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.