Author: Newley

Here’s the latest as of 10:30 p.m. Bangkok time today, Fri., October 28, 2011:

Summary

• Flooding today hit downtown Bangkok’s Grand Palace and, briefly, the outer reaches of Sukhumvit Rd.’s Pra Khanong area.
• It is still unclear, however, whether more of central Bangkok will be affected.

New maps

The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) has some new, highly detailed satellite images of the areas north of Bangkok.

You can find the files online here. (Note: The files are large.)

Below is a screen capture of part of one map:

News reports

The AP reports:

Saffron-robed monks and soldiers piled sandbags outside Bangkok’s most treasured temples and palaces Friday as Thailand’s worst floods in decades sent ankle-high water rushing briefly into some of the capital’s main tourist districts.

High tides expected to peak on Saturday will be one of the biggest tests yet of Bangkok’s anti-flood defenses. For days, the city’s main Chao Phraya river has spilled its banks, forcing water into riverside streets from Chinatown to the white-walled royal Grand Palace and the neighboring Temple of the Emerald Buddha.

And:

New flooding was reported Friday in the city’s southeast when a canal overflowed in a neighborhood on the outer parts of Sukhumvit Road. And high tides briefly touched riverside areas closer to the city’s central business districts of Silom and Sathorn.

The NYT says:

The main river in Thailand’s capital swelled to a record high on Friday, spilling over its banks and sending water rippling into the grounds of the Grand Palace, with its temples and gilded spires, the city’s primary historical monument.

The amount of water entering the palace grounds was small, but the breach was symbolically significant as Bangkok enters a crucial period when high tides to the south are pushing back at runoff from the north that has breached the city’s outer defenses and is now flooding some outlying districts.

Bloomberg has this:

Bangkok’s Chao Phraya river swelled to a record high, swamping nearby tourist spots including the Grand Palace as Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra called for fresh ideas to stem the country’s worst floods since 1942.

And:

The government is considering cutting channels through five major Bangkok roads to drain floodwaters seeping into northern parts of the capital as a high tide threatens riverside communities. The roads, in the city’s east, are blocking water from reaching canals that drain into the Gulf of Thailand, Transport Minister Sukumpol Suwannatat said.

The WSJ‘s Southeast Asia Real Time reports:

Bangkok residents are continuing to grapple with shortages of water, bread and other basic necessities – and it might not get better anytime soon.

Retailers like 7-11, Tesco and Big C all rely on giant distribution centers to warehouse their goods, and many of them happen to be located in the heart of the flood zone, just north of Bangkok’s city limits.

The NBC News’s World Blog has a post about the mood here in Bangkok:

Bangkok on Thursday is rather like a slow motion disaster movie. But the bickering cast can’t quite agree on how its going to end. They keep putting up the end titles, only to follow with another, grimmer, scene.

There’s no continuity. If I were in a cinema, I’d walk right out.

Reuters has this story:

Traffic clogged roads out of the Thai capital on Friday as tens of thousands of people fled ahead of a high tide expected to worsen floods that have inundated factories and prompted foreign governments to warn their citizens to stay away.

Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River is expected to burst its banks over the weekend during the unusually high tide that begins on Friday, causing some flooding in nearby areas. Buildings across Bangkok have been sand-bagged for protection, and some vulnerable streets were nearly deserted.

Travel advice

Once again, I can’t answer emails and tweets asking for travel tips since things change quickly and no one can predict precisely what will happen in the days ahead.

However, I suggest travelers check out this CNNGo go piece with info for tourists.

The standard reminders:

• You can find past posts by clicking the Thailand flooding tag.
• You can follow me on Twitter for more: @Newley.
• You can connect with my Facebook page.
• And you can sign up for RSS updates, or join my email list.

Stay tuned for more.

Here’s the latest as of 9 p.m. Bangkok time today, Thurs. October 27, 2011:

Summary

• More and more people are evacuating Bangkok, with areas outside the city severely affected.
• However, it is still unclear if, when, or to what extent central Bangkok will be hit.
• Some reports say Bangkok officials have said the worst may be yet to come.

New maps

Thailand’s Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) has this satellite image of water surrounding Bangkok.

The map is in Thai, and appears to be from Oct. 23. It paints a pretty clear picture of how much water has yet to be drained:

The original image is online here (warning: it’s a very large file).

More info and maps are available — in Thai — on the GISTDA site here.

Here’s another telling image from NASA’s Earth Observatory site.

The first image shows Bangkok two days ago, on Oct. 25th.

The second image shows what I take to be normal conditions:

More images are available online here.

News reports

The AP says:

Clamoring aboard bamboo rafts and army trucks, residents living on the heavily inundated outskirts of Bangkok fled waterlogged homes Thursday as floodwaters inched closer to the heart of the threatened Thai capital and foreign governments urged their citizens to avoid all but essential travel.

Bloomberg reports:

Matthew Lobner, head of Thai operations for HSBC Holdings Plc, lugged his furniture upstairs and moved his wife and three children near his office in downtown Bangkok to escape floodwaters on the city’s outskirts.

Lobner, drawing on his eight years as a naval submarine officer, stored enough food and water to last a month, along with a Nintendo Wii to keep his kids entertained. Europe’s biggest bank is giving all local employees the option of moving their families from areas threatened by flooding, he said.

Another Bloomberg story says:

Thailand’s government said it is losing the battle to protect Bangkok from rising floodwaters, and plans to open evacuation centers in eight provinces as the deluge forces more residents to give up their homes.

“The flooding is beyond our control now,” said Pracha Promnog, who heads the government’s flood relief operations. “The main wave of water hasn’t arrived in Bangkok yet.”

The WSJ’s Southeast Asia Real Time reports:

The lions, tigers, camels and giraffes can stay. The deer and chamois, though, must go.

That’s the word for now at the Dusit Zoo, a landmark in Bangkok’s leafy Dusit district, which is among the many parts of the city that have gone partly underwater amid Thailand’s worst floods in decades.

(All emphasis mine.)

The standard reminders:

• You can find past posts by clicking the Thailand flooding tag.
• You can follow me on Twitter for more: @Newley.
• You can connect with my Facebook page.
• And you can sign up for RSS updates, or join my email list.

Stay tuned for more.

Here’s the latest as of 8 p.m. Bangkok time today, Wed. October 26, 2011:

Summary

• Bangkok’s governor said today that all of Bangkok could be hit by flooding. According to an official news agency, he said a large amount of water could arrive tonight (Wed. night).

  The governor reportedly said areas along the Chao Phraya river and in Bangkok’s north and east are especially vulnerable. (See MCOT story below.)

• Bangkok residents are increasingly leaving the city and building their own flood defenses. (See AP story below.)

New map

Today’s Bangkok Post has an English language version of the “worst case scenario” flooding map I mentioned yesterday:

Here’s a slightly bigger version.

News reports

The official MCOT reports:

Bangkok governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra on Wednesday warned city dwellers in all 50 districts to brace for flooding as a significant portion of the backed up floodwater from the North is arriving the capital tonight.

The governor made the announcement as he inspected the water level in Chao Phraya River, which he said is likely to be at 2.40 metres above mean sea level.

Mr Sukhumbhand alerted the public that floodwater from the North is also arriving Bangkok Wednesday night, bringing the situation to a critical point.

The governor said he has instructed all 50 districts to be prepared for flooding and expressed concern for 13 specially at-risk areas along the Chao Phraya River, as well as districts in northern and eastern Bangkok, including Lad Krabang, Nong Chok, Min Buri, Khlong Sam Wa, Khan Na Yao, Bang Khen, Sai Mai, Don Mueang, Chatuchak, and Bang Sue.

The AP has this story:

Bangkok residents jammed bus stations and highways on Wednesday to flee the flood-threatened Thai capital, while others built cement walls to protect their shops or homes from advancing waters surging from the country’s flooded north.

The NYT reported yesterday:

Bangkok’s flood defenses continued to fall on Wednesday as floodwaters pressed farther into the city after forcing the closing of the domestic airport. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra warned that there could be as much as five feet of flooding in some areas.

The NYT has this today:

Hundreds of inmates were evacuated from prisons around Bangkok on Wednesday, and residents stocked up on food or made plans to leave the city as officials warned of severe flooding throughout much of the capital in the coming days.

Reuters reports:

Floodwater swamped a new area of Thailand’s capital on Wednesday as some shops started rationing food and the prime minister warned that parts of Bangkok could be flooded for up to a month.

Residents of Bang Phlad, a riverside district some way from Bangkok’s three swamped northern districts, were told to urgently evacuate as floods hit the capital on a second front, deepening anxiety in the city of at least 12 million people, many of whom were expected to flee ahead of a special five-day holiday.

The WSJ‘s Southeast Asia Real Time says:

>Water-delivery companies have suspended operations because their filtration plants north of Bangkok have been swamped, while retailers posted notes apologizing for the lack of water on supermarket shelves. Other key supplies that are running low include rice, noodles, diapers, powdered milk and cat food.

(All emphasis mine.)

Travel advice

Finally, a word about travel advice. Many folks have written to me to ask whether they should travel to Thailand now or in days ahead.

I am unable to offer advice since things are changing quickly on the ground and no one can predict precisely what will happen next.

However, I would suggest checking out this post at the travel site TravelFish.org. It lists the current status of transportation systems in Thailand and suggests various travel options.

The standard reminders:

• You can find past posts by clicking the Thailand flooding tag.
• You can follow me on Twitter for more: @Newley.
• You can connect with my Facebook page.
• And you can sign up for RSS updates, or join my email list.

Stay tuned for more.

Here’s the latest on the flooding here in Bangkok as of 3:30 p.m. today, October 25, 2011:

Summary

• The domestic airport, Don Muang, has now been hit by flooding, affecting commercial flights. Suvarnabhumi, the international airport, is fine. (See AP story below.)
• The government has declared Oct. 27-31 as a holiday to allow people to cope with floods. (See Reuters story below.)
• A Thai-language “worst case scenario” Bangkok flooding map appeared last night in the Bangkok Post and has been doing the rounds online.

  It seems to indicate that if all flooding defenses fail, floodwaters could reach 20-100 cm (7-49 inches) for parts of of central Bangkok. (See third map below, along with my caveat.)

New maps

Today’s Bangkok Post has a new map today of Bangkok’s affected areas:

The BBC has a map, below, showing affected areas, the predicted flow of water, and flood defenses:

And the map below has been doing the rounds online. It comes from a Bangkok Post item from last night quoting “Dr Seri Suprathit, a water expert who tours affected flood areas every day…”

The Post reports: “In a live TPBS telecast, Dr Seri projected that if all the government’s flood defence walls including those protecting inner Bangkok were breached, Bangkok will surely be innundated as high as chest deep in some areas.”

Here’s a larger version.

Regarding the colors on the map, the Post says: “Yellow 10-20 cm; Brown 21-50 cm; Blue 51-100 cm; Green 1-2 metres.”

If my estimation is right, this could mean floodwaters reaching 20-100 cm (7-49 inches) for parts of central Bangkok.

Caveat: This is, of course, just one expert’s opinion. I would like to see other authorities weigh in on this prediction, as well.

And finally, CNN had a report about Thailand flooding earlier today that featured a satellite image of floodwaters and Bangkok. Here’s a cell phone pic:

News reports

The AP has more info on the flooding at Don Muang airport:

Thailand’s flood crisis deepened Tuesday after floodwaters breached barriers protecting Bangkok’s second airport, effectively forcing a halt to commercial flights there after airlines using it suspended operations.

It was not immediately clear how much water had entered Don Muang airport. But the news was sure to further erode the credibility of a government that has repeatedly sent mixed signals about its ability to defend the heart of an increasingly anxious capital from the worst floods to hit Thailand in nearly 60 years.

Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, the country’s main international gateway, has yet to be affected by flooding and flights there were operating normally. Most of the city has been spared inundation so far.

Reuters says:

Thailand announced a five-day holiday on Tuesday to give people to the chance to escape floods closing in on Bangkok as authorities ordered the immediate evacuation of a housing estate on the outskirts of the city after a protection wall gave way.

The cabinet declared Oct. 27-31 a holiday in Bangkok and 20 other provinces affected by the country’s worst flooding in 50 years as high tides in the Gulf of Thailand this weekend could complicate efforts to divert water away from the low-lying capital.

The WSJ reports on the economic impact:

Bangkok’s city leaders warned that a widening swath of the Thai capital is now under threat from fast-rising flood waters, while the economic impact of the crisis continued to ripple outward after Toyota Motor Co. said it would adjust production at some of its Japan plants because of the shortage of Thai-made parts.

And finally, the AP has a look at urbanization and Bangkok’s watery past — and present — that helps put the recent events in perspective. It starts:

As millions of urbanites living a modern lifestyle fear that torrents of floodwater will rage through Thailand’s capital, some in enclaves of a bygone era watch the rising waters with hardly a worry — they live in old-fashioned houses perched on stilts with boats rather than cars parked outside.

(All emphasis mine.)

The standard reminders:

• You can find past posts by clicking the Thailand flooding tag.
• You can follow me on Twitter for more: @Newley.
• You can connect with my Facebook page.
• And you can sign up for RSS updates, or join my email list.

Stay tuned for more.

Here’s an update as of 8 p.m. Bangkok time today, Mon. October 24, 2011:

Summary

• Last night the Bangkok governor announced that a new area of Bangkok’s north is now under threat. This includes Don Mueang airport, the area near Chatuchak Weekend Market, and more. (See news stories below.)
• Bloomberg reports that two nights ago, armed men prevented workers from constructing flood defenses in an area north of Bangkok. (More info below.)

New photo

Workers at businesses throughout the city — even in central Bangkok, which is not now thought to be at risk — continue to erect barriers to prevent potential floods.

Here’s a cell phone pic I snapped today of a sand band fortification outside a shopping center in the downtown Silom area:

New maps

Here are a couple of new maps I’ve come across.

This English language map shows the levels of elevation throughout Bangkok. It also shows flood barriers and canals:

(Map via @bkkbase and available as a larger image online here.)

The map above may be based on this Thai-language map:

A bigger version is online here.

News reports

The Bangkok Post has a brief item on the areas of northern Bangkok that are now at risk:

Bangkok Metropolitan Administration late Sunday night issued a warning for people in six districts to prepare for flooding as the huge flow of foodwater from the North continues its creep into the capital.

The six districts are Don Mueang, Lasksi, Bang Khen, Chatuchak, Bang Sue and Sai Mai.

The AP has details on the Bangkok governor’s announcement last night:

Bangkok Gov. Sukhumbhand Paribatra warned residents in a televised address late Sunday that a large volume of water was surging forward faster than expected and was threatening six districts as it moved closer to the city’s more developed areas, including the section near Chatuchuk weekend market, a popular shopping stop for tourists.

Sukhumbhand also said the waters were expected to swamp the Don Muang area just north of the city proper. The area is home to Bangkok’s old airport, which is now being used as headquarters for the anti-flood effort and a shelter for evacuees.

Bloomberg says:

Thai floodwaters spilled into northern Bangkok today after armed men stopped workers from building a sandbag levee and a water gate broke, elevating concerns the deluge will spread to inner parts of the capital.

And:

Two nights ago, “a few men with weapons” from areas north of the city where floodwaters are as high as three meters (10 feet) confronted Bangkok officials building a sandbag levee at a low-lying junction, spokesman Jate Sopitpongstorn said by phone today. The men destroyed the barrier, he said, allowing the water to flow from Pathum Thani province into Bangkok.

The WSJ has a story that touches on preventing floods in the future:

With Thailand’s leaders warning businesses and residents to expect massive floods to persist for at least another month, attention here now is turning to how this major global production hub can avert future crises—and whether it can revive the wetlands and forests that used to soak up past floods but which have now been given over to sprawling industrial estates and housing projects.

There’s also a good slideshow of flooding images.

(All emphasis mine.)

The standard reminders:

• You can find past posts by clicking the Thailand flooding tag.
• You can follow me on Twitter for more: @Newley.
• You can connect with my Facebook page.
• And you can sign up for RSS updates, or join my email list.

Stay tuned for more.

Here’s a quick update as of 11 p.m. Bangkok time today, October 23, 2011:

Summary

• Yesterday the government said the floods could last six weeks, but today said things could improve by early next month. (See AP story below.)
• One news item reports that PM Yingluck says inner Bangkok is, indeed, at risk — and there are now questions about San Saeb canal, which runs through inner Bangkok, near Sukhumvit Rd. (See Bloomberg story below.)

See below for more on both of these items.

New photo

As many news reported have mentioned, some grocery stores in Bangkok have sold out of items like water, canned goods, instant noodles, etc.

Here’s a cell phone pic I snapped this afternoon at a shop in Silom. I think this aisle used to be stocked with baby food and diapers.

New map

Today’s Bangkok Post has a helpful map showing the parts of Bangkok that have been affected so far:

News reports

The AP reports:

The threat that floodwaters will inundate Thailand’s capital could ease by early November as record-high levels in the river carrying torrents of water downstream from the country’s north begin to decline, authorities said Sunday.

Bangkok’s immediate prospects remain uncertain, however, as the front lines in battling the flood draw tighter around the city daily.

The relatively rosy longer term projection from the Flood Relief Operations Center came just a day after reports that Bangkok’s main Chao Phraya river was overflowing its banks and at its highest levels in seven years.

Read the whole thing for some evocative stories about how folks are coping with the floods.

And Bloomberg says:

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said Thailand’s worst flooding in 50 years may reach inner Bangkok, as a deluge from the north drains through the capital and threatens to overrun canals in the city center.

“Bangkokians will have some impact as water will flow through canals,” she told reporters today. “It is still unclear how long Bangkok people will be affected as there are many uncontrollable factors.”

Floodwaters throughout the capital may reach more than one meter (3.3 feet), she said in response to questions from reporters today. Yingluck expressed concern about water levels in Saen Saeb canal, which runs close to shopping centers such as Central World and Sukhumvit Road. The nation’s heaviest flooding in a half century has killed more than 300 people.

(All emphasis mine.)

Saen Saeb canal is used mainly for transportation and runs roughly east to west through Bangkok, next to the Jim Thompson House, the Central World shopping complex, and more.

More info on Saen Saeb can be found on its Wikipedia page.

Stay tuned for more.

The standard reminders: You can find past posts by clicking the Thailand flooding tag.

And you can follow me on Twitter for more: @Newley.

Just a quick update as of 3 p.m. Bangkok time today, October 22, 2011:

New map

Some of yesterday’s news coverage focused on flooding caused by overflows from Prapa canal, in Bangkok’s north.

I wasn’t able to find many maps of the canal online yesterday, so I wanted to share this map, below, from today’s Bangkok Post:

The map shows, in red, the problem areas along the canal. This is the part of northern Bangkok and Nothaburi near Don Muang airport.

News reports

The WSJ has a look at the risks caused by urbanization:

Floodwaters started seeping into Bangkok Friday, as Thailand’s deepening flood crisis cast fresh light on the way rapid urbanization has increased risks for some of the developing world’s biggest cities, making them more vulnerable to natural disasters.

And:

But a rising chorus of experts says man-made factors have greatly exacerbated the problems—especially the growing concentration of people in vulnerable areas as Southeast Asia urbanizes.

In the middle of the last century, before Thailand became one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, fewer than a million people lived in Bangkok and less than 10% of the country was urbanized. Today, an estimated 12 million people live in the Bangkok metropolitan area, and more than a third of the country’s population lives in cities.

The NYT says:

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said Friday that she would take direct command of flood control in Thailand as Bangkok took the risky step of opening its floodgates and as criticism of the government mounted after days of disorganization and conflicting messages.

And:

“The real loss of the flooding is the loss of complete credibility of the Thai state in managing the kind of disaster that has occurred,” said Ammar Siamwalla, a prominent economist in Thailand who specializes in development issues.

“You must remember that this is a disaster in slow motion,” he said. “It has been accumulating, little by little, until it reaches Bangkok. It demonstrates a complete lack of infrastructure to handle the floods.”

(All emphasis mine.)

Reminder: You can read previous posts by clicking the Thailand flooding tag.

As ever, you can follow me on Twitter: @Newley.

Here’s the latest as of 9:30 p.m. Bangkok time today, October 21, 2011:

Summary

• Flooding continues to affect northern Bangkok.
• Central Bangkok is still under threat.

The situation on lower Sukhumvit

A week ago I posted a photo of sand bags on lower Sukhumvit.

Just an hour or so ago, at the same location near Sukhumvit Soi 14 and the Asoke BTS station, I spotted workers erecting a wall to prevent potential flooding from hitting a tailor’s shop.

Here’s a cell phone pic, looking in the opposite direction as the earlier image:

Note that this was only construction of flood walls I saw in the immediate area, so I don’t mean to suggest that this is a widespread practice in the lower Sukhumvit zone.

New maps

Here are two new maps I’ve come across:

Here’s an embedded map, below, showing photos of the flooding (click the icons for images):

ดู Thailand Flood photo 2011 ในแผนที่ขนาดใหญ่กว่า

And here’s a a map with videos of the flooding. Again, click the icons:

ดู Thailand Flood Map Video September – October 2011 ในแผนที่ขนาดใหญ่กว่า

Don’t forget that a collection of previous maps can be found by checking the Thailand flooding tag.

And here are the maps from my previous post.

News reports

The AP says today that:

Thailand’s prime minister urged Bangkok residents to get ready to move their belongings to higher ground Friday as the country’s worst floods in half a century began seeping into the capital’s outer districts.

The government has opened several key floodgates in a risky move to let built-up water flow through the canals toward the sea, and it’s not known how much the canals will overflow.

An Associated Press team Friday saw water entering homes in Bangkok’s northern Lak Si district, along the capital’s main Prapa canal. The water rose to knee-level in some places but damage so far was minor and not affecting Bangkok’s main business district.

The WSJ‘s Southeast Asia Real Time reports:

Thailand’s capital city woke up Thursday to an uncertain few days in which Bangkok’s anti-flood defenses will be given their toughest test yet.

Local newspapers spelled out the government’s latest plans for diverting the floodwaters away from the heart of the Thai economy, warning that some of the city’s eastern suburbs will be sacrificed to protect the inner core. Bangkok accounts for over 40% of Thailand’s economic output, and the spectacle of a widespread inundation there could also badly damage the country’s substantial tourism industry for months or even years to come.

And there are these sobering figures:

National leaders hope to drain some of the flood waters through some of the city’s canals. The Bangkok Post newspaper reported that more than 8 billion cubic meters of flood waters are flowing from the northern and central Thailand towards Bangkok, but the Chao Phraya River that flows through the center of the city can only divert around 200 million cubic meters a day. Diverting water through the city’s canals would help ease the burden on Chao Phraya.

Reuters has a rundown of the flooding numbers:

– 27 of Thailand’s 77 provinces are affected

– 4 million acres (1.6 million hectares) of land is flooded, an area roughly the size of Kuwait or Swaziland, or twice the size of Puerto Rico

– 342 people have been killed as a result of the floods

– 2.4 million people have been affected

Bloomberg has the latest on the business implications:

Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) are facing the worst supply disruptions since the March earthquake that crippled Japan, leading investors to scramble assessing the financial toll of the floods in Thailand.

An FT beyondbrics blog post says:

As central Bangkok residents brace for possible floods and many factories north of the Thai capital remain under two metres of water, investors are starting to ask whether the worst floods in 50 years will damage the country’s prospects as a major global manufacturing base.

AFP reports on the tourism angle:

Since deadly monsoon rains began three months ago, images of inundated Thai homes and frightened residents wading through water have appeared worldwide and dented the allure of the “Land of Smiles”, typically associated with sunshine.

Many would-be tourists are now putting off their visits to the kingdom, according to industry groups, in another major blow little more than a year after the capital was rocked by two months of deadly political unrest.

The Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) reported new bookings have fallen by up to 70 percent compared to usual levels for the month, while Tourism Authority of Thailand deputy chief Sansern Ngaorungsi said cancellation rates had reached about 25 percent.

And finally, the Bangkok Post reports that:

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Friday assumed powers under the natural disaster law giving her full authority to implement a nationwide disaster relief plan.

(All emphasis mine.)

Stay tuned.

As ever, you can follow me on Twitter: @Newley.

Here’s the latest as of 4 p.m. Bangkok time today, October 20, 2011:

Summary

• Officials are now saying parts of inner Bangkok are under threat — while it had seemed a few days ago that the worst had passed.
• Prime Minster Yingluck seems increasingly to be coming under pressure as critics question the government’s methods in dealing with the floodwaters.

New maps

The BBC has this basic map today that shows which parts of Bangkok are most at risk:

The Bangkok Post today has this map and an accompanying story:

Meanwhile, this one, labeled Thailand Flood Monitoring System, provides additional information. Most of the site is in Thai, but the map is in English. Below is a screen capture:

The map is online here.

(Via @elgrodo.)

Here’s another map that seems to provide a visual representation of the parts of central Thailand and greater Bangkok that have been hit. Here’s a screen cap:

The map is online here.

(Via @seacorro)

News reports

The BBC has a good TV piece on how people are coping in hard-hit Ayutthaya. You can watch it online here.

Bloomberg reports mid-day today that:

Thailand’s government warned that floodwaters may reach parts of inner Bangkok, sending stocks and the baht lower as the government struggles to control a deluge that has inundated thousands of factories.

And there are these additional details:

The government earlier today warned residents living near Prapa canal, which runs from northern Bangkok to an area of the city near Victory Monument along an elevated train line, to be vigilant against floodwaters.

“If we can’t pump water out on time, there is a chance Bangkok may be swamped,” Pracha Promnog, head of the national flood center, said in a phone interview with Channel 3 today.

The AP reports:

Thailand’s new premier acknowledged the country’s flood crisis has overwhelmed her government, pleading for mercy from the media and solidarity from the country in battling the relentless waters.

In an emotional appearance before reporters Wednesday, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said her administration is doing all it can and trying to be as clear as possible about where the flooding may strike next.

The WSJ says:

Thailand’s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra pleaded Wednesday for the country’s warring political factions to unite to combat a worsening flood crisis that now threatens to engulf parts of the capital.

Reuters says:

The threat of serious flooding in Bangkok is growing because of the volume of water running down from the centre of Thailand, and one inner city area was under threat on Thursday after floodwater breached a waterworks canal, officials said.

Pracha Promnok, justice minister and head of the government’s flood crisis centre, told Channel 3 television that city officials had been pumping water out overnight in the Samsen and Makkasan areas, which are just north of the royal palace and other sites visited by tourists.

(All emphasis mine.)

As a reminder, previous posts can be found by clicking on the Thailand flooding tag.

Stay tuned.

As ever, you can find me on Twitter: @Newley.

Here’s an update as of 11:30 a.m. today, October 19, 2011:

Tips for Tourists

I have received several emails from folks asking whether it’s still a good idea to visit to Thailand.

Obviously, I would not recommend tourists travel to central Thailand — and cities like Ayutthaya — since it’s been hard hit by flooding.

But as I’ve written here in my various Thailand flooding posts of late, central Bangkok has largely not been affected.

Other parts of the city, especially the north, have been hit by floods and are still at risk.

For other parts of Thailand, like the beaches in the south or Chiang Mai in the north, I suggest checking with the hotel or resort at which you’ll be staying. These areas have not been hit hard, but it can’t hurt to check and/or double check conditions on the ground.

So far, Bangkok’s international airport, Suvarnabhumi, has not been affected. But continue monitoring the news in case that changes.

I also suggest consulting official sources like the government’s Public Relations Department. Here is their announcement today.

And here’s is today’s statement from the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

And as always, other sources for updates include:

• Bangkok-based blogger Richard Barrow, who has been Tweeting frequent updates and posting info on his site, Thai Travel News.
• You can search Twitter using the #ThaiFloodEng hashtag for English language updates.
• I’ve previously pointed out my Bangkok journalists Twitter list. I also maintain a general Thailand list.
• You can also check out local media like The Bangkok Post, The Nation, and the official MCOT.

New Map

Today’s Nation has this map of Bangkok:

News Reports

Bloomberg reports today:

Thousands of volunteers bolstered floodwalls in Bangkok, boosting confidence among officials tasked with protecting Thailand’s capital from a surge of water that has shut factories and disrupted supply chains across Asia.

And the AP says:

Thai authorities were staging a fighting retreat Wednesday against flood waters that threaten Bangkok, after the country’s oldest factory park was completely inundated and a nearby one faced imminent threat.

Meanwhile, the WSJ has a story on Prime Minister Yingluck, the floods, and what one analyst calls a “leadership crisis”:

BANGKOK—Recriminations over the handling of Thailand’s worst floods in half a century are causing fresh setbacks for Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra as the financial cost of the disaster continues to mount and her government firmed up plans to inject billions of dollars to shore up the country’s faltering economy.

Ms. Yingluck’s biggest problem, analysts say, is the haphazard way information about the flood has been released, summed up by the science minister’s hasty call last week for evacuating part of the capital.

As ever, stay tuned.