The rains and the floods in Thailand are creating havoc still as rainy season is still hanging on with a vengeance. One of my favorite cities in all of Thailand is completely uninhabitable. Ayuttya (I never can remember how to spell it), is completely flooded. It is the capital of the old Kingdom with many ancient ruins which have survived for thousands of years and will no doubt survive this as well, but it is a real disaster area. There is an elephant reserve and birthing center that is under water. All of the elephants as well as their handlers are living atop a huge, high and wide wall until the waters go down. Trucks are lifting hay and food to them, but it is amazing to see how this is affecting this small city. The only way to travel in the city is by boat. People are living on the second and third floors of their homes, in unbelievable circumstances.
This is not the only city that is under water. Lop Buri is also having major difficulties. The crocodile farm was flooded and all the crocs escaped and are now roaming around in the flood waters and attempting to get into people's homes. And snakes...they are trying to find high ground too. It is not a good situation in much of Thailand right now. Many cities are in danger of flooding in the next few days as the water heads south down out of the mountains into Bangkok.
My co-workers and I have been fortunate so far. In our location in Chiang Mai, we have dodged the bullet this time around. In August we got the floods, but no water got into our house. We were warned a couple of weeks ago that the water was coming again and the river in Chiang Mai over ran its banks and flooded the downtown area, but we remained dry where we are, even though we put up sandbags and waited, the water never reached us.
Other countries in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam are having horrible problems with flood waters. Right now we have friends from Bangkok who can't go home yet because as the water is flowing south the risk of their neighborhood being flooded is great.
Never a dull moment. Stay tuned.
