STOPPAGE TIME

Keeping nerves and conscience: My flood diary 2

Tulsathit Taptim

Saturday: The Flood Relief Operations Centre fled its Don Muang base in a rather disorderly manner, so how much heart should we take from the government's extremely cautious statement that it might not be "that bad" after all?

The thin slice of optimism was based on the belief that menacing tides could soon give us a couple of weeks' break at least. Are we grasping at straws here?

Whatever. By now, the general mood in my neighbourhood emulates a cornered dog's defiance. "Bring it on. Let's get this over with," people were saying at my regular coffee shop. Of course, they had siliconed all perceivable holes, re-arranged electrical wires, stocked up on noodles and parked their cars on expressways and overpasses. I had done what should reasonably be done to my home, meaning no blockade was higher than my knees. (You have to draw the line somewhere, for sanity's sake. We shouldn't put up a bunker that virtually proclaims, "Look at my height. If I'm breached, it will be all over for the human race.")

The warning that my district was under watch had come three days earlier. Within hours of that caution, the line of cars parked on my usual expressway route stretched to infinity. On the way home that day, I was torn between feeling mad and feeling like laughing. How did the authorities go from "Trust us. Don't run" to "You aren't running fast enough" in a matter of days?

Thank God for the English Premier League. Without it, the "abandoned donations" at the old Froc centre in Don Muang and the ensuing online political war would have had me committed.

Sunday: The line was getting more blurred between heroes and victims. But, I guess, to discard one's own plight to help others only elevates heroism. Many volunteers kept going despite their own homes being hit. A lot of soldiers pulling people to safety and feeding them hadn't returned to their flooded houses for days now. And they did all that without waiting for a TV camera.

To the thieves taking advantage of evacuated homes, may your boats capsize in crocodile-infested waters. To the police who could have done something, I know no curse will prevent you from reaching the highest ranks, but may bribes that you shall certainly receive be sprinkled with poisoned foods or fruits.

A confession to make here. The other day, I bought a pack of 1-litre bottled water at Bt24 more expensive than usual and felt more grateful than begrudged. The vendor, whom I know well, said she couldn't possibly sell at normal prices because the agents, delivery people, manufacturers, bottle-makers and so on were charging more. Profiteering, it seemed, at every step of the way.

Feeling more relaxed today. I had to keep reminding myself that, in horror movies, the psycho killers always strike when the victims, having checked windows and closets, feel exactly like I did.

Monday: Bt800 billion for future flood prevention? Give me half that and I'll build a giant artificial lake and send villagers whose land is reclaimed for the project laughing all the way to the bank. PM Yingluck was smart enough not to comment on the "New Thailand" scheme disclosed by Energy Minister Pichai Naripthaphan on Sunday. She isn't built to explain a spending plan worth nearly a trillion baht one day after it became news, period.

At the office, colleagues were focused on the Klong Sam Wa floodgate. Some would be affected if it was opened, and others wouldn't want it to stay closed. This disaster has really challenged everyone's conscience. I was very impressed by a young volunteer who told his interviewer that he did difficult soul searching before going out to help people. He wasn't quite sure if he really wanted to lend a hand or just wanted to look good.

All the controversial nametags attached to relief bags confirmed there are opportunists out there, or at least those who are doing good deeds for not-so-right reasons.

Tuesday: Our business co-editor returned to work in an admirable spirit although two cars were submerged at her inundated home in Taling Chan. "Most people don't know how tough it is to paddle a boat, especially those plastic ones," she said.

My close friend who lives in Sai Mai and is currently in exile in Chon Buri will move in with me tomorrow. He wanted to be where it was easier to pay his home a visit. This friend spent the past week practising xylophone with great fishermen's village's views in Bang Saleh but became worried sick about his flooded house. "I used to frown on people refusing to leave their homes even when up to the neck," he said. "I absolutely understand how they feel now."

He and she are among more than 2 million Thais who have been hit right between the eyes. The number, staggering and rising, is the best thing that can keep my conscience from getting totally muddied.

-- The Nation 2011-11-02

I'm sure that all the up-country folks who've been flooded for the past month feel Khun Tulsathit's pain :jerk:

You might tell your bus. Ed. to make sure the batteries are disconnected on the submerged cars. It can mean the difference between being able to salvage them and having to write them off.

Even use bolt cutters on both cables if she cannot release the battery clamps.