Plenty of true grit in the city of sandbags
Guardian, October 27: Bangkok is a city of sandbags where instant noodles are like gold dust and bottled water like vintage wine. Amid the panic-induced bare shelves there is bewilderment in the air: what exactly is going to happen to Thailand’s capital?
All along downtown Asoke Road, locals have been fortifying their shopfronts, some opting to build little cement walls as a last line of defence against floodwater that is gushing into the city and disturbing people on the outskirts and near the mighty Chao Phraya river.
Bangkok’s 10 million residents have been expecting the worst for a while – waiting for 4bn cubic metres of rain water to start draining through the city from the north – but on Thursday many of the streets remained bone dry.
Advice from the authorities has ranged from “get out now!” to “don’t panic!” and some of the wealthier residents have already packed up to clog the roads and take impromptu vacations south, to beach resorts such as Hua Hin, while others remain behind, ready to face the elements.
“My family was too chilled about preparing for the flooding, which is probably a pretty bad thing,” said Aim Monobelle, 25, who is staying with friends while her family sticks it out in western Bangkok. “I would say most older people don’t want to leave their houses, thinking it’s not going be too bad. I am trying to convince them to move – anywhere but Bangkok – because it’s risky, but they are not listening to me.”
For people 50 miles north of Bangkok, in Ayutthaya province, there was little else to be done but watch as the roads turned into rivers and water inundated their homes. People now get around by long-tail boat or leaky creations fashioned out of old oil drums, tyre inner tubes or large tubs.
Some 2.5 million people have been affected by the flooding in Thailand, including 800,000 children, many of whom are lacking basic necessities such as nappies and food. Getting aid to those people has proved a challenge. Plan, a global child-rights organisation, travelled by truck, boat and fire engine on Saturday to deliver 900 relief kits to families in Bang Pa-in, Ayutthaya, but many more are still in need. Not everyone is fleeing. “I’m not going to desert the city in its time of need. I’m staying right here,” Richard Barrow, a Thailand-based blogger, proclaimed on Twitter.