Far-Reaching Flood

Everyone in the country is affected, whether or not their home is wet. There’s a national paralysis. Now that the waters are hitting Bangkok head on, Thailand is feeling the consequences of having made the capital so central to all decisions, distribution, and discourse. People in the big city who normally spend their days running businesses or government departments or taxicabs are instead barricading their homes and heading out of town to places far from the flood plain.

Those places, in turn, find themselves with shortages of everything from car parts to chocolate chips. Not only are factories and distribution networks inundated, but an estimated million-plus Bangkokians are now looking elsewhere for their essential supplies.

I managed to become one of the Bangkok refugees because of a previously planned long weekend in Chiang Mai. Three days magically lengthened into ten. The boss OK’d my request to telework for a couple days, and then the government declared an emergency holiday from Thursday through Monday (perhaps bowing to the reality of widespread absenteeism). Locals are grumbling that the influx of cars from the capital is snarling Chiang Mai traffic. No doubt they’re right—I've been running into Bangkok friends while walking down the street here.

Tomorrow the office opens again. My landlady told me on the phone that our apartment building has remained dry. I’ll fly back to Bangkok tonight and see for myself how much will need to be cleaned up after the waters recede. Alas, that day could be weeks away, at least according to this short, entertaining youtube video about the causes and effects of the flooding.