gunghang

No matter how graphic the warnings are, people will acclimate to them. Some of us are old enough to have remember "death on the highway" films in high school &/or traffic school. They didn't have much effect.

I would invite Singapore police to cruise Bangkok for a couple of weeks. I'm sure that they'd be tickled pink (literally) to be able to spend time in the local fun houses. While working, they could write tickets and collect 15,000 baht fines from people they see smoking in public.

Did anybody download this? If so, can anybody upload to Rapidshare or whatever? I too laughed my arse off, and I hate to think that it's lost forever.

I just came from Chamchuri (or however you spell it - it's at Sam Yan MRT) and the CW guys are still there. One of them even recognized me from my trips to CW.

There is a sign that says in gloriously massaged English that they wil be back home on CW on the 13th of this month. That's a Tuesday, folks. The 9th will be the last day of business at a MRT station.

I went last month for my 90-day report. I went today to have vital info copied from my old passport to my new passport. Counters 2 & 3 if this applies to you. There are CW signs to help you out. I didn't look and wound up in the wrong line for two hours.

Has anybody got any update on Phahon Yothin, and the Don Muang tollway road near the MRT stops???

Thanks for any help...........

The water has dropped again by Lad Prao Sois 1/1 and 8. The sidewalk has long "dry" patches now.

I cannot imagine it being any different at the corner, but I'm going out now.

I expect to find MRT entrance/exit 1 & 5 closed, 3 either way, 4 & 5 open.

I'll know things are "normal" when mail delivery resumes.

The fragrant smell of the flood water is making me hallucinate. The water level on Lad Prao between Union Mall & Big C appears to have dropped.

The median strip is now just above water, as are the lowest steps on the buses that still pass by.

The earth on this strip and the shallow root plants (and their roots) are all mixed in with the water now, which makes for really fun wading.

Phahon Yothin station has a public restroom. When I go out, I wear shorts (really short) and carry long pants in a student's book bag. I change at the subway station before boarding the train. I don't know which other MRT & BTS stations have these impromptu changing rooms. If not too far off topic, it might be worth knowing.

Lad Prao around Sois 1, 1/1, 4, 6, & 8 are if anything receding, though the main road seems to be the same.

I'm not sure where to post this info:

I did my 90-day immigration report today at Chamchari - Sam Yan MRT exit two - through the blast doors - up two escalators and then an elevator to the 18th floor and Room A.

This will remain an option as long as the floods are with us.

These photos were taken earlier today near Union Mall on Lad Prao Road and Soi 8.

There's a lot of crap in that water. When it recedes in a couple of weeks, it won't be a pretty sight.

I am following North-Eastern side of Ratchada - Suttisarn closely as I live near by

The sois straight east of Chao Phraya Hotel on Ratchadaphisek Rd toward Latprao 48 are slowly flooding, I drive the sois every morning and evening to monitor.

The flooding increase stadily but not with more than 7-8 cm per 24 hours since Friday morning. Monday morning 3-4 cm up compared to Sunday evening

from the north west:

if anything water at the PY subway entrance may have dropped a scintilla

water on Lad Prao between Rachada and Phahon Yothin may be up a scintilla

water on my soi (Soi 8) was knee deep at the mouth around 4 this afternoon (that's up!)

Water was up to my knees on Lad Prao this morning. Phahon Yothin subway station was open. MRT is still running every other train stopping at Jatujuk instead of Bang Sue and then starting back to Hua Lumphong from Phahon Yothin.

Waders/galoshes/whatever were being sold at Mochit BTS on Saturday. I just assumed that they wouldn't fit my foreigner feet. But, if one was to wear moccasins or thick socks instead of shoes, they might fit. Have any big feet farang tried this?

Dry at Petchburi MRT. It looks like I'm shopping at Tesco Lotus Fortune after "work" and I'll see about Rama IX later .

Overall: our teacher room should be packed and there are five people who have made it in.

Thai TV is reporting live that the water has pushed south of Jatujak towards Big C Saphan Kwai, to a level of 20-30cm

These photos were taken yesterday - it's still dry!

Forgive me for pointing out the obvious, but things seem to be happening very fast!

Vipavadee Soi 16 opposite Thai Rath. 2km south of Central Lad Prao.

Can anyone give news about my soi/area (above). I am due to fly back tomorrow. I would rather fly tomorrow than wait until Thursday (which my partner wants) BUT find that I cannot get a taxi home from airport by then.

I am reading that Lad Prao is "curb-deep", which would be do-able for me.

eddy

It's now over the curb and the center strip is submerged. This is at Union Mall.

The center strip is above water again by the zebra shrine (1/2 way to Big C)

And, I saw my first person paddling a raft today on Lad Prao.

At worst, it's still at shin level (unless a bus passes by, then the wake can reach your knees).

For what it's worth, thank you so much to those who are riding the subway and motorscooters just to bring current videos to the bbs. I for one am grateful not only for the info, but for not having to venture out myself.

Today travelled up Lad Phrao Road and 6 kms from Bang Kapi mall the flooding starts. We then travelled back to Ramkamhaeng Road all the way out past Min Buri with no sign of flooding.

We have videos of Lad Phrao road and the intersection with VR Road where the bike died in deep water

but managed to resurrect it shortly after.

<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.c...uC5M?hl=en&fs=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Ok all the videos from Lad Phrao Road along to Chatuchak are in the links

Hope they give you an idea of the water flow....2 days ago we traveled the same road and there was NO water....

That was courageous of you!

On Lad Prao between Union Mall and Big C the water level hasn't changed much, if at all, overnight. It's at curb level. The center strip is above the water.

I don't know if I'm imagining being able to see the current.

The pic is from a webcam behind a window in my condo. Not exactly high-res, but it's convenient.

Is it too difficult to keep this on topic?

Anyway, Ladprao-Wanghin Road is almost impassable past Soi 42. There's a barricade in the road there with a sign warning against going any further. Larger vehicles might be able to make it, but small cars won't.

Chokchai 4 still clear so far, but I only went as far as soi 60.

Ladprao Road flooded at Pawanna (Ladprao 41). Still passable, but getting deep.

THANK YOU! You just saved me a trip!

I have a monthly MRT pass; I'll start using it tomorrow and ride MRT from Phahon Yothin to Hua Lumphong. I'll get off at every station until I find a dry one, which I'm guessing will by Huay Kwang. Then I'll continue to HuaLumphong and walk towards Yaowat or whatever the name is for the district with all the Chinese shops until I find water (or get tired).

Today, I strolled Lad Prao where I live and rode BTS until it was dry, which was only one stop.

At Mochit BTS, one side of Phahon Yothin was wet, the other was dry. Some of the Jatujak station entrances for MRT were closed.

No water was to be seen from Saphan Kwai/Buffalo Bridge. (Of course, I reported the same from Phahon Yothin Friday morning and later in the morning it was flooded as far as the eye could see.)

I could not tell if JJ Market was open from Skytrain.

Back at Lad Prao, the water (as one person said earlier) has a definite current. It is really boogieing (I can't believe that "boogieing" got past my spell checker) towards Rachada-Pisek. I am cautiously optimistic that Lad Prao Rd. between Phahon Yothin & Lad Prao MRT stations is going to get off very very easily.

I posted a pic of the zebra shrine awhile ago for comparison purposes. They are still here, some with wet feet, but seemingly safe (unlike so many north of the capital).

Sorry about bad-quality: Cellphone pic. Anyway Ratchada-Ladprao outside LP MRT

http://a4.sphotos.ak..._90921768_n.jpg

Very artistic!

And it's quite clear that there is a ton of water. No need to apologize.

At 5:00 p.m.

The water remains on one side of Lad Prao Rd. - the odd-numbered soi side.

It has passed Union Mall and is now at Soi 1.

The wet pavement continues for a couple of more blocks.

The only flooding I've seen on the even-numbered soi side of Lad Prao Rd. is the Lad Prao Hotel at Soi 8.

No water on this side of the road itself - yet.

If I understood last night's Thai PBS English-language broadcast, this is where it will stop on Lad Prao. The rest will continue to Victory. I guess we'll all be tuned into cable 6 in another few hours.

I returned from my field trip to Saen Saeb and Asoke/Petchburi.

At 1:00 a.m. the water was still at Rachayothin.

At 11:00 a.m. Central was flooded as was the VR/PH intersection.

Water as just beginning to make the left turn on to Lad Prao from Phahon Yothin.

At 1:00 p.m. the water had reached reached Union Mall. The subway entrance for Central was closed.

Without my reading glasses I wasn't able to do a video, but I did get a pic of the very leading edge of the water on Lad Prao. It looks like run off from somebody's garden hose.

Water has appeared at a curtain hotel on even soi side of Lad Prao. This is the first water I know of on this side of Lad Prao.

It's a little surreal, looking out my window at dry pavement, knowing there's a little flooding next door and an evacuation order a mile up the road.

I just took a midnight stroll to Lotus Tesco Lad Prao. At about 1:00 a.m. I was on the ped. o'pass/flyover/whatever, gazing at Rachayothin.

I could see no water on the ground where I was, nor could I make out any in the distance. There was no water skidmark forming in the center of the lanes. I doubt that the water will reach Lad Prao intersection tonight.

There were lights at the intersection, so traffic appears to be moving. I can't comment on how much of it is evacuees.

For now, my plans to purchase beach front property in Khon Kaen are on hold.

My school will be a third week late in starting the second term. Sounds like another sign to me. We're on Saen Saeb near Asoke. I'll go down later this morning and take a photo of the khlong. If anybody is interested in knowing, I could take a cab back up Rachada-Pisek and post pix of any wet spots forming. Let me know.

Going off-topic for one paragraph: It seems that the folks who run the Singapore Gran Prix could do something similar with Viphavadi-Rangsit in Bangkok. They could install flood walls the length of the road and make an annual tourist event of "the water roundup" (like the elephant round up in Surin). With the elevated tollway, it wouldn't even disrupt traffic all that much. Then supertankers could dump the floodwater above the arctic circle and help restore the ice pack.

I walked towards Rachayothin from Lad Prao intersection within the past hour.

There are some sandbags at Central I hadn't noticed before.

I stopped walking at the last pedestrian overpass prior to Rachada and Major. It's in between Tesco Lotus and the Elephant Bldg.

For the life of me, I couldn't see the water with my naked eye, and it doesn't seem to be visible in any photo, either. So, I assume it's still at Rachayothin, rising and spreading to all four corners.

Jatujak (formerly Bang Khen) post office is in the flooded area. So much for mail delivery. I rather wish I hadn't bought all that crap on ebay.

I have returned from Major Rachayothin.

We have a problem.

Water is coming from Rachada-Pisek from the direction of Mae Nam Chao Praya.

This is what happened at Kaset a few days ago. Water started showing up on Ngam Wong Wan and it spread to Phahon Yothin. Dry patches between Kaset and Saphan Mai vanished overnight, and Kaset continued to flood.

Now the water has jumped from above to Sena all the way to Rachayothin. It's still in the pseudo-erotic phase (lapping at the intersection and the road surface is just starting to get wet). But, Rachada-Pisek in front of The Avenue is flooded curb to curb.

All is dry on RP across PY, and PY to Lad Prao is still dry. (Are we all clear on "dry" reports now? When there's water on one side of the street but not the other, sing it from the rooftops! Or, when somebody asks about a specific neighborhood, sound off!)

Now I'm going to make a prediction:

Water will spread and rise but it may not really advance for 24 hours. Friday noon, all bets are off. Saturday is when we might start getting our feet wet at Lad Prao intersection. Surfing will occur sometime between next week and American Thanksgiving.

Speaking of Lad Prao, I haven't been to Chok Chai 4 or Big C Imperal for awhile and I really don't want to go. Can people between Rachada-Pisek and The Mall Bangkapi sound off?

I just came from Phahon Yothin Soi 32 (Soi Sena Nikhom 1).

Approaching, the sign at the entrance to the saphan now warns of floodwater 40 cm deep at the other end.

The water has still not crossed Soi Sena.

The water is now on both sides of Phahon Yothin.

It has reached Soi 32/1 on one side and Soi 37 on the other.

The Phahon Yothin MRT station is open, but they've raised the flood barrier on one side.

www3 thaipbs or th/flood54/

Insert a . after www3 and before and after or to restore the link to PBS

I went back to Sena Nikhom just now (about 5:00 p.m.) to check out a rumor about how far the flood water has come.

The rumor was not true. I took some photos from the pedestrian flyover just above Soi Sena.

The water appears to be closer to Soi Sena 1/Phahon Yothin 32 than it does to Ngam Wong Wan and Kaset.

It really doesn't show in the photograph, but, there's a woman crossing the street. She's in the middle lane on the right hand side of the road. I believe that the flood water event horizon is there, perhaps at Soi 34.

On the "Major" end of the Sena saphan, there was a road sign (flood at next intersection or something).

Some trucks pulled up. It looked like rescue workers or refugees. Does anybody know what they are doing?

Can we stil get out from MoChit to Pattaya?

www thaiticketmajor com/bus/index_eng php

replace each space above with a . to reconstitute the link

If you can buy online (and I wasn't able to), I'd guess it's open

Plan B: Weren't there minivans to Ban Chang leaving from Victory Monument?

Any news of Central lad Prao going down to Sutthisan past Thai Air//or direction Ratchadapisek MRT? I live Vipavadee Soi 16.

100% dry, nothing to worry about.

So now that the high tide has been and gone, masses of water are flowing out to sea as we speak? Is that the deal? Are they taking measures to increase the flow?

Self confessed flood non-expert here.

The PM announced yesterday that the worst is over. However, that related to flood created by the high tide.

The floods created by the runoff from the north will reach Bangkok next weekend or so. In my self-confessed non-expert opinion.

was it not 7 days ago Dong Muang get flooded

now its about 7 miles south so 1 mile a day from the north and from the west it go about half a mile a day

so slow but steady going and still many more water to come from the north

I'm afraid this will take long time and if not for end this month we get new problems cause the high tides then will be even higher then we had now.

One thing I've learned is that the water does not move at a steady pace. It dawdled at Big C and then Tesco Lotus. Then it jumped overnight all the way from Ramintra to Ngam Wong Wan and flooded Kaset. Now it's dragging its feet again and hasn't even reached Sena.

This is still Halloween in parts of the world, so I'll paraphrase H.P. Lovecraft: It's not what [the floods] have done (arrive); it's what they're going to do (rise)!

I'm no longer concerned about when my feet will get wet so much as when/if I'll have to wear shorts.

Fortune tellers, your time has come!

Report from my travels this morning, using Bus 63 from Pantip Ngamwongwan to TMB Bank via Phahonyothin.

Again Phongphet and Chinnakhet areas well flooded, a little bit of water further up outside Khlong Prem Prison. Over the bridge to Kasetsart, on the other side it is flooded quite badly but only on one side of the road, the side where Kaset is. At the junction to turn into Phahonyothin Road in the direction of Major Rachayothin there is some water, down to Soi 36 but no further at the moment.

Attached are pix from the saphan in front of Infantry 11.

One is looking towards Saphan Mai, the other is looking back towards Kaset.

The water now extends beyond the start of the saphan over Sena. I'm sorry that I don't have a photo of Kaset.

Going the other way, it's passed 36 and was at 34 / whatever.

I assume you noticed that traffic was not good, and that one really should drive or take a taxi or minivan, not a bus.

I thought that the saphan was like a Stargate. One moment the water is higher than the bottom of the door to the van, then you start up the saphan and are dry, and come down onto dry streets. The contrast was that great.

What TMB branch do you go to?

OHCANUCK, I have also noticed a significant drop in internet speed over the last couple of days on my TOT ADSL line. Not quite to dial up speeds, but streaming video which was ok is now unwatchable. With the number of people who have left Bangkok, the speeds should have actually increased as more bandwidth should've been available tot he remaining users. But, then, this is Thailand. BTW, I am in the Sukhumvit 93 area.

I have True landline internet, and it has been sluggish from time to time. There have been times when this board wouldn't load.

My wife was able to call Switzerland using Fring on my cheap little Chinese tablet. The call was fine.

I just came from Villa and tried using my California debit card. It processed for over one minute before approval came through.