Safe to travel Thailand

Ko Chang

Kanchanaburri

Flood water still effects Thailand and parts of Bangkok, but as a tourist you will hardly see any of these areas. Thailand is gearing up for the peak season and they will need it this year, what with floods and protests last 2 seasons many businesses have failed or a only just hanging on. Coming here and spending your holiday here will help boost the lagging tourist economy.

Phuket

Samui weather is a bit cloudy as to be expected, typically the best time to visit is from January to March. Locals consider November to February to be the "cool" season which makes it far more bearable to most Westerners than the hotter seasons making Phuket and the Andaman a excellent choice to visit now. Chiang Mai and the north now have the coolest period and very little rain, it can actually get a little cold in the hills and you will need a decent jumper or windproof jacket on a motorbike and blanket for sleeping. The sunset and sunrise throughout Thailand now and through to February is the best you will see all year especially in the North and central, the "slash and burn" style rice farming makes for spectacular sunsets.

If you have only a couple of weeks here and are flying in to Bangkok, stay in the capital 1 or 2 nights have try the night life and then get away to Krabi, 1 night in Krabittown is enough, explore the night market then do an island tour by longtail boat the following day. Head to Ko Lanta and explore, try taking a boat from Ko Lanta to Ko Mook or Ko Ngai............I like Ko Ngai more personally. Relax on Ko Ngai and head to Trang town 1 night should be enough you then have the opportunity to keep heading south, check out more island in Beautiful Trang or head back up to Bangkok visa the gulf of Thailand and check out Ko Samui, Phangan or Tao (all all). Might be noce to fly back to Bangkok after all those buses. My advice is always use buses for the bus stations, avoid being herded about like cattle on the Ko Sarn road buses or the guest house pick ups. Also less likely you will find your valuables missing.............this happens a lot in Southern Thailand.

Mae Hong Song

Bangkok reacts to the floods.....A photo post

This a few pics I have compiled from walking around my local area. I was surprised to see how many people react.............basically it seems the floods are a novelty to most of the locals......well those that have stayed, being the less affluent. The water that rose up smelt terrible and I got a little on my calf's and it really itched and irritated my skin. How weak of me as the neighbourhood kids treated it like a day out at the beach!

Local kids playing in the stinky water

A couple walked back and forward for giggles

Govt. official checking his boots worked......They were not "Burberry"

This stagnant Klong is 1 of the worse ones I have smelt. Today the near black water moved and aroused the attention of  the local fishing fraternity

The water in the Rama 3 area didn't rise very high by comparison this day and subsided by the following morning. The water level seems to rise and fall daily. The is no local information to explain this. Everyone we spoke to is unclear as to what to expect or what they should do to best look after themselves.

Bangkok told to evacuate

Water storage containers were the clear best seller

It is now a clear message from multiple government officials that residents should leave Bangkok.....if they can. With some media suggesting leaving for 1 month or more. Expressways are heavily clogged with parked cars and have been for some time now, it is Friday night which is normally a busy night for the expressways as many people commute back to outer laying areas to see family before heading back for work in the city, other typically go for weekend trips. Add that to the thousands of people fleeing the city and the roads are chaos with many cars barely moving.

Gumboots on sale, price has risen from 100THB to 250 THB

We took a walk to the local markets it was quite strange as there was no water to be seen except for a few drains gurgling. The only noticeable differences were that people seemed quieter of more reserved, sandbags were everywhere and people were selling new items and they were being snapped up by panicky buyers. We saw plastic containers like 20ltr drums and large garbage bins for storing water, rubber boots (not knee high but low calf high-of dubious use) and also life jackets and toy inflatables. It seemed to be mostly Mums buying the life jackets and toy inflatables presumably for their children. Although I did see a young man peeking out of his office already wearing a life jacket.

Children's Pokemon flotation devices on sale

We would like to leave as well now but having called all the bus stations and the train station it would seem that all tickets have sold out fro the next few days. A public holiday has been granted from Thursday 27/10/11 until the following Monday. So that people may leave the city. As I do not wish to drag my very pregnant wife through the horrors of waiting in a overcrowded Bangkok bus station ( she can not fly at this stage of the pregnancy) we have decided to wait it out and hope for a more opportune time this coming week.

Some of the news highlights are;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15471849

The city's bus and train stations and many roads are jammed by crowds of people attempting to flee.

More than 360 people have died in Thailand's worst flooding in decades.The crisis is an early test for Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who took office in August and has previously been criticised for failing to take the flood threat seriously enough."It's a crisis, because if we try to resist this massive amount of floodwater, a force of nature, we won't win," Ms Yingluck said."But if we allow it to flow freely then people in many areas are prepared."

People in several northern districts of the capital - some of which are now 90% submerged by rising water - have been told they should evacuate immediately.


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-27/bangkok-braces-for-evacuations-as-high-tide-worsens-thai-floods.html

Bangkok’s Chao Phraya river swelled to a record high, swamping nearby tourist spots including the Grand Palace as Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra called for fresh ideas to stem the country’s worst floods since 1942.

“The crisis we’re facing today is the most critical natural disaster that ever happened in Thai history,” she told reporters today, adding that she would welcome suggestions from the opposition Democrat party. “I’d like to ask for cooperation from everyone that we don’t have political parties, nor political games. We must not be divided.”

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Evacuate-before-arrival-of-floodwater-FROC-30168761.html

The Flood Relief Operations Centre on Friday urged Bangkok residents living in high risk areas to start evacuating before the arrival of flood water.

"In several areas of inundation, residents would not move before seeing floodwater, hence triggering chaos and other inconveniences," FROC spokesman Tongthong Chandransu said.

Residents should brace for inundation without being panic, he said.

He said preparations should be made in the face of a worst-case scenario because it was impossible for FROC to issue specific warnings, such as the prediction where and when the flood would happen at each locality.It is not necessary to cut channels across any roads to improve the drainage of floodwater out to sea because none of the targeted roads block the flow of water, Transport Minister Sukampol Suwannathat said on Friday.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/transport/263675/transport-minister-no-need-to-cut-up-roads
ACM Sukampol said this after flying by helicopter to examine from the air the area east of Bangkok, Bang Na - Trat highway and Khlong Bang Chalong, Khlong Chorakheyai, Khlong Sanamphli and Khlong Phra-rongchao.

The floodwater is to flow into these canals before being drained into Khlong Samrong and the sea.

The minister said none of the five roads a group of private engineers and water management experts had proposed be cut open to improve drainage were blocking the path of the floodwater. So, it is not necessary to dig them up, he said.

The group, led by Toyota Motor Thailand vice chairman Ninnart Chaithirapinyo, asked Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to consider a plan to dig channels across five major roads in eastern Bangkok to enable floodwater to flow quicker out to the sea.

A flood of mixed messages and bumbling

Loading docks on the opposite side of the river

I have been using the landing dock opposite us on the Chao Praya as a measure for the water height. When we moved here 4 month ago the river was about 1 metre lower than it was today at approx. 5:30pm, the water has now run over the landing dock and in true Thai fashion...............the work of loading ships continues. It was a few minutes after I noticed this loud firework like bangs went off just down the river. My wife informed me (she had watched the news) this was an evacuation sign. Whilst watching the evacuation flares and rising river we noticed the car park about 150 metres away from the river was slowing filling up with water, some of the street dogs noticed and started barking at the water.............without any effect.

Water rising in the Chinese Temple car park

Looking forlornly at the river a family of 8 people stood motionless looking at their house, a very shanty shack on the waters edge. They had no doubt been waiting for the moment and seemed a bit dulled that it had finally come. That was the scene a family watching their house slowly filling up and evacuation flares about 1/2 a km downstream and then..........................The sky opened up and it rained huge drops of water down hard and fast, as if these poor people needed more discomfort. We could only imagine what it could be like not to be as safe as we were and to be part way though trying to evacuate and be caught in such rain.

The lower lying lawns show the river rising

As for food and supplies. In our local area we have been unable to find any bottled water for nearly 2 weeks now. 711 is very empty and not receiving deliveries. The Family Mart is doing a booming trade as soon as a delivery arrives it is sold within an hour, we haven't eggs in there for many days now too. The local fresh market have increased their prices by over 100% in some cases. For example a kg of coriander sold for 80-100THB a few weeks ago and now sells at 200 THB. We managed to buy chicken and the price increase was relatively small for us going from 60 THB per kg to 80 THB per kg..............but others there to buy were obviously harder hit by the increases.


Media reports are less than optimistic;


http://www.nationmultimedia.com In Bangkok's most critical day to date, run-off water approaching the Don Mueang Airport yesterday forced airlines to suspend their services and threatened the headquarters of the government's Flood Relief Operations Centre (FROC), which decided however not to switch location.
Low-cost carrier Nok Air cancelled flights to and from Don Mueang from noon for safety reasons. Its flights from foreign destinations were diverted to Suvarnabhumi Airport.


http://www.bangkokpost.com Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra warned Bangkok residents in all areas last night to brace for flooding after advancing runoff from the north of Bangkok surged into Don Mueang airport yesterday. The prime minister conceded existing floodwalls and water embankments might not be able to withstand the massive inundation and said there was a strong chance the flood will penetrate central and inner zones of the capital.



http://www.bloomberg.com “Water will enter Bangkok from Rangsit, Nonthaburi and Pathum Thani,” Pracha Promnog, head of the government’s Flood Relief Operations Command, said today, referring to areas to the city’s north and west. “Water will flow into Bangkok, which is a low-lying area, and the government isn’t sure how much the city’s drainage system can handle.” The Chao Phraya river, whose banks are lined with hotels including the Oriental, the Peninsula and the Shangri-La, overflowed its banks in some areas after water levels reached a record of 2.30 meters (7.5 feet) above sea level yesterday, exceeding the 2.27-meter peak reached in 1995, Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra said. Bangkok has an average elevation of less than 2 meters above sea level.





http://www.nationmultimedia.com "The Chao Phraya River's water level in Bangkok will likely rise to 2.6 metres [above normal sea level] over the coming weekend. It's going to be higher than the embankment," Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra said yesterday.
Sukhumband said the height of the permanent embankment along most parts of the Chao Phraya River stretch in Bangkok is now 2.5 metres. Some sandbags are being placed on top of the embankment to protect the capital from overflowing, but there is not enough time for the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) to construct the extra height needed along the 75.7km stretch.



http://www.nationmultimedia.com In order to protect the capital from floods caused by high tide over the next two days, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has been advised further strengthen the sandbag embankments along the Chao Phraya River.
"Residential areas along the Chao Phraya River are most at risk if the level of the sea rises," Royol Chitradon, director of the Hydro Informatics Division of the Hydro and Agro Informatics Institute, said.
Royol is part of the committee set up by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to deal with the flooding situation.

I built an Ark but the animals have gone

It's now 4 days after the floods were first predicted to reach Bangkok. The waters have reached the northern parts of the city. The Bangkok Post headlines is "Scared City " and pictures the are by Kasetsart University with knee high waters. The opening lines summarise the Prime Minister as saying words to the effect of "they are at their wits end".

The Nation tells us that the floods will reach Northern Bangkok by tomorrow. It informs us that the flood-water from Klong Rangsit will enter Klong Hok Wa in the district of Sai Mai sometime tonight. This information supposed to have come from Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra. This was follwed up by his plea to the public that they do not panic.

People are deffinitley re-acting to this situation. Media is full of what has happened and very little about what to expect or do. There is the visable signs like sandbags in front of many buildings from Condo's to Banks. With no direction from any leaders people feel the need to defend and secure themselves.

Citibank Asoke central Bangkok Photo by Gabe. W

We have already seen stores empty all around Bangkok. Little is left in the Big name stores or the smaller convenience shops. Stores now ask people not to take photos. We have explored all stores within our area and no one has water. For those of you who do not know already the tap water is unfit for drinking in Thailand. Milk can be found in a few places and sadly soft drinks are in good supply still. Whilst many people have access to a reverse osmosis water station the concern is now what happens when the power goes off or the machines become submerged.

Tops Market Suan Plu (near Silom) Photo by Gabe.W

It would seem to me as a resident of Bangkok one of the biggest problems is what to do. There is little to no advice given by the Government or Emergency services. The news tells us not to panic but then shows dramatic footage of area's that have flooded. Stories of house robbery from evacuated houses, people breaking down flood walls out of spite and violence against government emergency services are emerging. In my opinion this government or any other would be just as useless for this situation. Political powers here have been to worried about who gets the title and the pay rise and no one is ready for this. Spread throughout the news is squabbling between political groups over who is responsible and it seem some are happy to sit back and make other s look worse. Enlisting the army's help could mean a loss of power for the current Prime Minister whom many seem to feel is too inexperienced for this job................... these are my summaries form reading the newspapers today and  driving round central Bangkok.

Food Shortage Hits Bangkok

Month of heavy  rains and swollen rivers have taken there toll on the country. Many roads have closed and factories shutting up. The Media is creating a frenzy and not doubt retailers are cashing in. Last Saturday the 8th a friend sent us pics of the empty shelves at the Tesco Lotus in Lak Si. I went shopping on the Sunday night at Tesco on Rama 3 and it was as normal there. Monday morning I went to the Klong Toey fresh market (I love it there) and it was business as usual lot's of food and no panic. So we were feeling like it wouldn't happen in our area and that we had enough provisions.

We do live riverside but are not worried it will effect us too much, perhaps overconfidence in being 18 floors off the ground. Last night we went up to central as I need a new MP3 player to take to the gym............took a quick look in at the Top market and started to get "the panic" we bought up what was left; 1 pack of muesli, 2 tins of pasta sauce and 2 bags of penne pasta. I decided that my audio entertainment could become secondary and that a moment of calculated panic would be more fun, so we packed of to the Tesco across the road, first thin we noticed was nearly all the trolley's were gone. we have never seen that here before. The store was full of panicking people scrambling for what was left. All instant noodles and tinned Thai foods were gone. As were the eggs, chicken, pork, fish, bread and carton UHT milks, water and juices. People were pushing their trolleys like battering rams. I took the last 2 packs of bacon. They sell for 280 THB a pack about 9USD for 400g which is not cheap for your average Thai household. Compared to the fresh market where 280 THB buys about 4 KG of chicken. As I walked away with the bacon I surveyed the scene again, basically all that was left were the expensive imported products and confused Thais picking them up in bewilderment wondering why it is so expensive and what do you do with 100g of Alaskan smoked salmon that costs 15 USD. I couldn't help but feel sorry for these people.

Our food store now takes over parts of our bedroom and balcony. We wake up each day to constant jack hammering in the basement as they frantically dig bigger drainage systems in. The river is rising and 600 sandbags line our property..........what good this will do is a moot point as the properties on both sides of us have not sandbagged, perhaps the flood water will not turn corners?

Phuket Vegetarian Festival

Exciting times await travellers in Thailand. OK so right now it sux in Thailand a bit...................its' raining loads and has been pretty much all year. I was stuck in Phnag Nga in April due to floods, and that's the dry season! But err the festival right? Held each year in Phuket on the 9th lunar month on the Chinese calender. This year it will be September 26th until October 6th.

You  can expect extremely loud fireworks, I mean it sounds like a war zone at times.....totally exhilarating. Everyone will be throwing fireworks around from 3 year kids to 100 year old grandma. The Chinese do not make amazing coloured firework displays, they make really loud explosions. Then comes my favorite spectacle the self mutilating and body piercing extremist. You have big earrings? Pffffffffft check these guy's out. I was there last time I think in 2008 and saw a guy who had a 60cm sword half way through hos tongue! These guys piece their cheeks typically with all manner of objects ranging from small bunches of flower& metal spikes to fake M16's and large garden tools like spades...............these processions are intense and amazing and if you a keen on the idea of taking some holiday snaps back home to amaze your friends this is the stuff to shoot. I found Phuket town the best place to be as it felt more real. Get out of Patong if you want some Authenticity.

The finale is fire walking. Sounds great but in all fairness is was a bit lame. That said I was not about to show 'em how to do it better. My experience was to be sitting in a huge crowd it was really really hot. It was packed and hard to see. Police who try to control the crowd keep reminding everyone to sit. This is really important for the believers as head height dictates status. So it;s important the crowds heads are lower than their own. Something tourist found hard to accept (me too) and the younger generation of Thais. It took ages of pounding the coals to make a cooler layer on top before someone eventually sped over them barefoot. These guy's are in a spiritual trance and acting in response to spirits and "unaware" or unable to feel pain. They are chattering mumbo jumbo and walking around like homeless drug addicts.......................although they do keep checking the temperature of the coals very diligently............but I am being cynical.

More info can be found here. I totally recommend you get there and experience some of what it has to offer. There is amazing vegetarian food everywhere and this is food that comes out once a year. Also one of the few times you can get vegetarian food in Thailand without pork in it.

Phuket Vegetarian Festival 2011

Facial piercings Phuket style

This has to be one of my favorite Thai festivals. It is to me very Thai Chinese.................I understand it is an Chinese Taoist tradition, but it seems to me it has evolved to become quite Thai now. The festival is full of Thai idiosyncrasies; for example it is a VEGETARIAN festival, so where are the veggies? Thais will eat rice all day long fried or boiled, they eat noodles and they eat small portions of meat with large portions of fat. Modern Thais love to eat Mc Donald's, Burger King and KFC. seemingly though all Thais resent vegetables so this Vegetarian Festival is more a lack of meat festival. On sale there were noodles with fake prawns and fake pork, the noodles were OK but the fake meats were terrible. I even saw pretend Sushi/Sashimi with fake raw fish and shrimps! After a few days in Phuket town I needed to get out just to eat some vegetables.

Hacksaw blades through the lower lip

I spent only 2 days watching the ma song procession and then went back for the final "Kaboom" fireworks come war zone experience of deafening firecrackers (I forgot my ear plugs in the excitement) and the ma song procession. The finale was on the Sunday and it didn't rain in Phuket Town. The air becomes so thick and it feels something similar (I imagine) to a war zone, the blast can shake the proximity and really rattle the ear drums................I find it a rater exhilarating. The streets were totally packed with kids and families and tourists mostly from other parts of Asia and loads of photographers. The scene looked a little like this

In front of the Metropole hotel

 i read somewhere that an estimated 6 million photographs were being taken per day. I am sure that for photographers it's a fantastic time to get shooting, I myself had a blast :)

A group of photographers getting a close up on the blast

We went to the local market early Monday morning to stock up on curry pastes and Kapi before heading back to Bangkok. The market was all but empty as everyone had been up even earlier than us in eagerness to get in to some meaty foods after all that rice and fake meat. I'll bet that Mc donalds and KFC did a roaring trade during the festival. I walked past and it seemed to be full of local teenagers who no doubt told their parents they were just going to a friends house.


All in all an enjoyable time, should anyone have some pics they would like posted email them through and we put up some of the best.

A devotee carrying umbrellas

A man using his tongue to sharpen an axe

Thailand hit by flood disaster

Thailand is being devastated by the huge rains and subsequent flooding. More than 250 people have died since July form flood related incidents. The north of Thailand has been badly affected especially the areas surrounding Chiang Mai & Chiang Rai. More recently the Ayudhya province has been flooded causing many of the area's factories to close down temporarily. The floods also extend to the Southern provinces. Ko samui & Ko Tao have had approx 1,200 tourists evacuated via the Thai Navy' sole aircraft carrier. Phuket has been affected especially the are around the Patong Hospital. Other southern provinces to be affected are Krabi, Chumphon, Nakhon Si Thammarat,Surat Thani, Trang and Phatthalung. A total of 80 districts in eight provinces have been declared disaster areas.

Bangkok is now awaiting the flood waters of the North to reach it's main river the Chao Phraya. All areas close to the river are expected to be affected. I took a water taxi from Phra Athit last week and saw many of the shanty homes are already partially underwater. I live in the Rama 3 area.......... Riverfront, our Condo has been sand bagged out front and an emergency plan has been placed in lifts and notice boards. Locals are now buying up stocks of tinned and dried fruit and water. The local markets and Supermarkets such as Tesco are being emptied and stocks have yet to come to refill the shelves. we decided to buy a camping stove, but on arrival found they also had sold out.




We have just returned home from a trip to Phuket, only 5 days of rain out of 10, but when it rained it really rained. If you are not in Thailand or S.E.Asia and are planning to come I would recommend postponing your trip as it is unlikely to be much fun here for a while with rains and floods expected to continue for some weeks. In other parts of S.E.Asia things are very similar with some 150 deaths reported in Cambodia and 15 in Vietnam. The Philippines has been struck by typhoons once again. People who are in Thailand to travel, i would suggest you look to relocate before things get difficult and travel becomes harder.

Fingers crossed things will get better for Thailand, the tourism industry has been badly affected of recent times what with constant anti government protest and violent clashes and natural disaster.