Nov 08 2011
Bangkok floods update: November 8, 2011
Hotel deals of the day for Thailand -- check rates with Agoda
It seems unlikely that many parts of Central Bangkok are going to escape some sort of flooding in the next 10 days.
View north from Bang Sue canal on Vipihadi Road.
Chatuchak market was open last weekend, but more than half of the vendors didn’t open their stalls and shoppers were not at their normal levels. While inside was dry thanks to a sandbag barrier, outside the market 10-30 cm of flood water swirled around. The water has only gotten deeper in the early part of the week — one can assume that next weekend will be no better, if the market is open at all.
Outside of Chatuchak, most popular tourist destinations, including Wat Pho, Wat Arun, the Grand Palace and shopping centres in Central Bangkok are open and dry (or dry-ish). As we wrote yesterday: transport is running all over the city (including the subway — even in flooded areas all stations are currently open) and most bus routes are running normally. The domestic airport (Don Muang) and Chao Phraya Express ferries are both closed due to flooded facilites, but the international airport (Suvarnabhumi) is operating normally. Trains to the North and Northeast are running, but rail service to the south starts with a bus transfer to Nakhon Pathom station before continuing by rail. The southern bus terminal has moved to Holland Beer Brewery on Rama 2 Rd. Mo Chit Station, close to Chatuchak and serving Northern and Northeastern Thailand, is still open as of today.
Go water pump, go! Bangsue Canal, Bangkok.
So is there any reason travellers shouldn’t come to Bangkok? Well, technically, everything is fairly normal, but the city is at a point where many of the reasons travellers come to Bangkok could be inundated within a week. It is not out of the realm of possibility that more than half of the subway system could be shut, and that much of the northern half of the city could be affected, including the Chatuchak, Ari, Victory Monument, and Sam Sen areas. The TAT-sponsored Loy Krathong activities at Santichaiprakarn Park November 8-10 have been cancelled and residents have been asked to not float offerings in fold water so as to not burn down houses. Loy Krathong will be held as normal in Chiang Mai and Sukhothai.
At this point, most travellers will be doing themselves a favour to use Suvarnabhumi as a transfer point and move on. If you want to be here, you can, but it looks like it is not going to be much fun. If you’re keen to get to Isaan (northeastern Thailand), Laos, or Eastern Thailand, you can easily change to a bus at Suvarnabhumi for further overland travel; flying to all other destinations will be the easiest.
As always during a fluid disaster situation, make sure you keep well informed as to what is going on.
More still
» Previous post: Bangkok floods update, November 7, 2011: Should you cancel your trip?
» Next post: Mon Cham: Restaurant and camping in Mae Rim
Disclaimer
Travelfish.org always pays its way. No exceptions.
Tags: floods
If the airport is surrounded with floods, will scheduled and Air Asia flights be cut back drastically? i.e all passengers strictly using BKK as a hub? As one cannot leave the airport any other way?
No, the airport is operating normally. All modes of transit to the airport are also functioning — rail, expressway, and bus services. No reports of flights being suspended or curtailed in any way at this point.
do you thing by the 1st of January all will be ok??
Hi there We fly in to Bangkok this friday from London, I didn’t want to cancel the trip so have left it as late as possible to see if the situation improves, Do you know if the busses are still running to the Ferry port to go to Ko Tao and also the boats or may be a bus to Krabi ? Thanks
@Chris – everything better be fine by then! But yes, I’d assume will be ok.
@valentino Southbound buses are still running largely unaffected.
Great will keep an eye or your updates, I imagine fairly quite Islands and places like Ko Lanta at the moment will be very busy as everyone is heading south ?
is the party scene in silom area still open and doing good… its my holiday and i want to have some drink…
Hi,
Thanks for your very informative, practical and balanced updates. My wife and I have planned to visit Bangkok from 13 to 17 November. We are only going to be around central Bangkok (mainly Sukhumvit and Silom).
What are your thoughts? Is central Bangkok likely to hold out for that week?
Hi, I will be flying to BKK with a group of friends on 16th Nov. Do you think is still wise to be there? Are the malls like Siam Paragon, MBK, Platinum etc as well as the clubs are close?
Hi there, thanks for keeping us up to date on the situation. This is very valuable.
I will be landing in BKK on the 20 Nov. The plan was to sty 5 days and then head off to Siem Rep.
How’s the situation with the train/bus connection to the Cambodian border?
Thanks again for your help!
thankyou admin
Are areas like Platinum shopping mall, MBK area flooded? What about the Dome around chitlom area?
Hi! I am flying to BKK on the 14th and my plan is to go to the south bus terminal, which is located in Holland Beer so far. Does anybody know if it is possible to go from the airport to the Holland beer without problem by taxi? Thanks in advance
hi i need a bit of help like alessandro i am planning to go to bangkok then head off to siem reap is it still feasible. thank you.
Hi. I am planning on spending part of my honeymoon in Thailand, part of which in Bangkok around the 20th of March 2012. Given past experience do you think the trip and visit to Bangkok for 4 days near the end of March 2012 is a safe bet? What do you recommend?
Hi tks for the info……can I ask is the situation likely be back to normal by 2nd Dec cos we were booked to go Bangkok ard that date for 5 days….we are now at a delima whether to proceed or cancel…anyone heard whether Air Asia allows affected passengers to postpone the flights???? tks
Flew in to bangkok this Friday, guys and girls don’t cancel your trips, everything as normal, gallons of bottled water, food and beer, vodka in my case, it’s alot quieter out here, you’ll enjoy it, place to yourselves for sightseeing, the river is over flowing but everything Is under control in the centre, road to south still open, will keep you updated, so glad I didn’t cancel my trip, in life sometimes you’ve got to roll the dice xxxxxx
Hi there, Is chatuchak available? Or is it still flooded?