Bkk flood situation
 

"BKK today 34 C , sunny and dry. High tide passed, central BKK and airport dry - no extension of 5 day public holiday - crisis over! (unless you live in the already flooded country areas where drainage expected to be another 4 weeks.)

The Pattaya hotel situation will be easy after today as "refugees" return to BKK tonight. ..."

Suggest you look a little more broadly than this, water is still rising in many parts of Bkk. My office just down from Don Muang Airport has 1.5 metres of water, yesterday had 20cm of water.

One of my staff lives alongside San Saeb khlong close to Mah Boon Kong shopping complex. So far the water hasn't gone into homes but late yesterday houses close to the khlong were ordered to evacuate because within 24 hours the govt. will be using that khlong to carry a lot more water in the master plan to get water to the sea.

You seem to be assuming 'it's just a long week-end, everybody will go home when the long week-end finishes'. Not true, many Bkk folks have a long wait before they can return home. One of my colleagues has a house in a major housing development going towards Korat, the family fled more than two weeks ago, whole village still has 2 metres of water today. When the water goes, it's estimated will take at least two weeks for the house to be made habitable, and for gov't agencies to reconnect electricity etc., get local roads usable, etc.

If you want a broader picture, go to thaivisa.com/forum, then click on Thailand news, lots of details. Free to join the forum and easy to sign up.

For most cruisers contemplating whether or not to visit, the water level around Don Muang is not a concern. They want to know that Silom, Suriwong, Sukumvit are dry, Babylon is open and Siam Paragon is open. They want to know its safe to fly into Suvarnambumi and the drive to Pattaya is clear. They want to know there's no problems in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phuket, Koh Samui. etc.

I know it's still hell for many many thais, but visitors confining their stay to the central area of BKK or to Pattaya should not be put off visiting this great city / country.

A couple of s'mkts. ...
 

-- Today, (31 oct. & Hallow E'en.), my YM. & I looked-in at a couple of s'mkts. -
1.- 7/11. at Tee-jun. Si lom & Convent rds.-
1.1.- No supplies of drinking/potable water on shelves;
1.2.- All shelves of 'Instant.'-type - put plastic bag into boiling water - foods empty; but 'fridges. of frozen products stll fairly full;
2.- TOPS - Silom Complex Shopping Plaza. -
2.1.- Fairly well stocked-up: plenty of fresh fruits & veggies., same for fish & meat counters;
2.2.- Apart from plentiful & F. 'Evian.' water no other brands of drinking water seen;

3.- Today forenoon, & ret'g. along S'wong. rd. to my app't., I saw some opportunists selling 330ml. bottles of potable water for 10.Bh. each..;
3.1.- Most of the usual, lunch.-time & food-vendors, opp. to LE MERIDIEN HTL., were quite busy.

4.- Back-tracking to sat. & to sun. - 4.1.- Most, but not all, of the usual poor but honest b'fast. vendors along Si Lom rd., by BKK. XTN.HOSP'L., were OUT selling their cooked items;
4.2.- In the evenings most of the usual street-side stalls seemed to be OUT. Many food-vendors were busy with most tables fully occupied with Happy Eaters..

-- :)

-- Sat., 29 oct., a'noon. my YM. & I went-to SIAM PARAGON, wch. wasn't all that busy - in a gen'l. sense, although its Food Ct. & Gourmet-Mkt. were quite busy;
- I was interested to note that some of the Maint'ce. staff were ocupied still in building anti-flood walls: four rows of blackish & cinder-blocks - say approx. 2'.08". high. Made me wonder if it was 'Locking the stable-door ... . ' or another & possible inundation is expected in that area?
- According to a recent poster in > http://www.baht-stop.com < the next very HIGH tide will be on or about thu. 10 nov..
-- :-)

Dear biggles, whatever makes you happy.

Mii kwaam suk krub :)

Exactly. It is hard to know from afar how it is. Xfun and Sexytiles posts are very useful. Thanx and keep 'im cummin'. (PI)

Drinking/potable water supplies ...
 

-- Today, (07 nov.), my YM. & I went to BIG C. - R'damri.;
- Up in the 4fl. Food Ct. I saw plenty of 330.ml. bottles of drinking water for sale at 07.Bh. each;
- Later, in LUMPHINI PK. I saw plenty of drinking water avail. at each of the two Refreshments' Outlets that we passed-by.

-- During the day also saw both 'Farm-house.' & 'President.' Bakeries' vans delivering to 7/11. & to FAMILY MART stores - well, if there's a shortage of bread 'Let them eat cake.'!
-- Outside CP.TOWER - Si Lom rd. - the CP. Gp. had plenty of trays of fresh eggs for sale.
-- Later on, passing by the 7/11. opp. to the TAWANA BKK. HTL., S'wong. rd., I saw a plain PU. delivering MORE bottled water to that outlet.
-- :)

BKK. could be dry in ...
 

-- According to a message from the Irrig'n. Dept.: 'BKK. could be dry in eleven days. ... .';
- Source: > The Baht Stop < quoting > Bangkok Post : Capital could be dry in 11 days <

-- NB.: For The Baht Stop no need either to register or to log-IN for reading only.
-- :)

Drinking/potable water ...
 

-- Today, 11 nov., Remembrance Day, my YM. & I went-IN to the 7/11. SUPER STORE at the tee junc. Si Lom:Convent rds.;
- Checking the freezers' shelves I saw quite a few bottles & containers of 'Namthip.', of 'Singha.' & of someother water-co.; plenty of Colas, Sprite etc. etc. available;
-- Standing outside was a queue of maybe upto one hundred & mainly young people. A couple of enquiries - I didn't believe the first reply - revealed that they were awaiting clothing to replace that ruined by the dirty flood-waters - I didn't know that 7/11. stores sold clothing, but possibly that s'store. was acting as a distrib'n. point for charitably donated clothes?

-- In SILOM COMPLEX SHOPPING PLAZA's TOP'S S'mkt. I saw only Evian & Vittel bottled water.

-- Later on, Si Lom rd., I passed-by a shop whose windows are covered by olde 'papers. - nigh on next door to the now hoarded-up corner shop - tee junc. Si lom:soi 4. - that used to sell cooked ducks - outside of wch. was a pick-up truck laden with bottled water: a 'Cooly Fresh.' 12-pack & plastic-wrapped product; I estimated that there were some 4,300. bottles aboard, all of wch. were being passed along an human chain and into the shop.

-- A recent posting in > http://www.baht-stop.com < and entitled: 'A picture is worth a thousand words.' shews a graphic from the BKK. Post. 'paper. of the depth of water in various & BKK. loc'ns. using an human body as a scale: ie.: in such-and-such a place the water is shewn as knee-deep, whereas in another area it's chest-deep. At the RIGHT hand end is a lady in white, laden with shopping and standing above the water-level, above 'R'prasong. I'sect.' - this might be to reassure farang shoppers? Only surprised that the lady in white didn't have the features of a certain & well-known politicienne!

-- :)

Westwards from thonburi ...
 

-- For the below posting either ref. to Google 'Earth.' or to a map of BKK. shewing from THONBURI to WESTWARDS might be helpful -

-- A former & Thai man-friend has his hair-dressing salon in Phet Kasem 79*., nr. to WAT UDON RANGSI, (Khet Nong Kaem.), wch. he has quit alleging that the local flood-waters are MORE than 3ft.; no customers etc. etc. - 'All OMG.! Doom & Gloom and so on and so forth ... .'
- Thus this Thomas Didymus resolved to see matters for himself;

-- Y'day., (17 nov.), he took a #84. 'bus. from BTS. Krung Thon Buri,S7.. Both the driver & conductor assured him that their 'bus. would run all the way, but that water would be some 3ft. deep OUT that far!
- However, at the RATCHAPHRUEK FLYOVER - approx. 3M. from the KING TAKSIN MONUM'T. - we all had to de-'bus. as all 'buses terminated there!
- After some milling-around those of us going farther W'WARDS. boarded an Issuzu & 6wh. army truck in wch. we were packed like proverbial sardines;
- The truck took us roughly another 5.5M. to the former CARREFOUR S'MKT.,(now part of the BIG C gp.), at wch. point we all descended and boarded a yellow & BKK. Municipal Admin'n. lorry for the final stage of the journey;
- Keeping an eye OPEN on these things the flood-waters started at Phet Kasem 9.; passing THE MALL - Bank Khae the water was axle-deep for our mil'y. vehicle; at Phet Kasem 79. the water was some 16" deep. However, while water tends to find its own level and to take the line of least resistance the rd. undulates, so there were several dry patches, of wch. some poor but honest vendors took full advantage to set-out their stalls;
- I walked along soi 79., the depth was generally up to 20". deep - Gentle Reader, it reminded me of the '... grey-green,greasy Limpopo river, all set-about with fever-trees ... .'** - to my friend's shop, wch. is situated just above HIGH water mark; consequently spent a few mins. on the cell-'phone. urging him to return and to OPEN for business, especially as another & hair-dressing salon was not only OPEN but busy with customers.
- Plenty of boats, rafts & similar small craft busy plying for hire; saw many styrofoam rafts kept afloat by plastic jerricans etc., also one elderly gent punting his way along in a plastic bath kept buoyant by bamboo poles attached to it!
- The return journey was initially by 'bus. and then by army veh.. Whist we were awaiting a 'bus. for the journey's final stage free food - HOT rice & veggies. in styrofoam boxes,- was being distributed to hungry bodies - most welcome. The overall & return journey from soi 79. to the BTS. took approx. a couple of hours.

-- While I'm not going to write that many reports of this flooding have been or are exagerated yet it is worth one's while - if possible - to use one's own eyes and to see for oneself rather than to accept other peoples' possibly sensationalised reports.

--* Phet Kasem rd. is road #4. and runs roughly WSW. from the KING TAKSIN MONUM'T.
--** From the 'Just so stories.' by R. Kipling.
-- :)

Sand-bags ...
 

-- Today, 21 nov., I see that some shops are having their sand-bags removed - so flooding dangers will be behind us now?
-- :)

I wonder what Kasikorn Bank in Tn Silom was expecting. Sandbags piled 6 feet high and 6 feet deep at the base...

Good to see things returning to normal but what will they do with all that sand?

Still flooded in the western non-tourist areas however so our hearts go out those poor sods living in the dirty drink... The bright sunny weather every day must be helping with evaporation.

oh dear sextile-you are really making efforts there! That is a trip not many of boardreaders will want to repeat. Now in KUl/MY and fly back into BKK sunday. Travelled around the stay away from that potential flooding-though in the end I could have stayed without too much probs.

Getting out and about ...
 

-- As a resident in BKK's. BANG RAK area there are times when I feel that I must spread my wings,(although I'm not likely to do a thousand things!), and to get OUT* - hence my occasional visits to the far-flung outposts;
- I'll be re-visiting the WESTERN suburbs tomorrow, (23 nov.), and shall see if and by how much the flood-waters will have ebbed.

--* Also part of my duty, as I conceive it, and being a resident, is to submit reports from time-to-time on parts of the local scene. -- :)