Thailand Flood Slow-moving tsunami

Some residents defy warnings and stay to help evacuees

Despite the various evacuation warnings that Thailand floods are serious, Bangkok citizens are staying in the inundated areas and doing what they can to help those who need it.''

Outside, the usually traffic-thronged highway and numerous cars are under 5 feet of water, and thousands of other vehicles are parked on the ascending toll way above the floodwaters.

The Bangkok flooding has been described as a "slow-moving tsunami," evoking comparison to the 2004 disaster that hit southern Thai beach resorts.

Northern Bangkok suburbs such as Rangsit and Pathum Thani flooded almost two weeks ago, while an hour outside the capital, Ayutthaya, the famous site of spectacular old temple ruins, has been swamped for more than three weeks. Satellite images show the city to be an island surrounded by a mass of water to the north - home to rice-growing farmers and industrial plants hosting the likes of Honda and Toyota - with nowhere for the water to flow to the Gulf of Thailand but through the vast capital.
Information break down

Still, information about what might happen to the city has been rehashed and changed many times, with various officials and departments often contradicting each other and flip-flopping in their responses more than the horde of backpackers on the Khaosan Road.

Chutimas, the university student, says civilians are not helping the information problem. "People are spreading rumor all the time, by phone, and social network," she says. "I was checking my iPhone at Ari [a station on Bangkok's Skytrain] yesterday, and people were tweeting that it was flooded, that sewers had burst. But I was standing there, it was dry."

The recently-extended train line, which runs 20 feet above the Bangkok street level, and covers much of the inner city is likely to be a vital transport lifeline should floods spread.

While millions of Bangkokians await the slow-moving floodwaters, the inner city remains precariously dry. As the Monitor reported yesterday, overflow from the Chao Praya river ran into streets along the temple-dotted riverside. Thongthong Chandrangsu, a spokesman for the government's Flood Relief Operations Center said on Thursday that "the level of the water spreading through many parts of Bangkok was rising because there was more water flowing in than being drained out."

A network of canals runs through the city, and the combination of high tide and a mass of floodwaters coming from the north could see the canals overflow, putting the business and shopping downtown district of Bangkok at risk.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Thailand flooding
• thailand
• flooding
• disaster
• tsunami
• earthquake
• nuclear disaster
• radiation
• 2012

[mrbooyeah]

my heart is with the thai people in this terrible time , been to thailand the place and people are wonderful so our prays are with you at this time of need

[LyricsMaker4856]

My hometown:(

[MrCookiedough9]

does it pop up



[DiMoNico1981Swe]

Is this filmed 2011 ??? Have water not go back after 7 years ??

[KateTheAlphaWolfGirl]

Those poor people.......:(

[YawmZajlaug]

The time is not right to elect a woman as the leader and this was Budda punished for the wrong doing

[MackandBecka]

This is scary i hope it drys up soon .. O_O



[AlMayer1100]

Google for "Land Subsidence" then you know why this flood is the way it is.

[AlMayer1100]

The natural disaster is not the flood. It's the people. They extract water from the ground for a insanely growing population. This causes change in the volume of the soil. And this leads to a sinking of the entire city. Floods wont go a way quickly. This could also be the end for Bangkok in the long run. The Thai's has ruined the most valuable part of their industry.

[balachdr5]

God Bless Thailand , May you recover from the Calamity as soon as possible , Be Strong.

[devilprooftiger]

this is very interesting footage, please can u give us the 'date/day' it was filmed please, thanks

[dude3390]

@talesofys I know where the flooding is. I live here. I was wondering about if there are any recognizable landmarks in the video, and when they appear.