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Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Thailand Flooding Part 2

The flooding in the central and northern parts of Thailand continue. Water levels are peaking as they approach Bangkok. While there has been some reference on the international news scene, the coverage here is more extensive obviously. A satellite image in the Nation newspaper today shows a very wide swath of blue that covers most of the central part of Thailand. Over 1/3 of the country is under water.
The Don Muang airport in Bangkok is the disaster coordination centre, a refugee shelter and the domestic air terminal for three airlines. Today all flights have been cancelled form there as water has begun to cover the runways and there are some reports of affecting buildings on the property.

My heart goes out to those affects and having lost everything, with no relief in sight, and to those 10 million residents of Bangkok, now beginning to feel the effects literally in their own homes. I cannot help but also feel sorry for the Prime Minister who in less than 2 months in office, is having to deal with this huge natural disaster.



In neighbouring Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, they are having the same problems. And this will only get worse long after the water has gone. Thailand is the major exporter of rice to most of south-east Asia, and the crops are hard hit. This country also produces many parts for electronics and automobiles, meaning submerged factories and no production, thus impacting other countries such as Japan and Korea.

The issue of water borne disease, resettlement, huge unemployment and loss of property will be a monumental task. I cannot resist the need to comment that her brother and his supporters should just shut up about his plight, and focus on the people. Or better yet, the media should just ignore him for a month or two. In my opinion at this time, there is nothing newsworthy about him. His time will come.

They have been having to deal with hoarding, causing supply shortages for drinking water and rice. People behind the sandbags, are seeing their water levels increase while the people on the other side of the sandbags are remaining dry. The government has now issued a no-go order for the areas of sandbagging as some people were attempting to  remove the bags, according to the media reports.

Locally efforts are underway to organize caravans of relief aid to go north to assist with everything from soap, to drinking water, to clothes. It is all needed. Tomorrow night the Rawai Dragon Boat group will have their usual quiz night at the Enigma Bar in Rawai, but the focus will be on the expat community bringing goods for flood relief to the event and members in conjunction with the Grumpy Old Men (GOMS) are organizing a convoy of personal vehicles to deliver the goods, once roadways are passable and waters have receded.

We have been fortunate to not have the flooding, although we have had the landslides. There are two main roadways crossing the island to get to the main tourist destination of Patong. Last weekend these were both impassable. One due to landslides that are collapsing the roadway and the second roadway closed due to a fatal collision involving a tour van. The other south access is through rawai, and while I was away, I am told that this area was a nightmare, as the route through rawai provided the only southern access point to get to Kata, Karon and Patong. There have already been large convoys of water and relief aid collected in the local communities and shipped north. A local media report says that there is no issue with supplies here, except for those requiring road transportation, with problems with roadways between Bangkok and Phuket being affected by flooding as well.

None of this has stopped the tourists from coming here, which is probably a mixed blessing. It puts more demand on basic items that are needed, if not here, then in the north, but it is also generating revenue.

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