDAR), a tool for measuring and recording elevation data to measure the height of flood-affected provinces. This technology could be used to develop a higher-resolution topographic system, which would have an error range of less than 20 centimetres.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said US President Barack Obama pledged the US government would send LIDAR experts to Thailand for assistance in flood provention.

Dr Royol admitted drafting a city data model would be impossible because it was difficult to collect the height of each area, road, tile drain and dynamic construction. Agricultural landscapes would provide better accuracy.

The state might use the echo sounder to evaluate the depth of all major rivers and canals. It works by sending pressure waves down from the surface of the water and recording the time it takes the echo to return from the bottom.

"During the floods, we installed the echo sounder on boats to measure canal depths in Bangkok and Samut Sakhon province," he said.

Dr Royol said the availability of the echo sounder is still limited. But Thais know how to use it and can produce it locally, which could bring the price down to 100,000 baht per unit.

He added the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles equipped with GPS, cameras and remote control for image capturing was helpful to find drainage obstacles such as dense water hyacinth.

Satellite images from the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency helped the government with flood relief and in determining which critical risk areas need immediate drainage.

A telemeter also proved effective in water drainage, especially at Chulalongkorn water gate, he said.

Dr Royol said the government needs to replace the computer-controlled watergate system with manual platforms to manage gates more effectively, particularly those in highly flooded areas that were difficult to access.

The Netherlands' advice was that city planners should consider all natural water sources including canals and rivers, drainage and water waste management in a water management plan.

The Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning, meanwhile, need to establish rules to control the height of roads, drains and construction so that they do not block drainage.