Bangkok Residents Leave as Waters Rise

Thailand’s capital, Bangkok is bracing for a new surge of water.

The worst flooding in a half century has killed more than 370 people. Its also triggered panic buying.

Host Lisa Mullins speaks with freelance reporter Michael McAuliffe in Bangkok Friday in the broadcast.

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Lisa Mullins: Thailand’s capital, Bangkok is bracing for a new surge of water. The city is caught between flood waters flowing into it from Thailand’s north and high tides pushing sea water up from the south. Months of heavy rains have caused Thailand’s worst flooding in a half century. More than 370 people have died throughout the country. In Bangkok, people are fleeing the city ahead of more flooding predicted for this weekend. Those who are staying have stocked up on water and other goods, emptying out the city’s supermarkets. Michael McAuliffe is a freelance reporter in Bangkok. Michael, when you look around, what do you see? Tell us what it’s like.

Michael McAuliffe: One of the first things you notice, obviously, is that Bangkok is a more quiet city than it normally is and that’s a result of all the people who have left town in the last 48 hours. But, really what you’re looking at driveway by driveway or building by building is the range of efforts people have made to try to protect their properties. Aside from dealing with the water itself; the fact that who knows what’s in the water in terms of chemicals, waste or garbage, is the threat you get from other things that exist in Thailand like snakes. Around the royal palace this afternoon, a cab driver pulled about a 2 meter-long snake out of the waters. And these are the same waters that some tourists are actually still in the city are walking around in as they try to do their best to go and see some of these tourist sites. So you have snakes, you have scorpions; you have crocodiles that have escaped from many of the crocodile farms. There haven’t been any big attacks involving crocodiles yet, but they pose a threat and that is something the police and emergency officials have been trying to get their hands on to either capture or kill.

Mullins: Michael, knowing that, can you or other residents of Bangkok even wade out into the water?

McAuliffe: Well, people do because they have to. But yeah, it certainly gives you the sense of a creepy-crawly feeling [laughs]. You don’t know what might be down there that you either might be about to step on or that, potentially, might be about to bite you [laughs].

Mullins: Creepy-crawly and very wet.

McAuliffe: Yes.

Mullins: So, what is the government doing and what are people who plan on sticking it out doing?

McAuliffe: Well, everything. As you mentioned, the grocery stores – I was out in one again this afternoon and as you go in…They’ve just been wiped out of things like bread, eggs, rice, noodles and milk. One of the things that I think is really beginning to become a national concern here is the situation with water. I don’t think there is a store left anywhere in Bangkok that still has bottled water.

Mullins: Is there anything the government can do about that?

McAuliffe: It is. It’s already looking at what immediate steps can be taken to start bringing water in from neighboring countries to help deal with it if this shortage becomes a prolonged crisis, in the sense of us having a flood situation in Bangkok that could last for another week or two.

Mullins: Michael McAuliffe, thank you very much.

McAuliffe: You’re welcomed.

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