Bangkok's Old-Timers Recall Even Worse Deluges

BANGKOK—Floodwaters inundate the city. Businesses shut down and water-borne diseases spread. Families turn to boats rather than cars to get around.

This isn't the latest update from Bangkok's current flood scare—it's from 1983, one of the many times that floodwaters have ravaged the Thai capital. Floods were so bad that year that 400 schools closed from October to early December and some areas didn't dry out until after the New Year.

It isn't yet known how long the latest deluges will last, or what the total cost will be, as Thailand grapples with its worst flooding in years. A series of dykes and makeshift barricades designed to protect Bangkok from the full brunt of the floods appeared to be holding over the weekend, but experts warned the city isn't out of danger yet.

However bad the latest foods get, though, many Bangkok old-timers say they've seen even worse. The latest hysteria over the floods, they contend, is more a reflection of the changing nature of Thai society than a measure of the size or force of the floods themselves.

Continued: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203707504577007511539321108.html

I read somewhere that this years floods in Chiang Mai were supposed to be the worst in decades, but I remmber much worse ones not all that long ago.

Of course...

And next time will also be called the worst...

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