Thai shopkeepers defenceless against waist-high floodwaters

[webfact]

People ride a boat through a flooded street in Ban Sai village, Ban Mi district in Lopburi province, Thailand, September 30, 2021. REUTERS/Panumas Sanguanwong

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Business owners in a province in central Thailand have been battling in vain to protect their stores from floodwaters.ain to protect their stores from floodwaters.

 

Video taken from a boat in the commercial areas of Nakhon Sawan, about 220 km (136.7 miles) north of the capital Bangkok, showed empty streets flooded with waist-high brown water that has breached shutters and sandbags, damaging restaurants and shops.

 

At least seven people have died in floods over the past week that have affected 200,000 households in 30 provinces in the lower north and northeast. As of Thursday, 18 provinces were still dealing with floods.

 

"I was prepared by protecting my stores with sandbags, but it still didn't help at all," said Satharn Sae-Chua, a Nakhon Sawan business owner.

 

Drone footage showed a city with no visible dry land, with commercial areas and vast stretches of fields and farmland submerged.

 

Authorities have issued a warning to communities along the Chao Phraya river, which flows through Bangkok, that levels are expected to rise from Friday into next week.

 

Bangkok Governor Aswin Kwanmuang said the city has contingency measures, while Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said waters should recede in 10-15 days, if there were no more storms.

 

The government has said the situation is manageable with no repeat of the floods of 2011, which were the worst in 50 years, killing hundreds of people, damaging vast areas of farmland and paralysing Bangkok and its industrial belt.

 

(Reporting by Jiraporn Kuhakan; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-10-01

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow ASEAN NOW on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updatesv

[thaibeachlovers]

Anyone know if that area has flooded in the past?

[Rampant Rabbit]

defenceless, well  how  about  building your shop starting at waste  height, you  know, future  planning and  all  that

[Rampant Rabbit]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

"I was prepared by protecting my stores with sandbags,

Do they really think thats the solution, struth theres  no  hope,  guessing this  place is  built on a  flood  plain so common sense  would  make you construct at least 2  mertres  off the ground.......all  will  be forgotten when somchai  builds his  next  house in a  few  years

[zzaa09]

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Anyone know if that area has flooded in the past?

No. The Great Basin has never flooded.????

First time for everyone.????

Bit of a novelty. 

[jacko45k]

45 minutes ago, Rampant Rabbit said:

defenceless, well  how  about  building your shop starting at waste  height, you  know, future  planning and  all  that

Well you can hardly 'start' at waist height, and do these poor folks really have the finances to rebuild or effectively lift their current construction 3 ft up? Shops high up with steps are often unpopular. 

[hotchilli]

2 hours ago, zzaa09 said:

No. The Great Basin has never flooded.????

First time for everyone.????

Bit of a novelty. 

There's a clue in the name... "Great basin"

[RubbaJohnny]

A wooden Frog vendor who wanted to be called only Miss Noah was asked how bad the floods moistening her hem.

 

Interestingly one of the Frogs replied in a firm bass voice

 

'KNEE DEEP KNEE DEEP KNEE DEEP'

Edited October 1, 2021 by RubbaJohnny

[RubbaJohnny]

38 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

"Great basin"

Nop the barber uses one on me

[RubbaJohnny]

2 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Shops high up with steps are often unpopular. 

With dwarfs , those seeking ladders not so much

[lopburi3]

5 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Anyone know if that area has flooded in the past?

Yes it floods often - family has home near Wat Lai, few km South, and have seen water up to floor in stilt home 2 meters above land and the land at least 2 meters higher than klong.  Although that only happened when a klong dam failed - normally not higher than about 2 meters.  But yes the area floods.

Edited October 1, 2021 by lopburi3

[khaowong1]

17 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Anyone know if that area has flooded in the past?

I was there in 2011.  Yes it was flooded.  We traveled by boat around to visit the people there.  No dry land to be seen. 

[Chris.B]

"Video taken from a boat in the commercial areas of Nakhon Sawan, about 220 km (136.7 miles) north of the capital Bangkok, showed empty streets flooded with waist-high brown water that has breached shutters and sandbags, damaging restaurants and shops."

 

Where is the video then?? 

 

Maybe this is it then.....

 

 

 

 

Edited October 1, 2021 by Chris.B

[Stargeezr]

If you travel around Thailand at all you would see that there is lots of flat land in the country.

  Lots of areas for rice crops, but also prone to flooding, when the rains come. Houses on

stilts are the norm for a big reason. If you want a regular house then you had better get at least

  nearly 2 meters of soil higher than your surroundings or you will have flood issues.

   Geezer

[Rampant Rabbit]

22 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Well you can hardly 'start' at waist height, and do these poor folks really have the finances to rebuild or effectively lift their current construction 3 ft up? Shops high up with steps are often unpopular. 

maybe they should  have thought  of  that before construction

[Rampant Rabbit]

8 hours ago, khaowong1 said:

I was there in 2011.  Yes it was flooded.  We traveled by boat around to visit the people there.  No dry land to be seen. 

so  in 2011 and that sure wont have been the first time but  how  many after that took remedial action with their dwellings, guess what in the next decade its  going to flood  again.and  again.

[jacko45k]

28 minutes ago, Rampant Rabbit said:

maybe they should  have thought  of  that before construction

Proactive thought, in Thailand..... rare as hens teeth. 

[lopburi3]

2 hours ago, Rampant Rabbit said:

so  in 2011 and that sure wont have been the first time but  how  many after that took remedial action with their dwellings, guess what in the next decade its  going to flood  again.and  again.

So you wash it out and return - no big issues if normal stilt or lower level cement construction and you have upper level to store items in normal rain/river rising flooding - dam failure would be another story but unless you have ability to live on the top of a mountain not a lot most people can do about that.  Isolation does not suit everyone.