Venice of the East Part II

I remember blogging about Bangkok being the Venice of the East when I just arrived in Bangkok (in 2009) when Srinakarin Road looked more like a river and the area outside my shophouse became a lake.

Subsequently, in 2010, my customer in Hat Yai had his newly-renovated shop soaked all the way up to almost the 2nd floor. Bangkok remained largely unscathed, so I did not have any strong feelings then.

Unfortunately, floods did not spare Thailand in 2011 too, with nearly 50 out of Thailand's 76 provinces affected one way or another. This time, I happen to be on a road trip visiting key customers and witnessed the gravity of the situation with my own eyes. Countless acres of farmland were destroyed and homes made un-liveable. Villagers had to sleep in temporary stalls lining the sides of the roads while pondering how to cope with the loss of their crop. As I drove past them my heart cringed, because while I did not know what I could do to help, my brain was telling me to leave this area as soon as possible before the floods worsen.

Pictures speak louder than words, but as I took them mostly through the tinted windows of my car, they do not reflect accurately the urgency of the situation.

This entire road was flooded, we had to do a detour.

What happened to the tree trunks?

We were driving on a bridge over troubled water

Villagers finding reason to smile at the camera

Venice of the East

As I am typing this, millions of Thais are still suffering from the effects of massive flooding while I am already back in the comforts of my apartment in Bangkok. I pray that the people in Thailand can be resilient and remain positive in adversity, and that I will never be able to find a reason to write a Part III to this series of blogposts.