Expecting normal Bangkok, Thailand traffic, I took a motorbike taxi over to the Grand Palace side of the Pinklao bridge yesterday. The motorbike wasn’t necessary since the normal afternoon Bangkok traffic was no where to be found.
Bangkok, Thailand Flooding. Enroute to the Pinklao bridge mid afternoon, normally filled with traffic, Bangkok's streets were pretty much traffic free.
I planned to walk around some of the areas I did two days earlier but ended up catching a ride through flooded areas with a Bangkok fire and rescue team. They were using a large tow truck to ferry people through flooded areas as well as deliver meals and water to people along the route. I hopped on the truck not knowing exactly where it would go and ended up spending three hours or so plodding through the flood.
About an hour into the ride I ran into a fellow that we had met a couple of days earlier – Dominik, an Austrian exchange student that lives in an area surrounded by chest deep water. He was out getting supplies at a Lotus department store that remains open even though it is surrounded by water – the store is fortified with sandbags and kept dry with a series of pumps. With university cancelled, Dominik and friends are collecting donations for flood victims. You can learn about their efforts and how to donate at their website: thailandflood.org
Below are some pictures from the afternoon. Again, it’s an Adobe flash sideshow so you can’t view them on an iPhone or iPad.
Be sure to click the little box on the lower right for the full screen version.
