Flooding/Rioting in Bangkok [Archive] - Sawatdee Gay Thailand the oldest and most popular gay forum on Thailand and South East Asia

Jellybean

October 12th, 2011, 17:52

Hi a447

I live in Sathorn (see the map link provided by Combat) and there are no floods in Sathorn Road, nor where there any in Silom Road on Monday and Tuesday when I went shopping at Tops Supermarket at Central Silom (by Sala Daeng BTS Station). There has been a lot of panic buying, which I first noticed at the large TescoтАЩs on Rama III on Sunday and saw again on Monday and Tuesday.

I read in the Bangkok Post this morning that the flood defences have not been effective in some cases which have resulted in flooding in the suburbs. I donтАЩt think the government has been able to confirm that the main business and commercial areas will be free of flooding. It would seem that the highest risks from flooding will be Friday through to Monday. Please donтАЩt just take my word for it please have a look at the Bangkok Post website before deciding to leave Pattaya. (Sorry I don't know how to make the link.)

We have had two heavy downpours today and still no signs of flooding. I asked my concierge staff about the likelihood of flooding and they confirmed that there is a danger on Friday. I asked about the likely depth of the water and was told it might come up to knee level.

By the way I enjoyed reading your posts on your experiences in the bars in Pattaya. If IтАЩve read you correctly it seems to me that youтАЩve had your fill of those bars and are looking for pastures new. If you donтАЩt already possess a pair of shorts and some flip-flops IтАЩd go out and purchase them and stick to your original plans for coming to Bangkok.

Oh, and finally, IтАЩve just received the following general email from Michael Hancock, HM Consul at the British Embassy in Bangkok:

Message from the Consul at the British Embassy in Bangkok to the British Community.

I'm sure you are all keeping a close eye on the weather and flood situation wherever you are in Thailand. We too are monitoring the situation closely so that we can provide up-to-date and accurate information to British visitors and residents. I thought you might be interested to see the current wording (12 October) about the flooding in the Travel Advice and have inserted the main summary below:

September and October are the height of the monsoon season in Thailand. Heavy rainfall across the country continues to cause widespread flooding, flash floods and mudslides and has resulted in disruption and over 260 deaths. The most affected areas are the north, north-east and central Thailand. Airports, including Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport are operating normally. There has been some disruption to road and rail transport, particularly on routes north of Bangkok. If you are in an affected area exercise caution and follow the advice of local authorities. To check areas affected and transport infrastructure impacted please see the regular reports published by the Thai 24/7 Emergency Operations Centre. Check with your tour operator, local media, the 24/7 Emergency Operations Centre or the Thai Meteorological Department for up-to-date information and warnings before you travel.

The full Travel Advice for Thailand is available at: http://ukinthailand.fco.gov.uk/en/help- ... vel-advice (http://ukinthailand.fco.gov.uk/en/help-for-british-nationals/travel-advice) We will continue to monitor the situation and will update the Travel Advice regularly. For this reason I suggest you check it frequently. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Please feel free to forward this message to anyone you believe might be interested in seeing it. Many thanks.

Michael Hancock
HM Consul

Beachlover

October 12th, 2011, 22:02

The flooding's not affecting or not going to affect the CBD areas like Silom, Siam Square and Lumpini right?

Does anyone with experience of Bangkok flooding have any idea how quickly the flooding may or might settle down after Monday? Say one or two days or is it likely to stay that way for a week or so?

Don't know much about flooding so I'm only guessing if those central CBD areas flood it'll just depend on how long it takes for the drainage systems to clear all the water.

October 12th, 2011, 22:44

Don't know much about flooding so I'm only guessing if those central CBD areas flood it'll just depend on how long it takes for the drainage systems to clear all the water.

Normally any flooding in Bangkok disappears after a reasonable short time once the heavy rains have stopped. The problems faced by Bangkok are because of inadequate drainage systems plus its relative height to sea level. A dam further up north had burst or overflowed the other day so combining that and the amount of rain (The Thai's like to call it 'A Thousand Year Rain') undue amounts of water had been flowing towards Bangkok. Most of this has been, and will be averted. It's not always good practice not wearing shoes, but if one does find oneself somewhere where there is a lot of water remove your shoes and socks, roll up your trousers and paddle, everyone else does, just tread carefully to avoid injuring your feet, oh and watch out for any stray crocodiles!!!!

Beachlover

October 13th, 2011, 21:55

Having seen a few articles and threads on flooding in Thailand, my biggest worry would be electrocution, followed by infection from filthy flood water.

Jellybean

October 22nd, 2011, 16:43

Normally I do my major weekly shop on a Sunday because the roads in Bangkok are relatively quiet. But at Thai school on Friday my teacher suggested I shop that day because she said the shops were running out of food, water and other essentials like toilet paper! I said I thought the worst was over and that the runoff water had passed into the Gulf of Thailand, although from my casual reading of the Bangkok Post, it appeared that the governmentтАЩs assessment of the situation was changing from day to day. Actually, she said, it is changing hour by hour. Her husband is a doctor and had been called to the flooded regions to help out and move patients to hospitals in Bangkok. She said he attends daily briefings and they fear that contaminated water in the canals is going to be let loose on the streets of Bangkok and that central Bangkok, which was considered тАШlow riskтАЩ is not now considered immune to contaminated flood water. It is feared that the number of people needing hospital treatment because of contact with infected water might be unmanageable.

My teacher added that the government is not telling the truth and is afraid to lose face by asking for outside help. She told me that many of the factories which distribute food and water to the capital are flooded and that the roads from those factories into Bangkok are impassable. For example, she said the company which distributes to the 7/11 franchise can no longer supply those chain of shops and some are already closing. Rather alarmingly she added that she thought central Bangkok would now be affected by the flood waters. Although, today Saturday, I see that the latest news is that the flood level in the Chao Phraya River has begun to recede.

So off I went to Tesco Lotus on Rama III, but I could not find a parking space, IтАЩd never seen the car park that full. I parked in a yellow cross-hatched no parking zone. Inside TescoтАЩs it was bedlam, IтАЩve never seen it that busy and IтАЩve never seen the shelves so empty. Absolutely no water for sale, there were hardly any soft drinks or juices left for sale. The rice section was fast running out. All the snacks were gone, there was no bread for sale and the toilet paper section was also in danger of running out. Phew! Just as well my teacher advised me to shop on Friday because I donтАЩt believe there would be anything left by tomorrow.

Today, Saturday, I went to Tops Supermarket in Central Silom (by BTS Sala Daeng). The first thing I noticed is that the number and height of the sand bags had increased to about 4 feet. Inside the shelves looked just as empty of the bare essentials, although I was able to find bread, tins of soup and the last three cartons of my favourite mixed berry fruit juice. But definitely no water. Even the 7/11 next door had no water for sale.

Normally a replacement 18.9 litre bottle of water is delivered to my apartment on a Saturday. But I was told yesterday that the company that delivers the water is on one of the flooded industrial estates. No one was able to tell me when the next delivery would be made. I usually get through one and a bit bottles of water a week and I currently have a whole bottle and an open ┬╛ full bottle in use and about 20 small bottles in storage. If used sparingly maybe this will last about 2 weeks. Will the situation be resolved by then? Who knows?

But despite all of this I am in a far better position than millions of Thais, some of whom have seen their loved ones killed in the floods, their homes destroyed and their places of employment ruined. My intention in writing this post is not to grumble or complain, but to give those of you who are interested a small insight into how the flooding is affecting a foreigner who lives in central Bangkok.

Hmmm

October 22nd, 2011, 19:21

Just like during the riots, twitter seems to be the only way to get up-to-date information. The #ThaiFloodEng feed is good, although you do have to know your BKK geography well, and don't regard all reports as accurate.
http://twitter.com/#!/search/%23ThaiFloodEng%20-rt

The local English language papers are too slow (even online), and one international news outlet announced earlier this week that Bangkok was under water. The government can't be trusted, partly it seems because it doesn't know.

With about 10 billion m3 of water still north of the city, and only about 1/20th of that able to flow to the sea each day, the situation isn't going to resolve itself quickly.

The question now is just how dry inner BKK will stay as the water flows around it, and whether tap water and power stay on.

October 23rd, 2011, 03:01

The BBC says that Mrs Yingluck has said that Thailand's worst flooding in decades is set to last another four to six weeks and she warned people in Bangkok to be prepared for flooding there describing the situation as extremely serious so that makes it nearly Xmas time doesn't it? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15413818

bucknaway

October 23rd, 2011, 04:30

If you're in BKK get bottled water while you can. I stocked up here in Pattaya. The plant that makes the tops for the water bottles is flooded and bottled water in BKK is in short supply.

I also heard that they are going to flood certain parts of bkk in the hopes that they can reduce flooding in Bangkok central. But as the clerk at the 7/11 just said. Everything in Pattaya is fine.

Check out www.2bangkok.com (http://www.2bangkok.com) for some decent coverage.

Beachlover

October 23rd, 2011, 20:17

Hope you get through ok, Jellybean. Worst case scenario with water is you'll just have to get tap water and boil it. That'll at least kill any or most bacterial issues.

October 23rd, 2011, 20:20

I have always boiled my tap water and then bottled it in LOS. Waste of money buying bottled water and as for the large containers that suppliers deliver, one can never be 100% certain how they were filled at sourse anyway.

martin911

October 23rd, 2011, 22:57

corky

October 24th, 2011, 00:38

Can anybody that has first hand info (current ) on Bkk silom/rachada area re any closures due to the floods ??

I am due go to Bkk tmoro nite and as they are my usual hunting grounds i would appreciate any info --i dont want to go if its
disruppted

I was in Silom and Suriwong area tonight (Sunday 23 Oct) until 10pm.
No flooding in that area at that time.

Jellybean

October 24th, 2011, 16:39

Thanks for your comments and advice Beachlover and Combat. If the company which delivers my weekly water does not resume service within the next 2 weeks IтАЩll have to seriously consider boiling my tap water as you suggest. But IтАЩll have to be extra careful, since my cancer and radiotherapy treatment I am rather prone to infection. For example, a few weeks ago I had a bad case of, what I assumed was, food poisoning and lost 4 kilos.

Of course if, as is said today on Thai Visa.com, Bangkok might be flooded for up to one month, I also have the option (i.e. providing the road to the airport from Sathorn is still passable and the airport is still open) of bringing forward my return to the UK from December. I would then return to Thailand, as planned, in January, by which time I assume everything will be back to normal, at least in Bangkok.

And, just to add to CorkyтАЩs reply to Martin911, there has been no rain fall in Bangkok for a few days now and, apart from the empty shelves in food shops and seeing sandbags in place around most buildings in Sathorn and Silom everything looks perfectly normal тАУ no flood water whatsoever. But for long how will the present situation continue? The latest news on Thai Visa.com appears to suggest that some people are intent on interfering with the flood barriers, which are preventing the flood waters entering central Bangkok in order to reduce the water flow into their own areas.

Beachlover

October 24th, 2011, 21:32

Jellybean... if you're worried boiling water won't kill everything in it, you could always see if your local pharmacy stocks Puritabs and use those. There's also portable water filters you can get in camping/outdoor stores now, which are good enough to turn water drawn from muddy stagnant puddles into pure drinkable stuff!

I have always boiled my tap water and then bottled it in LOS. Waste of money buying bottled water and as for the large containers that suppliers deliver, one can never be 100% certain how they were filled at sourse anyway.
That's what I also used to do when traveling/living in developing Asian countries. Didn't see the point of buying bottled water when you can just boil it in your hotel room, let it cool and then bottle it. Also didn't like the waste of resources put into getting that bottled water to you.

But then someone on this forum pointed out boiling only kills bacteria. It won't remove other potential impurities you get with dodgy water/plumbing water systems like metals, chemicals, minerals or whatever gets stuck in there... ever since then, I've been drinking bottled stuff in Thailand, instead of boiling tap water. Most of the hotels I stay in these days have 4-5 complimentary bottles lying around the room (replaced daily) anyway so rarely need to actually go out and buy bottles.

I used to boil tap water before drinking it in Australia too, as that's what my family's always done. I guess they took that habit from Asia and didn't think to stop doing it in Australia where drinkable tap water quality makes it unnecessary...

christianpfc

October 24th, 2011, 23:42

There are machines that dispense potable water for 1 Baht per litre if I remember correctly. That's cheaper than bottled water and reduces waste as you can re-use the bottles.

krobbie

October 25th, 2011, 02:29

My partner lives in Sathorn Area and when I got to work this morning he had sent some pictures. I was most surprised but he has been telling me and I have been reading online just where the water has come to in BKK.

The problem also is that people in flooded areas want to try and alleviate the flooding by breaking parts of the flood water barrier to let the water go but this will then mean flooding in CBD, which includes Sathorn.

As of last night (12 hours ago) there was no water in these areas but lower Sathorn closer to the river is certainly getting itself ready. Some of the shops are using the sand bags outside their premises and some are just building solid barriers as these pictures show.

Don't anyone plan on catching a plane north from Don Muang. That really is a flooded area, which I am sure you are aware of.

So for what it's worth here are the pictures I was sent.

[attachment=2:3e9zkm5o]photo2.JPG[/attachment:3e9zkm5o]

[attachment=1:3e9zkm5o]photo1.JPG[/attachment:3e9zkm5o]

[attachment=0:3e9zkm5o]photo3.JPG[/attachment:3e9zkm5o]

newalaan

October 25th, 2011, 03:34

Just arrived back to uk from Bkk, so just giving some very recent info/experiences. For about the last 2 weeks when in Thailand everybody has been offering opinions that the floods will arrive Bkk 2-3 days, several 2-3 days had passed before my flight Sunday night without the expected flooding. All the flooding is connected to Klong/canal areas, so you can travel around the outskirts of Bkk for 20-30 km see no water whatsoever then suddenly come upon a stretch of road totally flooded if near a klong. It is unfortunate all the flooding is concentrated in the heavy industrial areas, Bkk Post had a photo of the Sony factory in 3 metres of water, many people we know, friends, family members who work in the outer bkk factories just laid off as suddenly as the water arrived. Alot of hardship.

We travelled from the north-east Thailand to Pattaya 12 days ago, we were advised by many not to go the usual route via Korat, Saraburi outer ring road Bkk to Pattaya and Chonburi, all manner of suggestions how to get alternative routes east avoiding Bkk. Decided after watching local 24 hour news to go the usual route Korat, Saraburi to the outer ring rd Bkk not a single sign of water anywhere near saraburi yet was advised it would be unpassable.

Got to the usual chonburi/Pattaya turn off from the Bkk motorway to find a 5 km tailback...so headed into Bkk towards Suvarnabhumi as we drove past the static tailback which would have represented hours of waiting to find that the two lane pattaya turn off was flooded to about sill/tyre height and only passible at the very near side of the motorway by driving snails pace one vehicle at a time. Probably travelled 40 km more going into Bkk and out via the airport-Chonburi road but saved hours in the que.

On the way back into Bkk on Friday the motorway was fairly quiet, but the opposite lane heading into pattaya was very busy with long stretches of slow moving/static vehicles, one small accident resulted in a massive tailback on the Bkk>Pattaya motorway near chonburi. Getting into silom no problem, infact suriwong rd was very quiet with traffic.

Alot of the motorways around the klong areas have one or two lanes set aside for residents to park their cars, so there is some hold ups on the elevated tollways near affected areas. When we arrived at Suvarnabhumi there were no parking spaces to be had as the airport has offered free parking to all, so cars are blocked in all over the place, parking 3-4 deep, so we just stopped on the lower floor as all the upper space was already full and blocked off, left the handbrake off. My friend said when he got back to his car after seeing me off he got out ok.

All the silom 7-11 and Family Marts near suriwong had ran out of large water bottles, but still plenty of the smaller sizes on Fri, Sat and Sun. Decided to stay put in the silom area for the couple of nights in bkk for the evening fun, so didn't get to rachada etc.. Fri/sat DJ station jam-packed! with Sat as packed as I have ever seen it, as were all the soi 2 clubs and bars.

Jellybean

October 25th, 2011, 17:45

Thanks for your very helpful advice Beachlover.

I was at Thai school again this morning and my teacher (who is also the principal of the school) told me that she is closing the school for the time being. Her home, and that of her staff, is in the intermediate zone which she says is about to be flooded and the residents in those areas are being advised to evacuate the area or, if they can, move to a higher level. She said moving up to the second level of her home is not practical, for one thing the familyтАЩs kitchen is on the ground floor and the house is not designed for all the family to live on the second floor.

She said her husband, who is a doctor at a large hospital in central Bangkok, says the hospitalтАЩs plans include a worst case scenario of the flood waters reaching 2 metres. It is believed they will be unable to handle all the emergencies that are forecast to arise due to contact with contaminated water. Already, she said, in some places the quality of the tap water has deteriorated and has become dangerous to drink. The government are advising people to stock pile tap water in case the water mains system fails.

My teacher drew a map outlining the cityтАЩs water defence system and said there are likely to be further breaches and that the vast amount of water that is being held back will enter the city centre possibly within the next 7-10 days.

She said there was a danger of the electricity system failing and governmentтАЩs ability to ensure the supply and distribution of water and food is in serious doubt. She strongly advised me to leave Bangkok whilst the roads to Suvarnabhumi Airport and the airport itself are still open. It is possible that Don Muang Airport will shortly close due to flood water. She added that many people who have properties in the south or friends with properties in the south are now moving out of Bangkok.

I indicated in my earlier post my concerns about my health and I donтАЩt really want to put my health at risk so I have brought forward my leaving date to this Friday. I would rather go home than risk being stranded in my apartment with a big question mark over the availability of food, water and quite possibly a failure of the mains electricity system. In any case I am missing home so a short respite away from Thailand will do me good.

I was going to post some photos I took this morning of buildings with and without sandbags. I took a couple of shots of buildings in my neighbourhood, a shot of the Australian Embassy (for the benefit of Beachlover, a447, BrisbaneGuy and all our other Australian members). The embassy has not, so far, taken any anti-flooding precautions, well none that I could see. I also took a couple of shots of the Central Silom Complex at Sala Daeng (opposite DJ Station). But in preview mode only a small part of the photos were visible and when I tried to delete them I received a general error code so I donтАЩt know what went wrong. So sorry, no photos on this occasion.

pong

October 25th, 2011, 18:54

1-. providing the road to the airport from Sathorn is still passable and the airport is still open), there has been no rain fall in Bangkok for a few days now and, apart from the empty shelves in food shops and seeing sandbags in place around most buildings in Sathorn and Silom everything looks perfectly normal тАУ no flood water whatsoever.
2-But for long how will the present situation continue? The latest news on Thai Visa.com appears to suggest that some people are intent on interfering with the flood barriers, which are preventing the flood waters entering central Bangkok in order to reduce the water flow into their own areas.
@1. There is the BTS-on a viaduct, on Satorn and running Phyathai-and the ARL-on an even higher viaduct, running straight into swampy. But as its nickname suggests (Swampy for suvannaphumi= it was cobra swamp before in Thai) I feel that it is much more prone to the current flooding as many think.
@2. since a few days also there is en emergency decree that all trespassing etc on the temp. sandbagged dikes/dams etc is banned for anyone, except staff. But as you know: laws do not mean much in Thailand.
it also appears that popular places just out of BKK are flooded (sorry for the word here) by BKKians trying to escape the deluge- like Pattaya and Hua Hin, taking up all accomodations. Tesco has had to close several stores as they were empty anyway, no delivery coming in and staff were too busy in their own homes.

Neal

October 26th, 2011, 01:21

In the interest of disseminating information, this thread has been stickied to the top and all relevant posts have been transferred to it.
This thread is to contain only information on flights to and from Suvarnabhumi airport and travel to and from Bangkok.
Unfortunately there have been too many threads opened with questions here and there regarding the same areas and it is difficult to find all the information. So please, this thread airport info and travel to and from Bangkok only. Pattaya info look at the sticky for Airport to and from PTY.
Anyone else want to open a thread for travel to and from their areas, please go ahead and do so. All the more information, the better our members are kept informed!

zinzone

October 26th, 2011, 02:23

"In a televised address to the kingdom late Tuesday, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra gave a stark prediction of the potential impact of the flooding, saying the water was "at full force, which is more than the barriers can hold".

She said it was "highly likely" that all of Bangkok, including the inner zone, would flood, with a "worst case scenario" seeing water levels of up to 1.5 metres in some parts."

See:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/507 ... s-advance/ (http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/507869-bangkok-in-crisis-mode-as-floods-advance/)

I do not want to be a scaremonger and I pray what is said above proves to be wrong, but it sounds to me if the above is correct, BKK is in even bigger trouble now, and that is an understatement.

yaraboy

October 26th, 2011, 06:12

Well I cancelled my flight to Bangkok today.......4 hours prior to departure. I had hoped things would settle by now..........after all last weekend was suggested as high water mark. As I had to make a connection to Jakarta on Saturday it was just too risky. Mid November is now my ETA and I hope things have improved by then

cameroncat

October 26th, 2011, 08:22

The govt. has called for a special Holiday Friday through Monday. Not sure if it's only for Govt workers or all business. My Ex lives in Sukhumvit area near the new Terminal 21 mall. He said panic buying is crazy with little to no water, dry or canned food left at the stores. His Apartment is on a higher floor, so he is not worried about flooding, but is worried about loss of electricity and ability to get water and food.

Nabaat

October 26th, 2011, 09:40

What if any diseases are we likely to encounter when the floods receed? Would it be wise to go and have some vaccinations?

Blueskytoday

October 26th, 2011, 12:30

martin911

October 26th, 2011, 13:30

Is the main airport closed or not ????

Blueskytoday

October 26th, 2011, 14:12

As of now, open and no problems..
Don Maung is shut down

gregvc

October 26th, 2011, 19:29

have just seen the thousands of displaced people who were camped at Don Muang airport. They are now being bussed to Chonburi and who knows where! Also many other Bangkok residents are trying to get to Pattaya for higher ground and bottled water!

Beachlover

October 26th, 2011, 22:34

HI:
My friend arrives in BKK Friday for a week.
Has Resv to stay at Babylon.

With the possible flooding coming to downtown BKK,
and the 5 day declared holiday, he is wondering if he
should go from the airport directly to Pattaya where no
problems exist OR go to Bablylon as planned?

One might assume the sauna as well as bars and massage
houses on Silom may be closed down as the boys may mostly
returned home to help in the flood situation.

Thoughts and advice apprecaited.
Thanks
Charles
Blueskytoday... I reckon your friend should consider canceling Thailand altogether and going elsewhere in the region instead.

Bangkok: Sounds like the next few weeks will be pretty f***ed in Bangkok. Read all the info you can here... People and officials are saying the whole city will be flooded, not just little pockets, and it'll be sustained flooding, not just a brief thing. Even if you're in a high rise, food/water will become scarce and officials are saying they may not be able to keep electricity/water running. It'll be NO fun.

Pattaya: Haven't been following Pattaya but sounds like people in Bangkok are fleeing to take refuge there (finally, Shitsville makes itself useful :rolling:). This'll mean scarce accommodation and it sounds like supplies of food and possibly water are getting scarce.

All in all... people are trying to get out of the place and your mate wants to go in? :scratch:

Could consider Chiang Mai or Phuket. Check if they're affected by supply chain disruptions.

--

I have a mate who got out of Bangkok a few days ago and was glad to be out of there.

Originally, he was worried he was going to be there during the worst of it. The confusing and/or misleading and inaccurate info coming from officials, government and media led him to believe that weekend a few days ago would be the worst period and that was when he was landing.

But no, it turns out that weekend was fine... it's only now that things are REALLY getting bad in Bangkok! He said he had a great time but wouldn't want to be there now or in the next few weeks.

lexusgs

October 26th, 2011, 23:03

Is the main airport closed or not ????

Martin,
Just arrived back from HK an hour ago. No problems with the Airport. I'm out again on Friday to Tokyo. I will update you here if there is any change.

arsenal

October 27th, 2011, 10:42

The scale of this and the stoicism of the Thais a lesson to the world.

These pictures are stunning.
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011 ... er/100178/ (http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/10/bangkok-underwater/100178/)

Jellybean

October 27th, 2011, 10:59

I would echo BeachloverтАЩs advice to your friend Blueskytoday. At a time when people are leaving Bangkok it seems crazy to me to want to come here. And, as has been said elsewhere, many Bangkokians are fleeing to the safety of Pattaya, which is only adding to the problems of finding food, water and accommodation in that city.

Yesterday as I was passing the St Louis Hospital in Sathorn, near Surasak BTS Station, I noticed that they were building temporary walls made of breeze block across the entrance and exit to the hospital. It would appear that they donтАЩt trust their safety to sandbags.

This morning I read in the English language newspaper The Nation that the latest on the flood situation is that the authorities are now saying there is a тАЬpossibilityтАЭ that all 50 districts in Bangkok will be flooded, with water rising to levels of between 50cm and 1.5m which will last for up to a month. Apparently it all depends on three crucial flood barriers holding fast. When asked the Thai prime minster replied that there was a 50% chance of the barriers breaching! So Bangkokians were told to тАЬbrace themselvesтАЭ for the forthcoming floods!

IтАЩve been in touch with two of my neighbours in Hua Hin and they say that panic buying and the lack of water and food distribution have left the shelves in the shops there just as empty as in Bangkok. ItтАЩs the same the world over, when a politician says, тАЬDonтАЩt panic and donтАЩt stockpile.тАЭ Then the people go out and do the exact opposite!

I am due to fly out of Bangkok tomorrow and hope that thereтАЩll be no problems on the roads to Suvarnabhumi Airport, IтАЩll allow extra time just in case.

martin911

October 27th, 2011, 12:27

Is the main airport closed or not ????

Martin,
Just arrived back from HK an hour ago. No problems with the Airport. I'm out again on Friday to Tokyo. I will update you here if there is any change.

Thank you for the info --did u travel on to Pattaya or into Inner Bkk ???

martin911

October 27th, 2011, 12:30

I was at the Big C this morning and one of the Hibachi Restaurants had a sign up saying they were closed due to supply shortages caused by the flooding in Bangkok.

Here in Bangkok the 7/11 is out of Big Bottles of Coke but has a good supply of the can sodas. I imagine this is just the start of the shortages.

Bucky

can you update as to what Bkk is like ????
What area are you in ?? ,and are the night spots still normal --any info greatly appreciated !!

gregvc

October 27th, 2011, 13:27

some news stations reporting inundation at Grand Palace. Also, sending homeless to Suvanaphum airport.

llondonboy

October 27th, 2011, 16:42

I arrived into the main airport yesterday eve, no problems and went into Silom BKK again all fine but lots of sandbags everywhere and the place felt rather quiet. I had planned to stay until Sunday. This morning I took breakfast in my hotel and read some of the reports of predicted widescale flooding. I got a bad feeling, within 15 mins of reading the report I had packed, checked out, and took a taxi down to pattaya.

The roads were busy with some jams, took about 3 hours max, not sure what the next few days will bring, but think I made a good decision to leave whilst I could. I managed to get a room OK in patttaya, but I'm being told things are starting to look very busy here.

Jellybean

October 27th, 2011, 17:06

I received the following email from Michael Hancock, Her MajestyтАЩs Consul at the British Embassy in Bangkok, which may be of interest to some readers:

Further to my previous e-mails I would like to draw your attention to the change that we made to the UK Travel Advice for Thailand last night (26 October) to reflect our advice that British nationals should avoid all but essential travel to the city of Bangkok and the 26 flood affected provinces. I attach the wording from the summary so that you can see what it says.

Thailand
Still current at: 26 October 2011
Updated: 26 October 2011

This advice has been reviewed and reissued with an amendment to the Travel Summary (update to advice and information on floods). The overall level of the advice has changed. We now advise against all but essential travel to the city of Bangkok and the 26 provinces in Thailand affected by flooding.

Our advice against all but essential travel to the city of Bangkok does not include transit through Suvarnabhumi international airport. Flights to destinations elsewhere in Thailand (e.g. the resorts of Chiang Mai, Pattaya, Phuket, and Koh Samui) continue to operate normally. We continue to advise against all travel to the Preah Vihear and Ta Krabey/Ta Moan temple areas and against all but essential travel to the provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and Songkhla.

Travel Summary

. September and October are the height of the monsoon season in Thailand. Heavy rainfall across the country has caused widespread flooding, flash floods and mudslides and has resulted in disruption and over 350 deaths. We advise against all but essential travel to the 26 provinces in Thailand that are flooded.

The affected provinces are: North; (Sukhothai, Phichit, Phitsanulok, Nakhon Sawan and Uthai Thani) Central; (Chai Nat, Sing Buri, Ang Thong, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, Lopburi, Saraburi, Suphan Buri, Nakhon Pathom, Pathumthani, Nonthaburi, and Samutsakhon) Northeast; (Ubon Ratchathani, Khon Kaen, Srisaket, Roi-et, Surin, Mahasarakham and Kalasin) Eastern; (Chacheongsao, Nakhon Nayok and Prachinburi).

. We also advise against all but essential travel to the city of Bangkok. This is because of the large volume of flood water from the north that needs to pass through Bangkok to the Gulf of Thailand. High tides will slow the run-off through Bangkok especially along the Chao Phraya river. As a result, significant flooding is expected in many parts of the capital during the period 27-31 October.

The flooding is likely to disrupt transport, close tourist attractions and may affect electricity and water supplies, though the authorities have said they will do all they can to maintain these. Supply chain disruption and high demand is causing shortages of bottled water, dried/tinned foods and some other products in supermarkets. Cash machines may not work in flooded locations. Hotels are likely to have contingency measures in place and visitors should seek advice from the hotel management. British nationals already in Thailand should exercise caution and follow the advice of the local authorities if the area that they are in is flooded.

. At present, Suvarnabhumi international airport remains open, can be reached from the city centre, and flights to destinations elsewhere in Thailand (eg the resorts of Chiang Mai, Pattaya, Phuket, and Koh Samui) continue to operate normally. These tourist destinations are not currently affected by the flood and are operating normally. Our advice against all but essential travel to the city of Bangkok does not include transit through Suvarnabhumi airport.

. The Government of Thailand has announced a public holiday in all flood affected areas, including the city of Bangkok, to run from 27 to 31 October. Some services may not be available during this period.

. During the flooding period, movement around Bangkok may be difficult and the British Embassy may only be able to provide very limited assistance to British nationals.

. The Don Muang domestic airport closed on 25 October due to flooding. If you were due to use this airport contact your airline or tour operator for information. There is disruption to road and rail transport, particularly on routes north of Bangkok and in flooded areas. If you are in an affected area, exercise caution and follow the advice of the local authorities.

. The Thai authorities are closely monitoring the situation. To check areas affected and transport infrastructure impacted please see the regular reports published by the Thai 24/7 Emergency Operations Centre. Check with your tour operator, local media, the 24/7 Emergency Operations Centre, flooding updates from the Tourism Authority of Thailand or the Thai Meteorological Department for up-to-date information and warnings.

Within Thailand it is possible to call the English language 24/7 Government call centre for flood advice and assistance on 1111 (extension 9). The Thai Government Public Relations Department has provided English language advice on how to prepare for and cope with flooding.

The full Travel Advice for Thailand is available at: http://ukinthailand.fco.gov.uk/en/help- ... vel-advice (http://ukinthailand.fco.gov.uk/en/help-for-british-nationals/travel-advice) We will continue to monitor the situation and will update the Travel Advice regularly. For this reason I suggest you check it frequently. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Please feel free to forward this message to anyone you believe might be interested in seeing it.

Many thanks and best wishes.

Michael Hancock
HM Consul

elephantspike

October 28th, 2011, 00:53

some news stations reporting inundation at Grand Palace. Also, sending homeless to Suvanaphum airport.

Here's a video of the flooding in the Grand Palace area uploaded just today.

[youtube:213zz0an]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdEUsaYo8TM[/youtube:213zz0an]

October 28th, 2011, 01:39

hello mister .. you want shine shine ?? 20 baht

colmx

October 28th, 2011, 06:58

Rush, Yet Again

October 28th, 2011, 07:41

Charoen Krung Road by the Saphan Taksin BTS Station is a wading pool this morning. IтАЩm posting pix and updates over the next few days:

http://bangkokbois.wordpress.com/bangkok-flood-update/

Thank you very much for all the membership and all those loved ones watching. DaBoss

martin911

October 28th, 2011, 08:00

can you update as to what Bkk is like ????
What area are you in ?? ,and are the night spots still normal --any info greatly appreciated !!

Martin - Just take your boy(s) to Ko Samet and forget about Bkk :3some: :3some:

Indeed i would IF i was there -m - anot back yet --thats why ive been asking the Q"s i have been --
Original plan was to go back tue/wed and hook up with T and go out in Bkk ---

Dont really want to go back to heavy traffic jams/food water shortages

pong

October 28th, 2011, 09:33

am in BKK now-arr yesterday-leave later on.
There are NO jams at all-traffic is very quiet-in the normal parts.
Water is for sale at many places still. But occasional empty shelves may hit anything.
Again; Noone will know how is later on or next week.
And perhaps more imptt for many of you: many bar/massageboys are also gone, or hit by floods in their rooms or families.

CoffeeBreak

October 28th, 2011, 10:11

or you could call it: The day after tomorrow part II as it is being reported at 9am ,28 October on Thai Visa as hot news that:

A member reports, according to Nation TV a crocodile was seen between Lad Phrao and Ratchada

Therefore I suggest do not open your door to any strange creatures....especially lizards............

(ps: silom/suriwong as of friday 28th October is business as usual and is bone dry)

thenorthguy

October 28th, 2011, 15:15

Water has started entering the Grand Palace Grounds...levy banks of 2.5m will be broken this weekend....

October 28th, 2011, 15:20

... I suggest do not open your door to any strange creatures...

Well that'll be a very bad night for business if the bar owners take your advice.

:occasion9:

bucknaway

October 28th, 2011, 16:32

It was reported that the water will reach its highest level 8pm tonight (Friday) and this is the night that silom may experience flood waters.

Jellybean

October 29th, 2011, 04:36

Now in transit at Doha heading back to the UK and feeling mighty sad at having had to cut short my trip by 7 weeks. The taxi from my apartment to Suvarnabhumi Airport, via the expressway, only took 30 minutes this afternoon. The roads were relatively clear. What I noticed that was different was that many cars had been left parked on the hard shoulder, obviously as a precaution against the expected floods.

As I left my apartment I noticed that the maintenance staff were erecting a flood barrier at the entrance and exit which looked to be around 1.5m in height.

I have received another general circulation email from Michael Hancock, Her MajestyтАЩs Consul at the British Embassy in Bangkok, which I have copied below:

Please note that the travel advice for Thailand has been reviewed and reissued with an amendment to the Travel Summary (update to advice and information on floods).

Please see below and the full Travel Advice for Thailand which is available at: http://ukinthailand.fco.gov.uk/en/help- ... vel-advice (http://ukinthailand.fco.gov.uk/en/help-for-british-nationals/travel-advice)

We will continue to monitor the situation and will update the Travel Advice regularly.

Please feel free to forward this message to anyone you believe might be interested in seeing it.

. The overall level of the advice has not changed. We advise against all but essential travel to the city of Bangkok and the 26 provinces in Thailand affected by flooding. Our advice against all but essential travel to the city of Bangkok does not include transit through Suvarnabhumi international airport.

. Supply chain disruption and high demand is causing shortages of bottled water, dried/tinned foods and some other products in supermarkets. Cash machines may not work in flooded locations. Hotels are likely to have contingency measures in place and visitors should seek advice from the hotel management. Hospitals also have contingency arrangements in place and are reducing services (e.g. out-patient treatment) as part of their flood preparations.

. British nationals already in Thailand should exercise caution and follow the advice of the local authorities. The local authorities have advised that those people in vulnerable housing in areas expected to be affected by flooding should consider relocating to safer locations at the earliest opportunity if they can do so. We advise those resident in Thailand, and those currently visiting Thailand, to contact their families or friends in the UK to let them know how they are, even if they are in an unaffected area. British nationals requiring urgent consular assistance should call 02 305 8333 (in Thailand).

. At present, Suvarnabhumi international airport remains open and can be reached from the city centre, and flights to destinations elsewhere in Thailand (e.g. the resorts of Chiang Mai, Pattaya, Phuket, and Koh Samui) continue to operate normally. These tourist destinations are not currently affected by the flood and are operating normally. Our advice against all but essential travel to the city of Bangkok does not include transit through Suvarnabhumi airport.

. The Government of Thailand has announced a public holiday in all flood affected areas, including the city of Bangkok, to run from 27 to 31 October. Some services may not be available during this period.

corky

October 29th, 2011, 06:18

I was out in Silom again tonight until after midnight.
No sign of any flooding in Surawong, Silom or Sathorn ... yet.
All the bars and discos are open as usual.
But shortages of drinking water everywhere ... but no problems anywhere for G&T.

October 29th, 2011, 09:39

Ya' all are lookin' funny being so nellie over these tides. They are a natural thing and historically there have been overflows at Oct/Nov high tides. The peak tides of today will only SLOWLY roll off over the next 7 days. The overflows could be as much due to swelling caused by offshore weather conditions (and they've been extreme lately) as increased river loads from the floods (if you weren't aware there has been flooding north of Bangkok). The real worry is the rate of runoff from the north and whether and when the deflection system could be overwhelmed. That's the worry, not the high tides. They'd be here regardless. Pay attention, it may save you. For us here, don't believe any of that hype (wishful thinking?) from CNN, Bloomberg, ... but we appreciate the videos shown globally of Grande Bangkok. Thanks.

Friday night: Telephone, Silom, DJ, ... everything same same :-). 9:30 am Saturday the 7:30 am "floods" at Sathon Pier already receding.

Saturday morn: Sunny beautiful blue skies.

CP Tower and Central sandbagged at 1.5 m. Watch this early this coming week! Enjoy the weekend. Be safe.

October 29th, 2011, 12:18

Hi ..Try Pattaya its unafected by the floods and room / hotel prices are resonable. Have a nice time ...See ya! :party

zinzone

October 29th, 2011, 13:18

High tide on Saturday was lower than expected, and authorities say they expect waters to begin receding soon.

See:

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia- ... 07508.html (http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2011/10/2011102933224107508.html)

I am an eye witness and early afternoon Sat 29 October:

surawong and silom as usual and no floods, traffic light but normal. Bottled water and other provisions in ample supply at Foodland, Patpong.

Crisis? What Crisis?!

pong

October 29th, 2011, 17:05

left BVKK fri 28, with empty roads, lotys of free buses and the bus tout was also barely half-ful. Eleveated exway was free and also many cars parked at sides. Bus went via Cholburi-traffic hold-up, and now I am in TRAT-nearly in Cambodia. Also here all big water bottles sold out, but the place is quiet and nice.
Those inundations reported re Charoen Krung, Grand Palace-and also Samsen rd-were from a very high tide on the river. It was effectively speedily pumped out and cleared in half a day-maybe some of the panickers can even adjust their minds and understand that this is not permanent. In the small gusthse I stay in there is a Tai family-Pop, mom, and 2 kids, staying together in a cheap room and living of MAMAnoodles, coming from Saraburi-close to Ayuttaya and also fleeing for floods that have been there for 3 weeks now-untill 2nfd floor of their house. Thailand is bigger as just BKK and most people suffering now are like them-ordinary Thai.

Hmmm

October 29th, 2011, 17:07

As previously noted, twitter remains the best source of immediate information ... for example, the farang who cycled around BKK today beginning at high tide this morning and tweeted reports and photos as he went ...
http://twitter.com/#!/RichardBarrow
http://twitter.com/#!/search/%23ThaiFloodEng%20-rt

There are two ways that inner BKK 'could' flood ... overflow from the river or the northern runoff coming across land. There are a few more days of extra big morning and evening high tides and then the river threat will probably ease, as long as there is not a huge influx of water into the river from the north.
http://easytide.ukho.gov.uk/EASYTIDE/Ea ... onLength=7 (http://easytide.ukho.gov.uk/EASYTIDE/EasyTide/ShowPrediction.aspx?PortID=6883&PredictionLength=7)

So far the impact of the current high tides on inner BKK has been limited.

The runoff that has inundated the northern suburbs of BKK and areas to the east and west of the city is not looking like it's going to threaten inner BKK, but don't quote me on that.

All in all, I still go along with foreign governments' advice ... 'reconsider your need to travel to BKK'. But if I was there, I wouldn't be looking to get out of town as seriously as I would have been earlier this week.

October 31st, 2011, 23:28

as long as there is not a huge influx of water into the river from the north.

Well, I'll call you on that one. There won't be a huge influx of water into the river from the north (and should never have been expected, even as the PM imagined it last weekend when there was SO much water around). This place is so FLAT that the water just soaks in until the ground is saturated then just forms sheets (like little lakes). There is little topography to focus the water into the river. It slowly goes its way mostly south down a gradient of the magnitude of just 26 feet from Ayuthaya to Bangkok. As tide lowers the river allows slow seeping near the river into it at the level of the river to carry some away. We're at high tides on a high tide trend. Worst ever predicted tides were exceeded a few inches. They'll make the flood wall a few inches higher now!

Sounds like the encroachment from the north maybe having reached Lardphrao all of today is slowing down. We could still get wet down here.

If it rains much in the coming 6 weeks there will be a lot of local flooding whereever the ground is already soaked. November has seen its rains. The ground in central Bangkok will certainly get soaked. Boots for DJ!

homeseeker

November 1st, 2011, 22:08

FROC Admits Flood is Spreading
UPDATE : 1 November 2011
The Flood Relief Operations Center admits that flood is spreading into wider areas of Bangkok including the areas along Paholyothin Road, Bangkae, Paseechareon, and Nhong Kam. Officials have prepared 4,000 "big bags" weighing over a ton each and 600,000 sandbags to build barriers to withstand the flood water.

-- Tan Network 2011-11-01

pong

November 3rd, 2011, 15:32

Bang Khae, is far west-Hnong Khaem/Minburi is far north-east of BKK, some 30-40 kms away from inner city. Bad enough for people there-who also seemed most unprepared, but not for most of you.
The main water masses however seem to be there and are slowly-slowlysinking down toward the sea.
Much more worrying fro central BKK is he water dripping slowly down along Phaholyotin-Vipavadee-now reaching Central lard Prao-just north of weekend market-closed and mostly cleared out. Much more worrying is that there are no further barriers toward the city now-it seems to creep on for 2 kms/day-so that means Sapan kwai and then Victory Monument-etc.

krobbie

November 4th, 2011, 06:07

Just as well I sent my partner out to get gumboots etc last week, just in case. He is in Sathorn and is fortunately up 2 floors.

I really hope the flood waters begin to abate. There has been no rain for 2 days but a decent downpour to destroy everyone's hopes. I have just checked the long-range weather forecast and all clear until Monday when thunderstorms are expected. Bugger!

November 4th, 2011, 13:33

There has been no rain for 2 days but a decent downpour to destroy everyone's hopes. I have just checked the long-range weather forecast and all clear until Monday when thunderstorms are expected. Bugger!

Hope you are well, Krobbie. Long time for me not back here.

The rains have little to do with the situation except that an extended period of bad rains would certainly worsen the situation.

The problem is not rain but the flood runoff water from the north heading to the sea. A recent news clip:

According to Dr Anon Snitwongse, a water expert from Chulalongkorn University, some 10 billion cubic metres of water still stretches from Sukhothai to lower Bangkok. Of this, seven billion cubic metres is concentrated in the east, with the remaining three billion in the west. Bangkok is under threat of flooding from some 3-4 billion cubic metres of water, which has to go south into the canals, rivers and eventually to the sea.

You can see a model of this runoff flow at:

http://ws3-er.eng.hokudai.ac.jp/dpr/dpr_eng/?p=736

In 1995 The King warned this could happen and proposed a solution that was never implemented by succeeding civilian administrations:

http://ws3-er.eng.hokudai.ac.jp/dpr/dpr_eng/?p=736

I also see lingering misunderstandings on the significance of tides caused by YL's confusing false alert about ten days ago. But be aware that when the city is saturated with water and canals full and the next high tides strike you should be very careful even away from the river where drainage could be connected into the tide and aware of the possibility of rips along unpredictable paths esp. as tides recede.

Tell your friend to keep a close eye on the news in the week ahead.

homeseeker

November 4th, 2011, 13:56

I do not want to be a pessimist but this BBC report does seem to accurately reflect what is currently happening, Friday 4th November 2011:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15587901

On Thai Visa a poster gave this opinion today:

"Plodprasob believes all district will be inundated whereas BKK governor still confirms not entire BKK to get flooded ~ "

This is increasingly my conclusion as well. The pressure of the water from the North is such that even if barriers stop it somewhat above ground it forces its way through drainage, sewerage & possibly water pipes. If it moves at 1-1.8km a day then by this time next week all of central Bangkok will be inundated.

November 4th, 2011, 21:50

If it moves at 1-1.8km a day then by this time next week all of central Bangkok will be inundated.

Probably right for timing. It does seem the waters march will be relentless. A lot will depend on the performance of the "big ball" barriers you mention. Also, given the San Saep canal is not inundated from the east then drainage along existing drainage could save the inner city, but this drainage is "not designed for" drainage of water from the north. I don't know if you are familiar with the drama of late at San Wa sluicegate but the less interference the governor gets the better inner Bangkok's chances are. I think the final determination of "inundated" will be based on the extent of the shutdown of essential services (water, electric, BTS etc.). A complete shutdown of central Bangkok could have severe consequences for both the millions within and the relief effort elsewhere.

I've done the best 'eye-balling' I can between 1) Google maps and 2) what is considered the best Bangkok elevation map that seems can be found (through a 'click to see' link then zoom up) from the following page: http://thailakorntv.com/2011/10/altitud ... -thailand/ (http://thailakorntv.com/2011/10/altitude-map-of-bangkok-elevation-picture-thailand/) . and determined that a very good place to be is within Sathon in the elevation map green (> 1.0 m) area at a place at maybe 1.4 m that shows on Google maps as the "Mahamek Driving Range" (maybe it was a driving range but is not now). Zoom into the green boxed area below a red google 'A' balloon on the Google map (http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=%2B13%C2%B0+43'+6.70%22,+%2B100%C2%B0+32'+32.78% 22&gbv=2&gs_upl=724l724l0l1605l1l1l0l0l0l0l0l0ll0l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1027&bih=926&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x30e29f3a5cea075f:0x130100b21f734240,%2B13% C2%B0+43'+11.23%22,+%2B100%C2%B0+32'+33.73%22&gl=us&ei=efOzTsXCGOOC2AW-rNXMDQ&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBoQ8gEwAA) . The klong drainage pattern out supports this as about the high point (hehehe)!

martin911

November 5th, 2011, 03:44

Am happy to report that dj /god /rachada gstar/rachada Kar Dae are all dry and open normally as per thur nite ,not quite as busy as normal but still plenty of numbers of guys out with their friend

Although we saw some light flooding early this morning in rachada --not far from Kaar dae

Silom/sathorn areas normal --some empty shelves in 7-11s,but no major shortages from what i could see --although dj station only has heiniken by the cans !!! -- i think most of us could live with that
Soi twilight was quite thur night ,i only went to classic (a dump ,worse than i rem,and xboys which had a lot of boys ,no customers --looked into a few more but they were deserted ---- twilight really is sad place to go
If u do go into a bar to be ripped off with the drink prices ,you are then the focus of the boys ---not a goood athmosphere ---

so in essence the places where most of us go in bkk its buisness as normal (a little quieter )

November 6th, 2011, 13:04

Of course in all your very keen predictions you do note that you are under the assumption that the mass of water to the north is being managed? Ohhhhh, the number of days that it would take to drain ...

November 7th, 2011, 11:06

Monday noon
Very interesting activity being noted in Bangkok this morning.

corky

November 7th, 2011, 12:20

Monday noon
Very interesting activity being noted in Bangkok this morning.

And what is that supposed to mean? :dontknow:

Monday 1.15pm. I am in my office on Sathorn road and it's dry as usual here. The klong in the centre of Sathorn road has no increase in water level. On my drive into work this morning Rama 1V road was operating normally.

I was out in Silom last night. Soi 4 and DJ Station were all open as usual.

Food and drink are on the shelves in Foodland and Tops.

No panic here.

martin911

November 7th, 2011, 13:44

November 7th, 2011, 21:53

Someone told me the army was seen setting up a 'headqusrters' at Suvarnabhumi. I think he was mistaken and he just heard that Thai Airways was moving its headquarters there.

Let's hope the FROC doesn't move there!

I gotta a problem here. We got the b/f's mom's leased Mercedes parked here and while it's with us if it gets fcuk-ed anyway how I gotta pay whatever the insurance don't and I don't think it covers floods. It's underside is at 1 m now and the building ain't gonna sand bag any higher than the deemed 1 m they were told this morning. So, assuming a (real) worst case scenario: there is 8 billion cu m of water still above Bangkok. Subtract from that the amount of water that will it will take to soak the entire area up to the inner Bangkok border and cover it with average 0.8 m so that any remaining flow could go like a sheet over the soaked area, then there's an 'earthquake' and the barriers break in such a way to maximize the umpphhhh of the last break and it goes altogether almost at once. Some water (%) goes to Samat Prakan, other % SW, the rest to Bangkok fans out under its own mass evenly across the scape. How high is that water when it gets to Lumpini? I say no more than another meter!

Now I don't want to be alarmist here. I know that earthquakes don't happen in Bangkok. And of course everything near the break, whatever went on, gets wiped out - I don't HOPE people get hurt while I get saved, really. Some distance away from the braek it's just a slow moving mass. And the city could just decide to get it over with (it's been suggested). But I want to know what the worst case scenario is so that I can tell that #$@-hole in the main office TOMORROW morning what to be ready for! I could probably figure it out myself, gettin' frazzled, the extra meter is just a guess. If it's plus 3 m then I might think of moving the rug :-(. All this BEFORE our weekend to Samed. I hope the PM's toll holiday is still in force. Looks like b/f gets off from work a day or too early.

I did't see any water yet late AM last night leaving a packed Silom (but there ain't the taxis there used to be)! I'll check again latre.

Tops is out of this and thgat all the time but Villa still has almost everything.

November 7th, 2011, 22:50

Look if you are real worried about the Benz, the insurance and damage, just bring it to Pattaya and I will take real good care of it! :dontknow: :sign5: Just a bit of humour in a not so humourous predicament.

krobbie

November 8th, 2011, 00:51

sydneyboy

November 8th, 2011, 01:40

I hate to alarmist but this report is an antidote to Krobbie's theory.

bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/265160/rama-ii-...

This was reported on tripadvisor and apparently Dr Seri has been 95% right so far. Among other depressing predictions in this report is that Rama 2 will be totally flooded. It is worth the effort to read this report.

martin911

November 8th, 2011, 04:08

ArNolD, it's now November 8 and still the BTS runs and even most of the MRT except the last 3 or 4 stops toward Jatuchuk market. My guy says still all good in Sathorn. Still has the gumboots in his back-pack as he never quite knows who to believe, which is wise given the differing views constantly on Thai TV. Also Sukhumvit still high and dry, which is where he works.

He tells me the Chao Phraya river has gone down from the level it was last weekend (Oct 29 & 30) and the high tides seem to be less problematic. His free open air gym on the other side of Saphan Thaksin Bridge allows him to determine if it's time to panic.

He's not out of the woods yet but I have to say I doubt now that will allow central BKK to be inundated. Just my theory.

I went to look at the river at Saphan Taksin bridge last sat morn early at 7am --- its a really powerfull moving mass of water -- only about 1 m from the top level of the Shangrila walls
Bf and me wanted to just hop on and off a few river taxis --but the only one working was the one that takes you to the opposite bank (from the Shangrila ),so we got off just to wander a bit and i passed that open air gym that you mentioned Krobbie --- looks like a nice place to pass a few hours --v busy at 7am !!

One thing that struck me was that there was almost NO river traffic -just a few boats criscrossing the river , and a few small hotel boats ---no boat taxis ,no tugs, and almost none of the usual heavy greeneery/reeds etc that you usually see floating downriver in the water itself !!

At first i thought there was no boat taxis because it was so early on a sat morn ---it was strange to see the river so bereft of traffic --just this big heavy mass surging to the sea !!
Is no traffic permitted now on the river does anybody know ??

It was strange in Bkk last week --all the news reports /papers full of the flooding etc but the areas i was in -Silom/ Satorn/Rachada / Latprao (up to last sat evening all was ok there -,but i know the last two areas i ment are affected now ) were totally normal to the eye ,apart from the sandbags !!!

pong

November 8th, 2011, 08:52

November 8th, 2011, 12:41

and apparently Dr Seri has been 95% right

Seri is right, maybe a bit to the high side.There is up to 8 billion cu m of water towering about 26' above Bangkok behind makeshift barriers. You can see it on satellite maps posted lately. Much of it wants to go through Bangkok. Some of it is already in as far so. as Sutthisan or on its way to other familiar places near us!

The latest and greatest of mapping things like this is here in Thailand and today's best is:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=203 ... 2,1.454315 (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=203278216882407399461.0004af623e23c9dccde1 1&msa=0&ll=13.748723,100.706177&spn=0.812362,1.454315)

It's got a lot of the place names on it.

Silom/Sathon is often noted to have the best chances but it will get close at least in the next 1 or 2 weeks.

martin911

November 8th, 2011, 20:15

riverboat service (some call it taxi-=not right) have not been running for rather obvious reasons since at least 2 weeks now
1.most of hte moorings are flooded too-even those that float. The whole uppernorth area of the river is also deeply flooded
2.the heavy waves may destroy the feeble extra sandbag-walls
3.not that obvious for you, but in any local newsppr; the comp's fuel tanks have been flooded-their first idea to reopen by 8 or 9/11 are now also postponed ''till wait and see''
As you may have noted after some time in Thailand, ''laws'' or ''orders'' whatever do not say very much here. But even Thai may have common sense.
those exercise areas are common all over town, every distrcit must have at least 1. Mostly used by Chinese-some have also extra workout things for rent.

Ahem thank you for informing me on as to why the "riverboat" (god forbid one would call boat taxi ) is not running currently --im afraid im a little simple and im sorry that rather obvious reasons as to why its not running were not to the forfront of my mind at 7am last sat morning --- i was too busy enjoying the fact that i was with my b f-- this sweet sexy boy ,whom i had woken an hour before with this (in his eyes )crazy idea to go look at the Chao Phraya --and the laughs we had -when we realised that the boat we had ramdomly picked to get on( to go up or downriver ,it wasnt important ! ) was only going to the opposite side -, so we just got off and wandered around exploring -- and it felt so bloody Good to be there :bounce:

As i said thanks for the info !!! --i hope you get my drift lol :occasion9: :occasion9:

Hmmm

November 8th, 2011, 20:29

There is up to 8 billion cu m of water towering about 26' above Bangkok behind makeshift barriers. You can see it on satellite maps posted lately.

Water 26' high ? That's 7.9 metres. Who said that ?

krobbie

November 9th, 2011, 10:48

I don't think much to worry about now. It hasn't rained in days and the folk on outer BKK are starting the clean-up process. I firmly believe the drama has been avoided.

We shall see what happens in the next couple of days.

November 9th, 2011, 18:04

The X put near the top of the satellite photo is abou 160 km north of Bangkok and about 30 feet higher in ALTITUDE than Bangkok. That's pretty flat! And at a meter thick average a big mass of water!

Krobbie, you sound like the Sukhumvit shopkeeper I talked to this afternoon. He has no idea his area will be flooded in a few days. "No one said anything".

Apparently the flood advance from the waters 'leaking' from the north into Bangkok has slowed greatly presumably due to the "big bag" line, but one water expect predicts the big bags will be overwhelmed in 7 days.

November 9th, 2011, 21:45

Sadly, my frequent trips to Thailand ended several months ago. The one silver lining was that I have a trip to Malaysia comin up, and I had planned to stop in Bangkok on the way out for a couple of days. And now with the floods.

I know this is terribly selfish of me, but is all well in Falang-land? Rather, will all be well come 24 November?

Or should I not take the risk / waste my time

pong

November 10th, 2011, 10:17

thats 2 weeks from today-as always IMPossibel to tell now, though it seems that chances it will remain dry in that Silom-farang-saftey zone improve. Simply follow news-better on other regular sites and rearrange flights if/when needed then.

November 12th, 2011, 12:30

martin911

November 12th, 2011, 13:48

Yeah, definitely, there's no way to be sure.

The Silom area hotels all seem to be open though, with all declaring they're unaffected by the floods. And from what I've read elsewhere, the bars/clubs/massage places are open too, though business is (understandably) slow.

I think I'm going to go ahead with my plans, and schedule BKK for a few days starting the 24th. We'll see what happens!

Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

Thats the spirit !!!!!!!!!!!!!! the only thing unusual with the silom/sathorn hotels is that they seem to be v busy !!!!!!!!111 , carparks all full of Bkk residents autos -taxis fewer around ,but as i kepp on saying --the parts of Bkk that most readers on here frequents is pretty normal !!

November 12th, 2011, 14:13

I think I'm going to go ahead with my plans, and schedule BKK for a few days starting the 24th

ArNolD predicts the worst will be over by the 24th.

It's gonna be pretty interesting this coming week. Flood waters are now encroaching past Bangkapi to Raamkamhaeng and now Onnut. No one is sure where the water in the east south of Minburi is going, just that it must be going to the south. If the big bags don't hold or something there could be a problem in central Bangkok. Another high tide trend period starts this weekend through the 17th. This is the one ;-(. The west bank of the Chao Phraya is likely to overflow. The more saturated the canals and subsurface below Bangkok is the more extreme the tide affects could be. I don't know if the actual water drained by the river is lower at high tides (more probable) or same but high rivers and canals are problems for pumping water out - no where to send it.

Silom, Suriwang, Sathon still maybe the lucky areas.

Hold your breath (and bring a 12 pack of Heineken)!

November 13th, 2011, 08:05

I think I'm going to go ahead with my plans, and schedule BKK for a few days starting the 24th

ArNolD predicts the worst will be over by the 24th.

Addendum:

Apparently the Onnut water has been there for a while and is not necessarily indicative the flooding has reached there. The whole flooding in Sukhumvit thing appears to be a complete mystery as to whether anyone thinks it will be.

The most reasonable synopsis of the situation I see this morning is 4 billion cu m of water remains to pass or go through Bangkok in 3 weeks.

Now on to the gay penguins at the Toronto zoo :sign5:

adman5000

November 13th, 2011, 18:45

Has anyone been to either the Saphan Kwai area or Sukumvit area where Hero is located? Any flooding problems or access problems in either of those areas?

thrillbill

November 13th, 2011, 19:07

Went to Bangkok over the weekend to help my friend celebrate his birthday. Business is usual at Babylon, soi 4 and soi 2- even GOD was crowded Saturday night. I am doing a wild guess but I'd say the crowds at all the gay venues are down about 15-20% of what they would usually be at this time of the year.

November 14th, 2011, 07:15

I am doing a wild guess but I'd say the crowds at all the gay venues are down about 15-20% of what they would usually be at this time of the year.

Monday Morning 14 November

I'd have to agree. Silom street vendor shopping activity seemed eerily low for weekend nights yet the levels of activity on the sois were high to only approaching the typical push and shove levels usual at the discos for those weekend nights.

The good news this morning is the consensus is that the Bangkok flood is generally "over the hump" and now declining in severity.

Saphan Kwai area has strangely been an area of conflicting reports 'witnesses' reporting no flood at the same time as reporting flooding throughout the past couple weeks. I'd say to avoid Saphan Kwai today as a result of last night's (Sunday night's) problem where about 200 residents met on the crest of the barrier near Don Mueang airport and moved a number of the submerged big bags presumably causing increased flows of water from behind the barrier. No one knows what might happen today as the BMA has been ordered to replace them. It was quite confusing as you would expect, and alarming enough to hear about around 6:00 pm last night that I sent a couple SMSs to tell acquaintances to GET OUT should they happen to be trying to visit relatives up there. As you would expect there was flurry of mis-communications amongst 'those concerned'. I see a concise summary in today's Bangkok Post online that I might post a link to, however, I haven't been around much lately and I am not sure if the forbiddance of linking to the Bangkok post is still in effect. Anyway, from a Nation article this morning '"But if you cause more gaps in the wall, Silom Road is at risk of submerging," Anond said.". It IS NOT something I'd WORRY about but everyone should keep an eye on the situation up there as it develops.

Now back to the 'gay' penguins, looking a bit more serious to me than just a laugh. It was reached trying to figure out what all the Penn State fuss on facebook and at dinner tables in america was all about...

cameroncat

November 14th, 2011, 08:33

I would thing that maybe the Silom venues like DJ's and GOD might actually be busier than normal due to the fact that many other "thai" dance clubs like "Fake Club" are closed due to flooding.

November 16th, 2011, 17:45

6:00 pm Wednesday November 16 2011 Bangkok

Dr. Seri reported this morning that new water does not seem to be arriving in the area behind the barriers around Don Muang airport in the north of Bangkok indicating the threat to central Bangkok from this area is diminishing.
An agreement was reached Monday on the protest over the big bags across Vipawadee but the result is water moving faster across the barriers refilling areas (Phaholyothin, Saphan Kwai) that have already receeded.
Enormous amounts of water remain.
In the west 3.5 bcm remain (bangkokpost.com).
Perhaps less known are enormous amounts of water north and east.
In the eats water still flowing out of the Sam Wa floodgate that is seen as far as south as Hua Mark, a station on the Railway Link) (headed further south toward Suvarnabhumi),
and as far west as Bangkapi (flowing toward Sukhumvit and Pathumwan).
Still no official synopsis on what to be expected in Sukhumvit but residents and businesses are noted to be preparing for a flood.
A way may be in preparation to pardon Thaksin Shinawatra along with 1000's of other convicted criminals on King's birthday in closed door sessions. Thai opposition outraged, Yingluck mum.
Heavy traffic noted into and out of bangkok.
About 200 angry Lam Lukka residents demolished destroyed about 10-metre-long section of the big-bag floodwall on Phaholyothin Road near the Air Operations Control Department at 2:45 pm.
NYT Reports: "Thai Army Turns Flooding Into a P.R. Opportunity"
King seen in good health on ground floor of hospital.
Rumours Thaksin acquired donation of numerous water pumps this week from a Korean firm specializing in all encompassing water management solutions.
Kristie Kenney : I'm at Suvanabhumi airport w @USEmbassyBKK and Thai waiting for Sec Clinton to arrive. Lovely sunset :)
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to hold joint press conference today, Gov't House 7 PM
PM Yinluck to follow Hillary Clinton to the Asean summit "PM to depart for Indonesia tonight, so she won't attend House meeting & answer question regarding royal amnesty decree tomorrow"
Thousands of abandoned cars given days to be removed are being towed to clear major roads into and out of Bangkok by this evening.

adman5000

November 17th, 2011, 17:53

I have found the thaitravelblogs.com website very helpful for the most updated info on the situation in BKK. It covers wide areas of the city where most of us would visit and is objective observations without the hype.

martin911

November 17th, 2011, 23:22

6:00 pm Wednesday November 16 2011 Bangkok

Today i think was the first day that the floods were not full front pages on the bkk post front page !!!
Life in bkk seems to be slowly getting back to normal -- flood waters seem to be encroaching at a much slower pace
Although Ladprao still seems flooded according to bf s mama
Re the decree mentioned above --such a FARCE LOL -- Yingluk "missed" the first part on tue --she was in Sing Buri on tue and had to overnite there as the helicopter she was travelling in had no night equipment so she was not able to travel back to bkk for the first stage of debating -- hmmmmm
(the decree is basicily new legistlation to be implemented to enable Taksin to return without any jail time --- )

{no need to quote the whole thing - a scrool bar is provided on most browsers - jinks}

Beachlover

November 18th, 2011, 00:14

The good news this morning is the consensus is that the Bangkok flood is generally "over the hump" and now declining in severity.
That's awesome! Thanks for the ongoing updates everyone.

All my Thai friends (in Australia) who come from Bangkok have been comparing details about who's house is underwater etc. I say, I'm so sorry to hear your house is underwater and they say something like, "That's ok... we can park the yacht in the car park now" LOL.

November 19th, 2011, 19:33

Saturday Evening 19 November 8:00

All seems getting quieter and quieter!

AFP: Central Bangkok 'safe' from floods: Thai PM
ASEAN_NEWSROOM: Jatujak weekend market opens as normal. Central Ladphrao opens till 9 PM
MCOT MRT removes all flood barriers at station entrances after flood situation eased; number of passengers expected to soon return to 210,000/day

Fighting broke out amongst inmates in Trad Prison, 2 dead and 30 injured. 200 prison guards used to restore order.TANN
"Urgency" seen for prisoner amnesty due to flooded overcrowded prisons

I don't think we'll need higher than ankle height boots the wee hours of this coming AM!

November 23rd, 2011, 14:32

Some rather serious 'rioting' in Bangkok at the moment.

Flood wall torn down causing flood waters moving into Phaholyothin.

Residents dismantle 'big bag' barrier at Air Operations Control intersection, water moving into Phahonyothin Road; Police monitor situation, wait for BMA to negotiate/MCOT

Blocking of tollway by mobs at "Zears Rangsit" not sure whwer that is.

pong

November 24th, 2011, 06:59

very old hat again-at least 4-5 days now.
ZEER is a ex-shopping centre, north of old DMaung airport, toward rangsit-very close to Pumarin M2M sauna/Massage-now mainly dealing in fake 2nd hands etc,. A locally well-known landmark, with a ramp into the elevated tollway. There is a very old Carrefour, now BigC, across the road.
This action as such quite understandable- what 99% of you do not know is that DM is not just the airport-closed till at least 31/1, but also the district with very large housing estates west of the railway-where still many of the lower graded airportworkers live. They now have to sit for many more weeks in the pitch-filthy sewer waters to keep BKK-centre dry. Not that they would be dry if BKK-centre would also flood, but it would be less/lower. And in Thaild in the end these actions in 111%=more as always, are solved with more money.

November 24th, 2011, 07:09

PM Yingluck wants dirty filthy polluted water to flow through Bangkok 'drainage' quickly out to sea

Is there a intl law against purposely polluting the sea?
Since just about every gate is now open I guess there ain't much to do but knock down some hastily constructed makeshift flood barriers.
Does 'appease' = "get votes" ????
Would it be too much to suggest that everyone just sit back patiently for a while? The high tides are upon us again. I don't think any action will do much good, anyway. How polluted is the water? Shouldn't they just sit back and patiently figure something out or is the solution to pollution more pollution?

Bangkok May Have to Accept More Floodwater as Protests Grow

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said officials will have to let more water into Bangkok to appease residents from flooded districts who have held daily protests against measures to protect the inner city.

тАЬResidents in flooded areas are suffering,тАЭ Yingluck told reporters today at Government House. тАЬIтАЩd like to ask for cooperation from people in Bangkok to let some water flow into the area to ease the burden.тАЭ

Polluted water more than a meter (3.3 feet) deep is still inundating thousands of homes in northern and western areas of the city. Officials are maintaining a network of canals, dikes and sandbags to keep water out of inner Bangkok, sparking clashes with residents living outside the flood defenses.

Hundreds of people in Pathum Thani province north of the capital today blocked cars from using the outbound lane of an elevated highway to pressure the government to accelerate the drainage of water, the Thai PBS television network reported.

The protesters threatened to block both lanes of the major highway if their demands arenтАЩt met, the report said.

тАЬThis is a challenging task for the negotiation team as people in areas that are now dry donтАЩt want to be flooded again, and those who have been inundated are still suffering,тАЭ Yingluck said. тАЬAreas that are dry should allow some water to flow into drainage systems or to empty into the sea.тАЭ

more ... bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-23/bangkok-may-have-to-accept-more-floodwater-as-protests-grow-1-.html