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?