Bangkok Residents Along Chao Phya Brace For Flash Floods

[whybother]

At the time of writing this post its bright and sunny outside.

Please can anyone list all the roads/important sois which are expected to be flooded?

Sukhumvit road and all its major sois goes without mentioning I believe

Good thing we have BTS and we can all glide over the flood like riding Noah's Arch.

The flooding will occur because of rains up north and flood waters flowing through Bangkok, not because of rains in Bangkok.

And Noah had a boat (ark) not a bridge (arch).

[Just1Voice]

Any truth to the rumor that someone saw some old guy with long hair, long white beard, dressed in long robe with a staff leaving Victory monument leading animals 2 by 2???

[w11guy]

And, what's more: you won't be able anymore to read the news here on Thaivisa since everything will not be functioning anymore.

What a disaster! They should invest billions of dollars immediately and never mind that Thaivisa is hosted in Singapore.

i think LaoPo was refering to the internet connection needed to read TV, as this wouldnt work, ( when it rains the internet doesnt work, dread to think when its a flood )

My internet works fine when it rains. I don't see how rain can affect your internet connection.

[huma79]

How do they know it's exactly 1,273 households?

Isn't Thai reporting great. Always accurate to the nth degree.

Accuracy is highly overrated ! -- mere details -- sensationalism is far more important.

You will notice that the number of sandbags is reported as one million in the first article. It drops to 400, 00 in a later article, and then rises ( no doubt for effect) to 4 million in a later article. Four million sandbags is a very major mobilization of sandbags !

Or possibly they meant "4 sandbags, each filled with 1 million grains of sand."

[draggons]

We already have water in the house just north of Ayuttaya. River up about 15' from its normal level. 3 years ago we had nearly 3' of water in the house for a month!

As they did 3 years ago, the last big flood, they'll open all the barriers on the central plain and let it flood to protect Bangkok. All of this seasons rice crop will be wiped out again

[foxteen]

Flash floods only affect bad farangs...they usually feel like leaving symptoms..........

[Just1Voice]

I'm about 18k east of Chiang Mai. It's starting to get dark and very overcast here.

[Thaddeus]

And, what's more: you won't be able anymore to read the news here on Thaivisa since everything will not be functioning anymore.

What a disaster! They should invest billions of dollars immediately and never mind that Thaivisa is hosted in Singapore.

i think LaoPo was refering to the internet connection needed to read TV, as this wouldnt work, ( when it rains the internet doesnt work, dread to think when its a flood )

My internet works fine when it rains. I don't see how rain can affect your internet connection.

Your internet connection will be very badly affected if the building containing all the equipment needed to route it out of Thailand is in Bangkok and gets flooded.

No one in Thailand will have any internet, doesn't matter one jot that TV is hosted in Singapore.

[SAMCHAROEN]

At the time of writing this post its bright and sunny outside.

Please can anyone list all the roads/important sois which are expected to be flooded?

Sukhumvit road and all its major sois goes without mentioning I believe

Good thing we have BTS and we can all glide over the flood like riding Noah's Arch.

The flooding will occur because of rains up north and flood waters flowing through Bangkok, not because of rains in Bangkok.

And Noah had a boat (ark) not a bridge (arch).

My apologies for the spelling mistake and it was indeed an ark.

What I meant (as a joke) was that the BTS would be a metaphoric Noah's Ark.

[aidon]

Sorry folks I dont mean to gloat, but I warned of this event 6 months ago when the drought was in full force and La Nina was growing.

I am a boy scout and the motto is "be prepared" clearly my warning was not taken seriously here or when I posted a message to the meteorological society of Thailand. I was ignored and I did not get any replies.

This is not over, did you ever see a floating taxi on Sukhumvit? You will hang around. The next wave of rains are expected to bring 5 inches per hour you wont like this much but it is already in the making. It may not happen, but what the heck?

"be prepared"

Amazing prediction, check out http://www.tmd.go.th/en/ for both statistics and weather predictions. But then again: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/200460/scientists-warn-bangkok-may-be-submerged-in-a-decade

[webfact]

Thai floods worsen as toll reaches 12

BANGKOK, October 20, 2010 (AFP) - The worst flooding to hit parts of Thailand in decades has inundated about a quarter of the country, officials said Wednesday, as the death toll from fast rising waters climbed to 12.

Rescue teams helped evacuate stranded people by boat as homes and huge swathes of farmland have been deluged, while in Bangkok people living on the banks of the Chao Phraya River were braced for overflowing waters.

"The flooding in many provinces remains critical and the water has spread widely, leaving about one fourth of Thailand flooded," said interior minister Chavarat Charnvirakul.

Four people died in Buriram, in eastern Thailand, as waters gushed through the streets, while the death toll in severely affected Nakhon Ratchasima has risen to four, said an official from the Thai interior ministry.

The central provinces of Rayong and Trat have both reported one casualty, while a further two people were killed in Lopburi.

More residents in Nakhon Ratchasima, where 30 of 32 districts are already under water, were told to evacuate or move to higher ground after a local reservoir burst its banks, an official said.

"We told people to leave their homes if the building has only one floor but in two storey houses they can move up to an upper level," she said.

Chavarat said the government would double the emergency fund available to provinces for flood relief.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has said Nakhon Ratchasima is suffering its worst flooding in 40 to 50 years.

He estimated twice as much rain had fallen compared with last year in the mountainous province about 250 kilometres (155 miles) northeast of Bangkok.

Heavy rain and bad weather have battered countries in the region in recent weeks.

Flooding has killed dozens of people in Vietnam while in the Philippines Super Typhoon Megi left at least 14 people dead.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2010-10-20

[bulmercke]

We already have water in the house just north of Ayuttaya. River up about 15' from its normal level. 3 years ago we had nearly 3' of water in the house for a month!

As they did 3 years ago, the last big flood, they'll open all the barriers on the central plain and let it flood to protect Bangkok. All of this seasons rice crop will be wiped out again

That's correct. I remember them doing that. Were the farmers adequately compensated last time around? I doubt it.

Incidentally I noticed today that there has been no mention of this very extensive and serious flooding on CNN or BBC World. The only flooding mentioned was on CNN where they showed some footage of flooding in California but it appeared to be nothing like the flooding here.

[Tracechain]

Sorry folks I dont mean to gloat, but I warned of this event 6 months ago when the drought was in full force and La Nina was growing.

I am a boy scout and the motto is "be prepared" clearly my warning was not taken seriously here or when I posted a message to the meteorological society of Thailand. I was ignored and I did not get any replies.

This is not over, did you ever see a floating taxi on Sukhumvit? You will hang around. The next wave of rains are expected to bring 5 inches per hour you wont like this much but it is already in the making. It may not happen, but what the heck?

"be prepared"

Ah, Willard Scott would be proud to read these posts.....

[Just1Voice]

Ok, just got a call from my wife who is downtown Chiang Mai. Said it's raining very hard there. Right after that it started here where we live. Coming down heavy here as well.

[JetsetBkk]

There may be flooding, but I doubt it will be worse today than flooding that has been experienced in Bangkok in the past. I remember hearing stories of swimming on Sukhumwit!

<snip>

I don't know about "swimming", but a few years ago I was wading through the turds floating along Sukhumvit.

[JetsetBkk]

And, what's more: you won't be able anymore to read the news here on Thaivisa since everything will not be functioning anymore.

What a disaster! They should invest billions of dollars immediately and never mind that Thaivisa is hosted in Singapore.

i think LaoPo was refering to the internet connection needed to read TV, as this wouldnt work, ( when it rains the internet doesnt work, dread to think when its a flood )

No problem! The canny Thais string all the wires way above ground. Much more reliable than in the farang countries where they bury them underground and get wet.

[bubba]

There may be flooding, but I doubt it will be worse today than flooding that has been experienced in Bangkok in the past. I remember hearing stories of swimming on Sukhumwit!

<snip>

I don't know about "swimming", but a few years ago I was wading through the turds floating along Sukhumvit.

I had a "same same but different" experience in Sukhumvit this year. During the first real soaker of the year, I was driving near Soi 4 when the traffic was stopped and water was rising nearly to the bottom of my doors. There were hoards of cockroaches everywhere, swimming for their lives, having been flushed out of their dry season abodes.

[moskito]

Buy a boat now!

Check out our Marine section in Classifieds:

http://classifieds.thaivisa.com/marine/

says it all

[astral]

Why on earth are they calling this phenomenon a 'flash' flood. It sounds like areas along the river are subject to possible flooding, but there is nothing 'flash' about it.

Typical of the slack journalism of today.

A flash flood is where water accumulates suddenly due to heavy rain in the area,

or on high ground above.

Nothing "Flash" about the Chao Phya topping its banks.

[NanaFoods]

About a year and a half ago my niece, who was 12 at the time, was reading something, and then came and told me she was scared. I asked her why and she said that according to what she was reading, which was supposed to be a very old Buddhist text, that in the year 2053 that BKK would be "lost to the sea" and be completely gone. She didn't care about BKK, but was worried about what might happen in Chiang Mai if that did happen. I told her we'd be fine.

Pardon, but I'd have to side with your niece on that concern.

If BKK were "lost to the sea", it would indeed be a disaster for CM.

Where do you think many, if not most, of the surviving Bangkokians would move to?

[Just1Voice]

About a year and a half ago my niece, who was 12 at the time, was reading something, and then came and told me she was scared. I asked her why and she said that according to what she was reading, which was supposed to be a very old Buddhist text, that in the year 2053 that BKK would be "lost to the sea" and be completely gone. She didn't care about BKK, but was worried about what might happen in Chiang Mai if that did happen. I told her we'd be fine.

Pardon, but I'd have to side with your niece on that concern.

If BKK were "lost to the sea", it would indeed be a disaster for CM.

Where do you think many, if not most, of the surviving Bangkokians would move to?

If it happened suddenly, as described in the text my niece read, I doubt if there would be many survivors. The way she translated the text, is sounds sorta like the sinking of Atlantis. Quick, fast and in a hurry. Ok, mythological sinking of mythological Atlantis.

Edited October 20, 2010 by Just1Voice

[moskito]

About a year and a half ago my niece, who was 12 at the time, was reading something, and then came and told me she was scared. I asked her why and she said that according to what she was reading, which was supposed to be a very old Buddhist text, that in the year 2053 that BKK would be "lost to the sea" and be completely gone. She didn't care about BKK, but was worried about what might happen in Chiang Mai if that did happen. I told her we'd be fine.

Pardon, but I'd have to side with your niece on that concern.

If BKK were "lost to the sea", it would indeed be a disaster for CM.

Where do you think many, if not most, of the surviving Bangkokians would move to?

Hopefully not to Phuket, but if I see the ongoing building boom here day by day.......I wonder since years if they know something we dont

[Taro]

So, it's 5pm. The news banner on this site says "flood to reach Bangkok by 5pm." Has anything happened?

[Seanextra]

they are under water a cant reply?

Edited October 20, 2010 by Seanextra

[arco27]

There may be flooding, but I doubt it will be worse today than flooding that has been experienced in Bangkok in the past. I remember hearing stories of swimming on Sukhumwit!

I've always somehow avoided them (knock on wood), but I agree with LaoPo that it is a "when", not "if", scenario. Every year we talk about how they should expand the city sewer system, manage the khlongs better, and stop people from clogging up the sewers with their garbage and cooking refuse (all those street stalls pouring hot fat, etc down the sewers). Every year, nothing gets done.

I still think that Thailand would be smart to follow Malaysia, and create a new capital somewhere that won't sink and is on higher ground. At least infrastructure can be maintained where it will be needed to coordinate a response if everywhere else goes down.

I vote Pattaya for the new Capital of Thailand - yippee

with Putin as Prime Minister?

[LaoPo]

On top of all this, the influence of Typhoon MEGI, now over the South China Sea, coming from the Philippines and heading for China's main coast in the Hong Kong region, will be felt also.

Lots of more rain to come.

It's time Thailand should invest more and work harder on Water Management, otherwise the disaster will be immense and beyond everybodies imagination.

And, what's more: you won't be able anymore to read the news here on Thaivisa since everything will not be functioning anymore.

Total failure and collapse of the infrastructure.

The biggest threat -one day- is coming from a very serious flooding, like there is now, coming from the North and Central, in combination with an exceptional storm, blowing the water in the gulf of Thailand, pushing it to the Bangkok shores.

Both flows will meet in the Bangkok region and the disaster will be complete, forcing Thailand into the greatest misery of it's existence.

It's not a question IF, but WHEN !

LaoPo

LaoPo,

Can you be sure? What time do you think the water will hit Bangkok?

Is it wise to leave today? Do you think it is that serious? Any other views?

Don't worry; I wasn't talking in the present time but future; somewhere in the eighties (forgot which year) I was on business in BKK and walked at midnight up to my waist in floodwater, on the way to my hotel.

This kind of floods happened before.

My other scenario, above, will happen one day; the question is when.

LaoPo

[dekbahnnok]

There may be flooding, but I doubt it will be worse today than flooding that has been experienced in Bangkok in the past. I remember hearing stories of swimming on Sukhumwit!

I've always somehow avoided them (knock on wood), but I agree with LaoPo that it is a "when", not "if", scenario. Every year we talk about how they should expand the city sewer system, manage the khlongs better, and stop people from clogging up the sewers with their garbage and cooking refuse (all those street stalls pouring hot fat, etc down the sewers). Every year, nothing gets done.

I still think that Thailand would be smart to follow Malaysia, and create a new capital somewhere that won't sink and is on higher ground. At least infrastructure can be maintained where it will be needed to coordinate a response if everywhere else goes down.

May 86.....there was a guy wind surfing on Sukumvit near the Ambassador Hotel....the water was waist deep....

[FarangBuddha]

The central provinces of Rayong and Trat have both reported one casualty...

When did Rayong and Trat pick-up and move to "central" Thailand...so as I live in Chonburi province, do I now live in northern Thailand

But at least all's well and dry here in Patters...been no rain for several days now. You all come here to flee the floods and spend lots of bahts please.

[sjjmmi]

WLL Wan :jap:

they are under water a cant reply?

[Pib]

Why on earth are they calling this phenomenon a 'flash' flood. It sounds like areas along the river are subject to possible flooding, but there is nothing 'flash' about it.

More like flash/late warning.