It's been over a week now and the flood has yet to make it anywhere near my door. It's been making slow progress all over the city but Sathorn remains pretty dry.This is good news but while I've haven't had to wade through waist deep water, the flood has had an impact on my last days here. As some of you may know, this past week was my last at I Can Read and I was looking forward to seeing some of my students again and saying goodbye. The flood changed all that with either the students leaving town or not being able to reach the school. This was partly due to flooding and partly due to horrible traffic jams caused by cars abandoned on the highways by people in a panic about flooding. I didn't have a single full class and over half of them were straight-up cancelled which meant a pretty boring last week. People panicking has also caused some problems when it comes to shopping anywhere. First of all there's no more fresh water. Stores have been out for a long time and the treated water from the dispensers now tastes like tap water did (and the tap water now tastes like unholy garbage). The water thing doesn't bother me too much since I have a nice supply, but when I want to get some everyday things like toilet paper or a can of coke I now have to wander from store to store until I find one in stock. And yes I got what might've been the last roll of toilet paper in the country.
With all my free time at work, I went down to the riverside on Friday to see how the water levels were and took some pictures of some light flooding. It was just barely over the sides and the sandbags were doing a nice job of keeping it on the pier and funnelling into the drains.
A view of I Can Read's Sandbag wall. They added another level after the PM came out and said it was gonna get worse before it got better.
A lot of people had the same idea to come check it out. This is "my stop" for the river taxi.
The part in the foreground is supposed to be wet. The picnic table is not. PS Notice how high the dock is.
Some sandbags and walkways at the SkyTrain stop.
The wall they built around the 7/11. This thing has been up for weeks now. I guess they're just gonna knock it down later. The weird thing is that the 7/11 across the street has barely any protection at all.
That's all the flood coverage for now. I'm officially through with work so I'll have the next couple weeks to hang out and give Thailand a proper goodbye. I know you're all wondering so let me just tell you the ticket has indeed been booked. The plane leaves at 5:55am on November 12th. It feels like a long way away and too short all at once. For now, though, I'm just worried about Halloween! Have a spooky one everybody! and, as always, costume pics are very appreciated!
Much Love
j
A view of I Can Read's Sandbag wall. They added another level after the PM came out and said it was gonna get worse before it got better.
A lot of people had the same idea to come check it out. This is "my stop" for the river taxi.
The part in the foreground is supposed to be wet. The picnic table is not. PS Notice how high the dock is.
Some sandbags and walkways at the SkyTrain stop.
The wall they built around the 7/11. This thing has been up for weeks now. I guess they're just gonna knock it down later. The weird thing is that the 7/11 across the street has barely any protection at all.
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