The flooding in Thailand started more than two months ago, and now is the time when it’s getting critical for Bangkok too. If you sightseeing in Bangkok in the following days, you should be aware that some areas might be flooded.
Talk with your hotel concierge or Bangkok tour guide about your plans for the day to avoid bad surprises.
Some parts of Bangkok that are almost surely going to be flooded are Min Buri, Nong Chok, Lat Krabang and Klong Sam Wa. If you are a tourist in Bangkok, chances are these aren’t relevant for you, as there are almost no tourist attractions here, and very, very few tourists go here.
And these are the districts in Bangkok that are at risk of flooding:
- Bang Sue,
- Dusit,
- Phra Nakhon,
- Samphan Thawong,
- Bang Kholaem,
- Yannawa,
- Klong Toei,
- Bang Plat,
- Bangkok Noi,
- Thon Buri,
- Klong San,
- Rat Burana and
- Thawee Wattana.
Heavy rains caused the water to be up to 40cm deep in the most intensely affected area in Bangkok (between Ratchada and Lat Phrao, an area that isn’t popular among tourists either). These are the most intense monsoon rains in Thailand since decades, and they have damaged 3 million acres (1.2 million hectares) of agricultural land in Thailand.
The reason why it is getting critical in the coming days is that large amounts of water from Northern ricefields and dams is being released and flowing down into the gulf of Thailand. There also is a high ocean-tide that is at it’s peak in mid-October and the tropical storm Nalgae – all of them together are putting parts of Bangkok at risk of flooding.