It's been nearly 14 years since many in Bangkok and surrounding areas needed to flee their homes/offices due to the Great Flood of 2011. Are we due for another one this year? It's only mid-September, but already Thai news reports this week warn that the Royal Irrigation Department is planning to open flood gates from certain dams as they reach their highwater marks. As September and October are usually the months with heaviest rain in Bangkok, and while this September has maintained that scenario, what's in store by end of October? Any bets (or anyone with real knowledge about what may be in store)?

The floods never reached downtown Bangkok in 2011. They got about as far as North Bangkok and then were diverted to the Chao Phraya. Petchburi Rd, Sukhumvit, Silom etc were not affected. 

2011 Don Mueang was flooded and closed for quite a while.

With the greatest efforts they could save Suvarnabhumi which would have cut off Thailand from most of air traffic.

 

The year so far has quite a lot of rain and parts of Bangkok experienced short flooding from extreme rain.

The 2011 disaster was finally triggered by a typhoon fully reaching northern Thailand.

Most typhoons unload and weaken over Vietnam and Laos.

I can't bet and just hope it won't be as bad as 2011.

The river Mekong over flows regularly and floods nong khai down to udon

4 hours ago, garygooner said:

The floods never reached downtown Bangkok in 2011. They got about as far as North Bangkok and then were diverted to the Chao Phraya. Petchburi Rd, Sukhumvit, Silom etc were not affected. 

Right. I remember they came just about puddle deep to Saphan Kwai and stopped there. However, people living close to the river (other side, but not on 'downtown') side were flooded to the second floor. Some were Thai colleagues.

2 hours ago, 3NUMBAS said:

The river Mekong over flows regularly and floods nong khai down to udon

Someone has a good imagination ... Udon floods are not from the Mekong, just poor local water management.  

 

Unless you mean Na Yung area, and still, that's a stretch.

3 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Someone has a good imagination ... Udon floods are not from the Mekong, just poor local water management.  

 

Unless you mean Na Yung area, and still, that's a stretch.

Speaking of poor water management - which is an ongoing thing in Thailand - do you think they learned anything from the 2011 devastating floods (and took any action based upon that)?

27 minutes ago, ronnie50 said:

Speaking of poor water management - which is an ongoing thing in Thailand - do you think they learned anything from the 2011 devastating floods (and took any action based upon that)?

There really isn't much to learn or do when the heavy rains come.  Especially when the Gulf is high.  City planning of days past & corruption created a failed system decades ago.  Too late now.

 

The sewer/storm drains back up with just a short 15+ minute heavy downpour in some area.  If along the coast in near streams, you're really screwed.  Locals just live with it.  It would drive crazy year after year, storm after storm.

 

When buying land, always made sure it sits high and away from streams or hillside.

5 hours ago, garygooner said:

The floods never reached downtown Bangkok in 2011. They got about as far as North Bangkok and then were diverted to the Chao Phraya. Petchburi Rd, Sukhumvit, Silom etc were not affected. 

It was a nightmare had to relocate from Pattaya to Bangkok because of my non-Thai girlfriend. Then in Bangkok, no decent drinking water anywhere bc of floods; ended up living off Evian. Not long after, she decided we had to move back to Pattaya. Happy days.

21 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

The sewer/storm drains back up with just a short 15+ minute heavy downpour in some area. 

Yeah, not much they can do maybe. They did replace some storm sewer pipes (dig up the smaller ones and repalce them with bigger ones). But only in a few certain areas. It helped a bit. But to replace them in all areas prone to flash floods from heavy rain would cost billions I think. There's still no sanitary sewage system either - and probably never will be. Meanwhile, at least, they are picking up the pace of burrying the phone/cable/fiberoptics in Bangkok. 

1 hour ago, falangUK said:

no decent drinking water anywhere bc of floods

 

We evacuated to Chon Buri. Even there, the entire drinks aisle at Tesco was empty of all bottled water for many weeks. Soft drinks like Coca-Cola disappeared for even longer as the bottler for Coca-Cola prioritized bottled water over soft drinks.

 

3 hours ago, ronnie50 said:

I remember they came just about puddle deep to Saphan Kwai and stopped there.

 

At one point, there was a temporary wooden staircase at Morchit BTS to access the regular steps leading to the platforms.

 

 

1 hour ago, KhunLA said:

The sewer/storm drains back up with just a short 15+ minute heavy downpour in some area. 

 

It was like that for years in my moo ban. Then they brought in truckloads of convicts who worked to clear the drainage inlets. Since then we've rarely had flash flooding.

 

5 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

2011 Don Mueang was flooded and closed for quite a while.

 

The people I felt sorry for were the ones who parked their cars at the airport multi-story car park so as to be out of reach of the floodwaters, only for someone at the airport to decide to move them out to the front due to parking.illegally. This resulted in their cars being submerged in the flood waters.

 

This remains the best photo from DMK imo..

 

 

 

11 hours ago, KhunLA said:

There really isn't much to learn or do when the heavy rains come. 

One has to say it.

I think this year the rain coincides with a Spring Tide that makes draining into the sea less effective.

 

It's the first year I follow the news about flooding in Thailand. I now realize to what extent Thailand is a water-beleaguered country. I hope it turns out less of a catastrophe than expected.

 

Still, better be in a flooding-prone country than in an seismic zone. Rising waters at least leave one time to get oneself to safety.

For up to the second news.

 

OK maybe not second

 

 

7 hours ago, Crossy said:

For up to the second news.

 

OK maybe not second

 

 

Yeah, the river is not rising there - because it's saturating the ground water nearby, as witnessed with the Sam Sen road collapse (now another part of that road might collapse in front of Boon Rawd Brewery - water leaking up onto the road from underneath).

On 9/17/2025 at 9:17 AM, ronnie50 said:

It's been nearly 14 years since many in Bangkok and surrounding areas needed to flee their homes/offices due to the Great Flood of 2011. Are we due for another one this year? It's only mid-September, but already Thai news reports this week warn that the Royal Irrigation Department is planning to open flood gates from certain dams as they reach their highwater marks. As September and October are usually the months with heaviest rain in Bangkok, and while this September has maintained that scenario, what's in store by end of October? Any bets (or anyone with real knowledge about what may be in store)?

Long term weather forecast is a bit like looking in a crystal ball; however, it's changed from El Niño to La Niña, where downpour is higher than normal – 5% to 10% accoring to experts – but weather can have huge differencies compared the longer average, called "climate". So, do expect more rain than the previous couple of el Nino-years, but there is no guarantie. 2011 was to my knowledge more like classified as a 100-years event.

 

My Cristebal says 50-50 chance of floods TIT

On 9/18/2025 at 7:21 PM, VR333 said:

t was like that for years in my moo ban. Then they brought in truckloads of convicts who worked to clear the drainage inlets. Since then we've rarely had flash flooding.

Should be OK this year with Mr T in charge!

I doubt that we will experience the problem with flooding like that of 2011.  Although we have a new PM in Anutin, I do not see the rush by all the bureaucrats, especially in the Royal Irrigation Department, running around and kowtowing to the new leadership.  (yes, there will be a lot of kowtowing, but hopefully it will be over by now).  We had such a big flood in many areas of the Bangkok Metropolitan Area, some of Bangkok it self, but the main areas of Bangkok were saved because the Bangkok governor refused to open river gates on the Chao Phraya river, which force the water to flood the khlongs that could not handle the volume and the levees burst allowing the water to flood the natural floodplain of the Chao Phraya river.  It is my firm belief that the flood could have been avoided had the RID been watching their business. 

18 minutes ago, AgMech Cowboy said:

We had such a big flood in many areas of the Bangkok Metropolitan Area, some of Bangkok it self, but the main areas of Bangkok were saved because the Bangkok governor refused to open river gates on the Chao Phraya river, which force the water to flood the khlongs that could not handle the volume and the levees burst allowing the water to flood the natural floodplain of the Chao Phraya river. 

Yes I remember that 'my sacred duty' I think were his words (to avoid flooding of central Bangkok). Poorer areas on the other side of the river though were not part of his sacred duty I guess, and were inundated with many flooded out of their homes (maybe as a result of that action). There is, coincidentally, a Netflix mini series right now on the impact of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans and how the poorer areas were left to flood and fend for themselves with no help for weeks.