That’s good to hear - thanks.
Hope everything works out for you.
I’m thinking of renting a snorkel.
I think we own some waterfront property in a couple of the southern provinces. Hope it stays okay down there. My mother in law is down there somewhere. Not sure if FIL is out there right now or not, and if so, where. Will have to check. Thanks for posting this, Septimus.
I’m flip-flopping like a Democrat in my reports on Nakhon Sawan. :smack: Yesterday my friend, a building owner in the City, reported that conditions were exaggerated; only the East end was flooded; dykes had been repaired; market was being pumped out. This morning the T.V. news shows instead that water is now 2 meters deep in places; they’ve given up on dyke repair; the South end of the City is flooded; and the Asia Highway is expected to be closed. Nakhon Sawan has the highest population of any city between Bangkok and Chiang Mai, so food shortages will be a problem as its occupants flee to higher ground. (What yesterday’s phone call now reminds me of, is that many people are naturally optimistic.)
The country is effectively dividing into islands whether main roads close or not, as traffic jams will be severe. Northeastern Thailand (which drains eastward to the Mekong River, rather then through the Chao Phraya in Bangkok) also has problems. In America I think the phrase “of Biblical proportions” would be applied by now, but Thailand is more of a “Que Sera, Sera – Mai Pen Rai” place. 
No worries at all about the South now. That’s where a lot of people are heading for in order to escape the flooding elsewhere.
You can see one of those “tame” crocodiles here. That photo was making the rounds yesterday. “Hello? Anyone home? Got some lunch?”
A Bloomberg report here details Bangkokians starting to hoard food. I stopped by Tops Supermarket near our home last night – not to hoard, just had a few items to pick as per usual – and lots of shelves have been emptied, particularly bottles of water, rice and other staples. I figure we’re pretty well set already, so no need to go panic buying.
Some good photos here, of both Thailand and Cambodia. Cambodia is probably getting socked as hard as central Thailand is, but there seems to be much less reporting.
It’s a somewhat-rainy Sunday in Bangkok after a biblical-style downpour last night, but Bangkok looks like it will emerge unscathed from the flooding upcountry. The local news at noon said all the floodwater that had been heading toward Bangkok has been diverted. Some of the outer suburbs felt a little effect, but my sister-in-law’s house in Pathum Thani, north of Bangkok, looks like it’ll be untouched after initial predictions of one meter of water. So JessMagic, if you can read this and don’t already know, your flight to Bangkok can proceed with no problem.
They do say, however, that there will be more high tides at the end of the month that could casue some problems, so we’re not out of the woods yet. But nothing bad will happen this next week, that’s pretty certain.
Well, it looks like Bangkok is not out of the woods yet after all. Yesterday the authorities were assuring us we’d dodged a bullet. At 9pm last night (Monday night), the city governor announced that Bangkok could still flood within 48 hours. Water breached the defences and started flowing into the humongous Navanakorn Industrial Estate north of the city yesterday, causing a mass evacuation out there. The Bangkok Metropolitan Authority is in a closed-door meeting with flood-control officials right now as I type this, and an announcement of their latest best guess about what will happen will be made at 10am. It’s close to 9:00 now, so that will be in just over an hour.
Great editorial in the Bangkok Post: We do not know what we are doing.
JessMagic don’t worry yourself about southern Thailand - I was in the Krabi region last month and despite big rain there was little flooding. I’ve got a friend in Phi Phi (near Phuket) and judging by her pictures on Facebook, the weather is currently gorgeous there.
It’s several kilometers from the residential section of Nawa to the Highway, and most of the evacuees walked on foot the whole way. BTW, don’t you mean “Nawa Nakhorn” ? 
Just kidding.
My wife, and several of her relatives and fellow villagers worked in Nawa once upon a time; in fact I picked her up there en route to our wedding 19 years ago. Driving to/from Nawa introduced me to certain differences about driving here. To head to Bangkok from Nawa, you turn left (northbound) onto one of Thailand’s busiest highways; quickly move over into the fast lane before you miss the U-turn opportunity; come to a screeching halt in the fast lane; then U-turn into the fastest southbound lane. Be aware that enemy drivers will be speeding up, rather then slowing down, as they approach your predicament. (Mercifully, there might be a U-turn overpass by now.)
Soon I’ll need to go to Bangkok for my annual U.S. Consulate Affadavit. To get my money’s worth on busfare, I might also have an angiogram while I’m there…
It’s pronounced Nawa, but the legally registered spelling in English is Nava Nakorn. The same as Sukhumvit is spelled that way but always pronounced Sukhumwit. Or, say, the Vichit-Vadakan family, whom the wife and I are personally acquainted with, legally spells it that way in English but still pronounces it Wijit-Wadagan (with a J sound instead of the Ch and a G sound instead of the K).
If there was any announcement at 10am or shortly after yesterday, I’m not aware of it. But an update is here. Looks like the very edge of northern Bangkok is in danger, but we’re still looking good in the inner city. Sai Mai is one of the city’s 50 districts, rendered in red o the map in the link.
BTW: You may already be aware of it, but just to save you some hassle in case you’re not, the US Embassy no longer takes walk-ins. You have to make an appointment through their website. That just started a few weeks ago, so I thought I would mention it just in case there was the possibility of a fruitless trip.
Ouch. Thanks for reminding me. I’ve made an appointment just now, but wonder if there’s any flexibility, e.g. if I’m an hour early … or a day late. :dubious: Appointments seem inconvenient and constraining, especially living in a distant Province.
I’d at least try to get there the same day. The US Embassy seems to be late to the party, as many embassies in Bangkok have been doing this for a while. The last time I had to go there was over a year ago, to get my address notarized for my driver’s-license renewal, and I noticed American Services was much busier than it used to be. Noticed that the time before too.
Anyway, it’s the wee hours right now, and I have just returned from a personal inspection of the flood defenses at Soi Cowboy. I am satisfied that the bars in this red-light district will weather the storm. In fact, in case of emergency I think I’ll swim straight over there while the wife holds the fort here.
Khlong Cowboy? Once upon a time I lived there for several weeks. (One of the more successful dancers had a 3rd-floor apartment which she sublet to me, furnished.)
But these days my main Bangkok excitement is visiting the Kinokuniya Book stores…
Here’s a page with maps and detailed discussion of Bangkok’s protection from flood. The “risk” areas are well outside what I think of as “Bangkok.” (On the 2nd map, note that the “eastern Bangkok waterways” are to the east of the new airport, which most think of as well east of the city.
I lived in Bangkok during the 1983 floods when several sois were closed in the central area; Sukhumwit sidewalks were under several inches of water; and bank employees slept in their banks unable to commute. It seems Bangkok is much better protected these days.
CNN.com’s story today: http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/20/world/asia/thailand-flood/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
Hope you all stay safe and dry!
Well, the proverbial fan appears to have been splattered and now it seems certain there’s going to be significant flooding in Bangkok. But who knows, the bozos running the show have proven to be less than useless; example: the Science Minister had this grand scheme of, and as Dave Barry is bound to say, I’m not making this up, using 1000 boats in the river to push the water along… I kid you not I saw footage of the grand plan in march and there was a guy in a frikkin’ jetski in the middle of the Chao Phraya River (about 500 meters wide at that point) as part of the effort.
Yes, yes, it is to cry.
Anyway I had plans to leave town for the southern island of Koh Kood since a long time so I hope the worst would be over by the time I return on Monday. If I’m going to get stranded I’d rather be stranded surrounded by tropical seas than overflowing sewage.
I thought Koh Kood was over by Cambodia, out past Koh Chang a ways? But think of all the new sights you’ll see when snorkeling after returning to Bangkok.
Yes, the latest news now is that at least some of inner Bangkok is due for some flooding. They’re going to push the water through 19 sluices withing the city, and some overflow is expected. “Nothing to worry about though” is the main message from the government. Hmmm. Latest story here. The photos with the bus in them are not Bangkok, but rather the northern suburns in Pathum Thani province, but the very bottom photo may be just inside the city limit.
English-language flood news on Twitter is here.
Not The Nation is a parody website lampooning the local English-language daily newspaper The Nation. A local version of The Onion if you will. It should NOT be confused as a real news site, although management at The Nation say they frequently get complaints about stories that have run on Not The Nation, heh.
That said, Not The Nation has a great story right now. First, a little background. Bangkok city officials recently held some sort of magic ceremony to try to placate the water goddess Ka Kang. Really. That much is true. Not The Nation came out with this great story: Water Goddess Ka Kang Replies To Ceremony: ‘Fuck You’ 
But some more real news. The flooding here could have a bad effect on computer sales worldwide. My information is 60% of the world’s hard-disk drives are manufactured here in Thailand, in the factories of the now-inundated industrial parks, and production has shut down completely. As well, 70% of all spindle motors used in HDDs are manufactured by a single Japanese company here in Thailand, and production of those has also been shut down. All temporary of course, but it could take a while to get back to normal.
Oh no, Koh Kood is definitely in Thai territory; lovely place, not too spoiled yet.