Bangkok declares all 50 districts flood disaster areas

Central Bangkok's roads seem wet but not flooded. In the north and north east of Bangkok, the problems begin around the Lad Prao junctions. But basically, as far as the current live road condition maps indicate, central Bangkok roads are green, with the flooded major roads and their sois out in the semi-inner outskirts and beyond. Hopefully they'll start to dry out by tomorrow afternoon.

35 minutes ago, PJ71 said:

These include swimming with snakes on Suk rd in 1983, right?

Did you tame wild tigers in the afternoon - lol

Right, except the Tigers were already in the den.

Cost of these floods is going to be enormous . Vehicles, thousands of them, even tens of thousands written off, low lying businesses too in low lying Bangkok, its hard even imagining the costs involved, without taking into account of a repeat of it all next year. Abandon all hope

3 minutes ago, bruce123123 said:

Cost of these floods is going to be enormous . Vehicles, thousands of them, even tens of thousands written off, low lying businesses too in low lying Bangkok, its hard even imagining the costs involved, without taking into account of a repeat of it all next year. Abandon all hope

Yes it's bad - but not nearly as bad (on a macro scale) as the great floods of 2011.

12 hours ago, trucking said:

Even centuries ago , when invading Burmese armies surged into Thailand and put the capitol Ayudhaya under seige , the Thais behind the walls prayed for an early monsoon knowing that the surrounding land would be inundated and that the Burmese would have to break camp and depart.

and then moved the capital to Bangkok which being in the middle of a swamp could not be reached by the Burmese war elephants.

11 hours ago, bendejo said:

Being flooded out is just one part of the crisis. Another is that water overflowing the sewer system, bringing up all that crud and whatever else. Sanitary hazard.

In 2011 when I chickened out and went to stay with a mate in Satahip I filled a balloon with water and jammed it into the downstairs toilet.

18 minutes ago, bruce123123 said:

Cost of these floods is going to be enormous . Vehicles, thousands of them, even tens of thousands written off, low lying businesses too in low lying Bangkok, its hard even imagining the costs involved, without taking into account of a repeat of it all next year. Abandon all hope

Had some lazada shipments due today, the courier company sent me a message they could not deliver to due force majeure.

I'll bet the insurance companies will be riding that BS excuse too!

6 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

Had some lazada shipments due today, the courier company sent me a message they could not deliver to due force majeure.

I'll bet the insurance companies will be riding that BS excuse too!

Yeah, think about all those cars. If the insurance industry balks, Thai people already suffering from this bad economy and low incomes will be really screwed.

9 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

Had some lazada shipments due today, the courier company sent me a message they could not deliver to due force majeure.

I'll bet the insurance companies will be riding that BS excuse too!

My understanding is that after 2011 most insurance companies removed flood damage from house insurance policies or limited it to 1000 baht - well that's what mine did........

2 minutes ago, topt said:

My understanding is that after 2011 most insurance companies removed flood damage from house insurance policies or limited it to 1000 baht - well that's what mine did........

I was more thinking of the cars and bikes.... many likely on finance.

9 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

I was more thinking of the cars and bikes.... many likely on finance.

Understood - I don't think compulsory covers it at all anyway does it?

If so going to be a lot of pain for many people as @ronnie50 said.

3 hours ago, Emdog said:

Ah yes, the 2011 floods... so extensive the Coke factory was knocked out for a bit.

I seem to recall a huge budget was allocated for flood prevention/diversion projects so wouldn't happen again.

Well, major portion of that went to factories etc which left little to spend on dikes, pumps, canals... and so it goes

Depends on where you are, I guess. I'm on Phutthamonthon Sai 3. Just at the top of the moobahn, Borom was elevated a meter or more to form a flood wall. Along the main road and down the village moobahn, new drainage pipes were put in during 2015. While my area of Bangkok has escaped being hit hard this time (as opposed to the almost three months of my house being flooded in 2011), it has still rained heavily and there is no standing water, no pooling, and absolutely no flooding.

6 minutes ago, topt said:

Understood - I don't think compulsory covers it at all anyway does it?

If so going to be a lot of pain for many people as @ronnie50 said.

I just checked my own (car) insurance from one of the biggest auto insurers.

The words flood, water damage, Act of God, natural or man made disaster - are absent. So maybe the insurance companies cannot get off so easily.

My car insurance (Type 1) writes:

Natural disaster, including flood

Car insurance type 1 covers damages to your vehicle caused by natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods during the insurance period. This includes compensation for repair costs and any specified additional accessories, upgrades, and equipment.

Limits of liability are equal to the sum insured.

Yes, mine is Type 1 as well. Which I guess means 'comprehensive'.

32 minutes ago, 10000Baht said:

My car insurance (Type 1) writes:

Natural disaster, including flood

Car insurance type 1 covers damages to your vehicle caused by natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods during the insurance period. This includes compensation for repair costs and any specified additional accessories, upgrades, and equipment.

Limits of liability are equal to the sum insured.

See if the insurance industry is up to meet these costs, my take is they are not, would not be surprised if some go bust, regardless of which, price hikes in the future are going up considerably

Okay - this might be a simple Q to some. I admit I did study geology - for one semsester in high school... but.

How is it that, Bangkok, essentially a flat city with an altitude of around 0.1 metres, can have 30 cm of rain over two days and end up with some major streets flooded with water up to a person's chest (140 cm)? I understand that the ground is saturated so the rain cannot run off and I also get the fact that the klongs filled up and overflowed in some places. However, the klongs are normally a good 60 cm below the maximum (before the rain). So how else does 30 cm of rain become 140 cm in some places and not others? Just very slight differences in topography, and so the water finds the lowest nearby points and continues to collect and rise? Is that it? Or am I missing something? The 2011 floods were quite different as dam floodgates up country were opened - the Chao Phraya flowed over its banks - so partially a man made flood and not a good comparison.

10 minutes ago, ronnie50 said:

Okay - this might be a simple Q to some. I admit I did study geology - for one semsester in high school... but.

How is it that, Bangkok, essentially a flat city with an altitude of around 0.1 metres, can have 30 cm of rain over two days and end up with some major streets flooded with water up to a person's chest (140 cm)? I understand that the ground is saturated so the rain cannot run off and I also get the fact that the klongs filled up and overflowed in some places. However, the klongs are normally a good 60 cm below the maximum (before the rain). So how else does 30 cm of rain become 140 cm in some places and not others? Just very slight differences in topography, and so the water finds the lowest nearby points and continues to collect and rise? Is that it? Or am I missing something? The 2011 floods were quite different as dam floodgates up country were opened - the Chao Phraya flowed over its banks - so partially a man made flood and not a good comparison.

The rainfall number is for the whole city area but that rainwater flows to wherever it can, especially off structures and onto roads, which cover less surface area than the whole city - the same volume of water then rises in level over that reduced area. Of course, the existing drainage network always struggles with heavy monsoon weather. Some area are better drained (or drainable) than others.

The klong system is much smaller than it used to be and those klongs near the river drain poorly if the river water level is also high. There are also spring tides now.

Edited 5 hours ago5 hr by nauseus

33 minutes ago, nauseus said:

but that rainwater flows to wherever it can, especially off structures and onto roads, which cover less surface area than the whole city - the same volume of water then rises in level over that reduced area.

Thanks. Makes sense. And I guess the buildings on each side of the main road (like Petchaburi) act as 'river banks' containing the rising water.

Move and build your capital at the mouth of the largest river in the country, flowing down a massive 1000 long natural valley, being fed from the Issan Plateau to the North East and the north and west mountains, into a marshy flood basin, and guess what happens. Yes, of course there was a logical trading reason for it to be in that location in past history, but those reasons are now gone and the residents of Thailand's largest and most congested City must now live with the consequences.

3 minutes ago, ronnie50 said:

Thanks. Makes sense. And I guess the buildings on each side of the main road (like Petchaburi) act as 'river banks' containing the rising water.

Main roads, yes. Most of the offices, condos and hotels have raised ground floors.

Just got the call WFH until further notice, work is under water.

Hell yeah brother!

15 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

Just got the call WFH until further notice, work is under water.

Hell yeah brother!

🍺🍺🍺🍻

Just now, roo860 said:

🍺🍺🍺🍻

Absolutely.

I do not drink on school nights.... that includes Sundays..... just poured me second Bundy OP rum and it is lush!

TAT should seize this moment to promote Bangkok as the Venice of South East Asia.

10 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

TAT should seize this moment to promote Bangkok as the Venice of South East Asia.

You missed that bus mate.

Lots of problems now:

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/3327053/cabinet-declares-sept-2829-special-public-holidays-in-light-of-flooding

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/3327019/luggage-chaos-flight-delays-at-suvarnabhumi-airport

2 hours ago, nauseus said:

Lots of problems now:

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/3327053/cabinet-declares-sept-2829-special-public-holidays-in-light-of-flooding

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/3327019/luggage-chaos-flight-delays-at-suvarnabhumi-airport

just because they declare a public holiday does not mean employers should honor them.

Crisis, what Crisis?

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by roo860

13 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

just because they declare a public holiday does not mean employers should honor them.

I didn't say that, did I? However, I would say that the safety of all employees should be the prioroty.