Bangkok Floods In Pictures

You can believe that this is the result of nature

or

You say this is the will of your god(s)

I believe that this is a little of both mixed in with ALOT of poor decisions made by the new Thai government when they decided way back in July not to open the sluice gates and start draining directly after the first monsoon of the season. The season turned out to be a big one and the water accumulated. The towns downstream feared they might have some flooding so they kept the water back instead of draining it in a controlled flow. Monsoon after monsoon hit and the water kept building and the towns flooded and the next town and the next town did their best to block themselves from the building water. Finally the small sea of water over runs all in its path and arrives at the nations capitol where it is met the brain power of politicians who have been collecting money through corruption for so long that they have no idea how to actually take care of the citizens of Bangkok anymore. Failure after failure and lie after lie as the city sinks into a watery grave, the politicians are more concerned in saving face then saving the people of Bangkok.

Pictures below were not taken by me,  I have just collected them as I watch the water slowly engulf province after province and I wait to see if and when my home will be next.

Bless all the people that have decided for themselves to go out and help their fellow citizens, and have not waited for the government to do something sensible. I see the people helping their neighbors, helping the poor and the needy, donating money, giving food, water and sharing shelter. There are so many good people in Thailand and they know how to do the right thing to help each other in these difficult times. Its a shame that none of these people work in government.

24 Hours in Saigon

Got to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and the first thing I noticed was the taxi, it was left side drive. I have been training my brain for the last 90 days to operate on the other side of the road/car and now I was confused for a second about what was going on here. I had mistakenly assumed that asian countries all drove on the right side of the road just because it is the norm in Thailand. 

About 60 seconds later, I noticed the sea of motorcycles.  Looking out of the taxi, I could see that there were about six other cars in sight on the road, and about three hundred thousand motorcycles all driving on top of each other. I drive a motorbike in Bangkok and so I figured on renting one here in Saigon, but after seeing the traffic and they way they drive, I changed my mind. Motorcycle Taxi's would have to do. Theres no way I'm playing bumper bikes with this two wheeled hoard of crazies!

The cab stops and I look around for the Hotel Thuy Thangy or wherever it is that I am staying but I see nothing.  The cabbie tells me "You out here."  I look again, see nothing of a hotel and ask where it is. Again "You out here", to which I involuntarily reply "the fuck you say."  He points me at a dark alley next to an abandoned high rise project with plastic sheets for walls, "You go there."  So out I go, the cab leaving me behind almost before I could close the door. I am realizing that showing up in Vietnam at night time was probably my first mistake.  Being the only white guy with a backpack headed for the dark alley, I might as well have had a big neon bulls-eye on my back.  I see light from an open door and head in, all the while cursing airport security for not allowing me to travel with the knife that is religiously clipped to the inside of my front pocket.  The place was kinda shitty and looked nothing like a hotel. I cleared my throat and called "hello !" and someone immediately came down the stairs and threw me out of their house, all the while pointing farther down the alley and yelling "Hotel over there!" and saying lots of other indecipherable things that I will only assume were Vietnamese curse words.  This alley is like a funnel, growing smaller and tighter until I'm walking sideways to get between the parked motorcycles that have been crammed into it.  Here I find the "Hotel", I get my key and head up to my room.

I remember the advert for the hotel said there was a minibar in the room, I found it, and it was fully stocked.

So off I went into the night, in search of beer and adventure. I had pre-decided that this would probably turn out to be a vegetarian weekend for me because I know they like to eat dogs over here. If they were willing to fry up man's best friend, theres no telling what else you might find on your plate. I tried and tried to cross the street but I just could not manage to make it against the sea of motorcycles.  I found a video of a kid crossing the street in Vietnam, let this be an example of what it was like for me (only on a friday night). I think you will find it to be quite an eye opener!

Kid crossing the street in Saigon

A few hours later I'm across the street, in a bar pretending to watch the soccer game like all the other dudes and enjoying some cold "Tiger" beer. I still stick out like a sore thumb but I'm not going to appear concerned about it in any way, although discreetly my situational awareness is buzzing something akin to spiderman.  Three beers in and suddenly my vision is filled with the image of a long legged asian man in short shorts and a frilly tank top standing WAY to close to me.  If these shorts were cut any higher, you might mistake them for a belt.  He is shaking his ass in my face and waving some money all the while bobbing his head in a "yes yes" motion and smiling at me wildly. Again my hand wanders to the knife and the knife's not there.  I am pondering the notion of what will happen to me should I have to whack this guy in the melon with my beer bottle.  The other men have a slight look of disgust but they are ignoring the show, so I follow suit and keep my eyes on the flat screen tv and the soccer game going on up there. A few more disco moves and finally the bartender takes pity on me and barks some thing sharp resulting in the micro shorts man moving on to bother someone else.

All in all it was a good evening, good beer, and a good soccer game.  It would have been better to have watched some American football of course, but I do support soccer and many other women's sports.

Back at the "Hotel" around midnight, lying on the bed when some caring person came and made sure my door was locked. I was just thinking of sleep when I heard the door knob turn and creak. The would be guest found the lock to be working and decided to leave.  Perhaps this was the same person that climbed to the third floor to check the locks on my window several hours later. I didn't get much sleep but I did take in alot of Vietnamese television.  I was refreshing to see television that was so much more progressive then Thailand TV.   I expected the media to be very restrictive, but it was alot more free then what I see on the tube back in Bangkok.  In fact in most ways the Vietnamese culture shows much more progress then the Thai.  On the flip side of that coin, the Vietnamese are also much more rude and even threatening at times, in Thai being polite and showing respect is an important part of the culture.  I grabbed a shower around sun up, managing not to touch any electrical wires that were protruding into the tub. It was the hottest water I have had in three months and I stayed until the entire bathroom was a steamy mist.

The room had a view of a hotel that I really should have stayed at, but if you look down onto the metal roofs of the shanty's below, you can imagine the dark alleys that wind through them, and me trying to find my way the night before.

The room did come with this bit of art on the wall:

And this masterpiece on another wall:

In the morning I asked the hotel "clerk" the location of a museum nearby and she made a map for the motorcycle taxi driver, who in turn looked at the map and hauled me off deep into the city. He dropped me off and of course there was no museum to be found. I was now in some random place in the city but that really doesn't matter does it? I started my trek and walked wherever the wind pointed me until I was dripping with sweat.  Here's a few of the things I saw while wandering about:

Finally I stumbled across this brewery and I knew that I had found my spot to rest until it was time to catch my plane.

Here is where they brew a euro-beer called "Lion".  It was pretty good beer and there were several foreigners like myself enjoying a brew here. A couple of Australians came to sit by me and tell me all about how much the Vietnamese people hate Americans and how they were surprised that I was even let into the country at all.  Then they went on to tell me all of their anti American jokes and such. In the end it turned out the worst people I met in all of Ho Chi Minh City were these two assholes from Australia.  Just as they had run out of jokes and insults these two fat white women arrived (who I assume were Mrs. asshole number one and two) and told the Aussie guys when, where, and how to sit, and marched their men off to some table closer to the buffet.  With those two out of my hair it was back to the business at hand.

The beer was tasting better and better and the air conditioning was a blessing. Lion Brewery, next time I am in town, I'll be back to see you again !

Wandered around a bit more until it was time to head to the airport. It really didn't matter to me that I had no idea of where I was at, I knew all would be fine with a taxi and the words "international airport".  I flagged my cab and hopped in with my instruction and away we went.  It only took a minute or two to realize that this driver was hopped up on meth or crack or speed or possibly all of the above. He was a mess to observe sitting idle in traffic, but being as whacked out as he was sitting idle was not really an option for him, he'd drive with two wheels on the sidewalk if he had to, just to keep go go going ! It was a blessing in disguise, the traffic could have really held us back, especially in a car (with air conditioning woohoo!) but this crackhead race car driver was relentless and just kept pushing and pushing and honking and honking while the sea of motorcycles slowly parted before him. I should have asked him if he had a business card.  I could use a nut case like him next time I am in Saigon.

Waiting in the airport the sky went from light to dark in a matter of minutes as a monsoon like storm came in and dropped enough water to literally flood the tarmac. I took this picture because I was alarmed at how fast the daylight disappeared. About 10 minutes after this shot everything outside the window was under about two inches of water.

I really thought that leaving Bangkok on this little 24 visa/boarder run I would be experiencing the full on third world living that is Saigon. As I ride the train back home to my neighborhood in Suan Luang, I realize that it is Bangkok that has its gears gummed up in a slow progression while a few of the other developing countries around are starting to pass it by. There are still countries like Laos and Cambodia that are quite under-developed and I'm sure there are many places in Vietnam that are still primitive, for lack of a better word, but Saigon is well on its way. Its congested streets move much smoother, the food, the fashion, even the architechure is much more diverse. The television is pleasantly free of all the irritating sound effects that is Thai TV and surprisingly alot less censored for an asian country, especially one who's passport boldly reminds you this is "The Soviet Republic of Vietnam".

1,000 boats to push flood waters October 11

Many areas in northern Thailand have experienced insane amounts of flooding for several months now. I have been told its been fifty years since there were floods like this. I have watched endless news stories showing homes with water to the first story rooflines and folks stranded on their roofs while boats paddle by. The high elevation is in the north and as you may guess the main rivers tend to run north to south towards the sea. Bangkok is seated just before the sea mouth and the Chao Phraya river runs right through the city here. The flood levels have gradually been headed towards us in Bangkok and the fact that there are torential downpours almost every other night doesn't help the situation much.
So heres something that will:

1000 boats to push flood waters October 11

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1,000 boats to push flood waters October 11


BANGKOK: -- On October 11, a fleet of some 1,000 boats would help push water from the Chao Phraya River into the sea fast, Science and Technology Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi said Saturday.
At the boat project launch held at Nonthaburi's Pakkred Pier with 40 boats attending, Plodprasop said that this voluntary base project would help drain water three times faster, from two knots to six knots, and prevent floodwater from pouring into Bangkok City.
He said the 1,000boat fleet would push water down to the sea on October 11, as to help lower flood in the Chao Phraya Riverside provinces such as Sing Buri, Angthong and Ayutthaya.
-- The Nation 2011-10-08
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Being that I am a foreigner writing in Thailand, I must be careful to observe the laws of lèse majesté, and I have heard rumor that this whole boat idea came from the top, so I will not be posting opinions about the origins of the idea.

You can decide for yourself if putting 1000 boats in the water will increase the river flow.
Of course 1000 boat owners didn't actually think "I'm going to waste a full tank of diesel fuel going absolutely no where" and as you may have guessed the turnout was quite less then what was called for.
But the government did show up with their boats:

A few private boats, water taxi's, and tug boats were spotted here and there, giving it a go to save Bangkok. Here is a video I found on someones Facebook page showing a police boat and a few others pushing away the flood waters. I will just put a link in since the video does not belong to me.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=261425643893298

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When I learned of this plan to push the flood waters to the sea, I posted it on one of my favorite forums. Here are the best in response:

"Sounds similar to pushing rope up hill."

"Wouldn't it help if a few thousand people jumped in the river and kicked with their feet?"

"Oh bless their simple minds..."

"No their plan is to create a giant wake and flood Bangkok...thus lowering the river level..genius!!"

"This would be great for an April Fools. Jesus, what morons. I am half expecting a moving dam, with 60ft below the water pushing it downstream."

"Waiting for the aircraft carrier to be brought in. That ought to do the job. Its always used for humanitarian purposes since it has no aircraft."

"60 million Thais should each be sent there with a bucket (I'm sure we can find a willing supplier of buckets at an abhorrently high cost to the government). They can then scoop all the excess water out of the river. Problem solved.

If that fails then maybe Australia can rent out Tidilick the frog."

"Manys the true word said in jest. Apparently great minds have produced the new emergency flood relief bucket which is about to be distributed in flooded areas .

This specially designed bucket feels lighter the further the water has to be carried thus being less thairing to use."

"Also doubles as a reserve parachute, ship anchor and a motorcycle helmet"

"They need the submarines to get under the water and push up on it.

Then the boats on top can move it forward."

"Elephants drink between 100 to 300 liters of water a day depending on the temperature,get enough elephants, problem solved.

Better then the boat idea,oh what fun life when you think like a Thai."

"The next time the world has a major Tsunami we will just line up all the boats and ships on that particular coast and counter act the force."

"

"The Bangkok Governor today received 450 million baht for emergency flood relief.

He said that, within three hours of getting the funds, all ten sand bags had been installed .

He added that there was nothing to worry about because he was off to Hawaii for two weeks."

"So when we get a drought, they could turn the boats around the other way and irrigate the north of Thailand."

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This should have been called "Hoof Hearted on Hydrology!" Anyway, the Governor presided over a "lai nam" ritual, which is a prayer for aid from the water goddess "Ka Kang".

Its very fortunate that they thought of this back up plan to the boat idea. Heres a link to the article if you are interested in the results of the lai nam ritual.

Water Goddess Ka Kang Replies to Ceremony: ‘Fuck You’

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I just read this and I wanted to put it up just so my friends and family know that I will be safe through these difficult times. Please don't worry about me, I have my Thai flood prevention bucket and I bought water wings for the entire family.

"As fears grow over whether Bangkok will face the same fate as provinces such as Ayutthaya and Nakhon Sawan, King-oua Laohong speaks to Pramote Maiklad, a former irrigation chief, about the crisis."

Pramote: ‘There is nothing to worry about’ 

Joke - engineers vs managers

A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She reduced altitude
and spotted a man below. She descended a bit more and shouted: 'Excuse
me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago
but I don't know where I am.'

The man below replied, 'You're in a hot air balloon hovering
approximately 30 feet above the ground. You're between 40 and 41 degrees
north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude.'

'You must be an Engineer,' said the balloonist.

'I am,' replied the man, 'how did you know?'

'Well,' answered the balloonist, 'everything you have told me is
probably technically correct, but I've no idea what to make of your
information and the fact is, I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been
much help at all. If anything, you've delayed my trip by your talk.'

The man below responded, 'You must be in Management.'

'I am,' replied the balloonist, 'but how did you know?'

'Well,' said the man, 'you don't know where you are or where you're
going. You have risen to where you are, due to a large quantity of hot
air. You made a promise, which you've no idea how to keep, and you
expect people beneath you to solve your problems. The fact is you are in
exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow,
it's my fucking fault.'