SamuiRes

Transport Minister PONGSAK RAKTAPONGPAISAL (พงษ์ศักดิ์ รักตพงศ์ไพศาล) disclosed that the construction progress of the Suvarnabhumi Airport is on schedule. He said the airport will certainly be opened for commercial purpose on June next year, as initially planned.

Reminds me of when I was working in the Middle East. Government Budgets were always approved in the year following the budget year so they never over ran!!

Just stopped raining this morning here in NST after a week of it, though the radar shows more to come. The sky looks ready to open soon, though...

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Still pretty bright here in Samui - some overcast but no sign of rain coming here anyway. Radar suggests rain on the mainland so, sorry for the Captain!

Its a fine day today here on Samui.  No sign of rain, even had to wear my sunglasses this morining!!!

Everyone is in a better mood and some people including me are sining songs about sunshine, that kind of stuff 

Lets hope it stays, looks like it could, hoooray

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Yes - bright sunny and warm today and no sign so far of rain on the radar (touch wood!). Things beginning to dry out a bit at last.

Have just driven right round the island and the Ring Road situation is as follows.

From Bangkok Samui Hospital going north there is still a lot of standing water through as far as Tesco, then again on the stretch between Bandon Hospital and the Bophut lights. The usual area around Anantara is flooded but clears by the time you get to Bophut Spa. There is a great deal of water on the road between Bophut and Maenam, but Maenam was clear and then through to Nathon was generally OK with a few areas of standing water.

From Nathon it was pretty clear all the way through to Lamai - the occasional pool, but nothing serious. Lamai was clear through to the junction with the Beach Road and then stretches of water on and off through to just past the IT Centre then clear back to Bangkok Hospital.

Earlier I came down the Beach Road and the Times Square area was not too bad. The Lake Road was well flooded by the junction with the new Lake Road and in several areas through to the main road.

The biggest danger at the moment are the numerous potholes that have opened up, some quite deep and wide and many hidden by standing water. In some areas the water is hiding large areas of sand and gravel washed down from the hills which has caught a few bike riders out.

The weather may be normal if you are a duck!

For the best forecasting tool use www.windguru.cz  It gives you a 3 hourly forecast for windspeed,direction,cloud cover,wave height,lenght and direction and rain.Search for Samui because the homepage forecast is Hawaii.

Judging by that site you have a few more days of this rubbish left.I bailed out yesterday.Its lovely and warm in Bangers.

Never seen Samui look so grotty.Rubbish and mud everywhere.Hardly paradise at the moment.

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Yes it looks pretty bleak for the next few days.

Attached photos taken this morning

Near Bandon Hospital

Bangrak

Bophut

However, the pumps are up and working and the Beach Road by Times Square which was well flooded yesterday morning was pretty well clear by early afternoon. Once the rain stops there will be some repair work to be done without a doubt but things should get back to normal fairly quickly.

back to normal? No way there is a river still in my drive way. Never before seen it like this in 8 years,. Not normal, it  is a moldy mess here!

Please can someone help me find a daily satalight photo of the weather for Thailand. The Yahoo one sucks!

I would love to be able to see a clear photo of whats going on I am going crazy here in all the rain and need to see some hope!

Bye

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Have a look at this site

http://www.tmd.go.th/index_eng.php

Gives hourly radar pics from Suratthani, Songkhla and Chumpon and the Satun Gas Field Rig.

I agree there is still a lot of water on the roads and the Beach Road by Times Square was well flooded this morning although one of the pumps they refer to was in place although I was not sure it was actually working! The road through Laem Din was a high as ever and although I suspect I could have got through, I took the back road by the Chinese Temple which was pretty clear. More showers forecast so I doubt it will get much better over the next few days. The Military were certainly around and working hard near the Bophut traffic lights yesterday - with what success I do not know.

Can't last much longer can it?

Every time I have had dealings with the British embassy I have found them friendly, efficient and helpful.  Surely I can't be the only one?

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Well there are at least two of us!

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I hope they did not sack her for gross efficiency...

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Three - I have to say that I have always had pleasant dealings with the staff at the Embassy. My wife's first UK Visa was issued promptly and efficiently and has been renewed twice now by post without requiring a visit to Bangkok.

The only real complaint I would have is the way you have to queue for ages outside in the heat and then wait in the feezing cold of that reception area.

What was the place in the US where a bunch of girls were busted having a party in the forest at night and they all decided to freak out when caught thus leading the townsfolk to think they were possessed....ahh thats it...Harlem !! The witches of Harlem were then burned at the post I think.....well thats what happenned in the movie anyway !! haha ......and how many centuries ago was that ??

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Salem I think was the place - Harlem has a completly different kind of spooky population!

We're planning on driving down to Samui on the 5th and taking the ferry over there, where can I get up to date weather reports?

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This is pretty good

http://www.tmd.go.th/index_eng.ph

and also link to weather radars

http://www.tmd.go.th/linkframe/radar_en.html

Chumphon and Suratthani seem to have been updating about every hour recently, Songkhla has stopped reporting and Saturn Field does not update regularly.

I'm heading to Samui this coming Thursday, I hope the weather improves.  Chaweng to be specific, Chaweng Cove Resotel. I've heard good and bad, goes with the independant traveler.  How is the island, any major problems after the rain?

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Monday morning and the sun is shining. Yesterday was pretty good too although we did have a shower in the evening. The main road in Chaweng is pretty much OK now, still some water by the PTT station, but not much. The Lake Road is passable again as is the Beach Road. Yesterday Lam Din was a nightmare still and you could not turn right off the Beach Road, but could get through via Reggae Street. Things seem to be getting back to normal fairly quickly, butg it may take a few days for all the water to go. However - the forecast is for another couple of days of heavy rain Tuesday through Thursday so we will have to see.

The Beach Road photo was taken on Saturday morning when the water was waist deep. I drove down there yesterday without too much trouble but was very sorry for the shop keepers all trying to get their stock dried out.

One of the big problems has been the run off of water from the hills which has been washing down onto the beaches and undermining the roads. The photo was taken on the Big Buddha Beach road west of Bangrak.

Coco Seaplanes - should be operational commercially as soon as the pilot has his existing licence approved by the Thai Authorities.

see www.cocoseaplanes.com

Floods sweep resort island

KOH SAMUI: -- Koh Samui was flooded yesterday following heavy downpours as run-off water from higher ground swept about 100 seaside bungalows into the sea. Koh Samui district office was under a metre of flood water.

Surat Thani Governor Wijit Wichaisarn urged residents to seek shelter and not to travel until the situation returns to normal.

“Safety is the first priority,” he said.

Koh Samui Airport director Sirichai Charoenrat said that all flights between Bangkok and Samui were cancelled due to heavy downpours and poor visibility.

“The heavy downpours are continuing and thus we can’t say at this point when the flights can resume,” Sirichai said.

Bangkok Airways, which built the only airport in Samui, operates all flights between Bangkok and Samui. Usually there are 20 a day.

“We will immediately resume flights as soon as we are sure that the visibility has improved to a level that passenger safety is guaranteed,” he said. Koh Samui district chief Thirayuth Iamtrakoon said the main road around Samui was submerged.

--The Nation 2005-11-26

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Electric was out until about 19.30 last night. Flooding during the day was horrendous. I was trying to get to my office and was lucky not to get stuck in very deep water but going home the roads were in a terrible state. Had to leave my car and wade to my house. My landlord, an old Samui resident, said this was the worst he had experienced in his life.

It is still pretty bad this morning. I live near Big Buddha and trying to get to my office near Bangkok Hospital this morning I could not get down the Beach Road beyond Focus supermarket - water was still waist deep. Then trying along the Lake Road, could not get past the rear entrance to Green Mango - waist deep there too. Found my way through to the back road at the bottom of the Runway and there was still flooding on the main road, but passable.

On a lighter note, living next to Wat Plai Laem which has a large lake fully stocked with fish - these are protected and the locals are not allowed to fish in there. However, the lake overflowed last night and in the midst of the chaos, the locals were out catching the fish that had escaped!

Can anyone tell me where i can find online/ stream satelite-images about the wheater in  the S-A area, e.g Thailand

Thanx all

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Try http://www.tmd.go.th/index_eng.php

A number of radar plots - not streaming and updated only every few hours, but give a good idea of what is out there.

According to the forecast we are in for it again mid week.