If Bangkok goes under - Thailand Floods

General Udon Thani topics only!
User avatar
stattointhailand
udonmap.com
Posts: 19114
Joined: October 25, 2007, 11:34 pm
Location: Oiling the locks on my gun case

If Bangkok goes under - Thailand Floods

Post by stattointhailand » November 3, 2011, 6:29 pm

fredythehound wrote:The baht has been strong over the last 7 years but i think the wider flood problems looks sure to devalue
Yeah right ....... this morning 49.5 now 48.9 :-" :-" :-"



davecryan
udonmap.com
Posts: 250
Joined: January 21, 2009, 1:57 pm
Location: Rattanawapi.130km East of UT. Ex Manchester. UK

If Bangkok goes under - Thailand Floods

Post by davecryan » November 3, 2011, 7:00 pm

stattointhailand wrote:
fredythehound wrote:The baht has been strong over the last 7 years but i think the wider flood problems looks sure to devalue
Yeah right ....... this morning 49.5 now 48.9 :-" :-" :-"
Its all relative....its bad here but there are greater financial problems in UK, US and Euroland ( all going down the tubes faster than Thailand )..thats my answer..Ive been thinking the same as you for 3 years :( :( :cry:

bigsnake
udonmap.com
Posts: 478
Joined: September 14, 2008, 6:59 pm

If Bangkok goes under - Thailand Floods

Post by bigsnake » November 4, 2011, 8:40 pm

YEP, A BLOODY MESS FOR ALL<>JUST WENT TO TESCO LOTUS(1st Branch) UDONTHANI< NO EGGS< WHY FLOODS BANGKOK, DARN YOU WOULD THINK WITH ALL THE CHICKENS IN ISAN LOTUS COULD GET THERE EGG FROM A LOCAL SUPPLIER. :-k :mad: :mad:

User avatar
stattointhailand
udonmap.com
Posts: 19114
Joined: October 25, 2007, 11:34 pm
Location: Oiling the locks on my gun case

If Bangkok goes under - Thailand Floods

Post by stattointhailand » November 4, 2011, 9:55 pm

There is no egg shortage bigsnake .... it was "Breaking News" on Udonmap a couple of days ago ......... the chickens said so !!

http://www.udonmap.com/.../breaking-new ... 23196.html

User avatar
Bandung_Dero
udonmap.com
Posts: 3614
Joined: July 10, 2005, 8:53 am
Location: Ban Dung or Perth W.A.

If Bangkok goes under - Thailand Floods

Post by Bandung_Dero » November 5, 2011, 6:27 am

fredythehound wrote:The baht has been strong over the last 7 years but i think the wider flood problems looks sure to devalue
Is that your expert opinion or just wishful thinking! Government instability, Army coups, yellow shirts, red shirts etc. did not have a big influence so why should a bit of flooding?
Sent from my 1977 Apple II using 2 Heinz bake bean cans and piano wire!

User avatar
dake333
udonmap.com
Posts: 27
Joined: December 27, 2009, 10:53 am
Location: BETWEEN WIFE AND ATM

If Bangkok goes under - Thailand Floods

Post by dake333 » November 5, 2011, 4:33 pm

davecryan wrote:
stattointhailand wrote:
fredythehound wrote:The baht has been strong over the last 7 years but i think the wider flood problems looks sure to devalue
Yeah right ....... this morning 49.5 now 48.9 :-" :-" :-"
Its all relative....its bad here but there are greater financial problems in UK, US and Euroland ( all going down the tubes faster than Thailand )..thats my answer..Ive been thinking the same as you for 3 years :( :( :cry:
Going down the tube faster? Incidentally, do realize that Thailand has over 200 billion in foreign reserves and is rated 11th highest of all countries .Going down the tube,highly unlikely.

mally
udonmap.com
Posts: 366
Joined: February 1, 2007, 4:15 am
Location: UK / UT (as often as I can)

If Bangkok goes under - Thailand Floods

Post by mally » November 6, 2011, 8:57 pm

Anyone know about the flood situation in Phimi, near Korat ?
I got a phone text from an old tgf asking for help due to the flood situation. Although I've not been in contact with her for over 2 years I did send her 10,000 tb by Western Union to help out.
But, if I'm right, Korat is not really suffering, although I do know the river in Phimi is only about 50m from her home.
Anyway, due to the good times I had with her in the past I thought I'd send it to help out.
Now, only 1 week later, she's texting me here in the UK asking for more help, saying things are really bad for her & her family. To be honest I liked her parents & family, and if the situation is bad then I'll help them again, BUT, being a cynical old sod, I'm also very worried about being conned into sending money for a disaster that has not affected her.
So, anyone got reliable info on the situation there ?

User avatar
arjay
udonmap.com
Posts: 8349
Joined: October 2, 2005, 12:19 pm
Location: Gone to get a life, "troll free"

If Bangkok goes under - Thailand Floods

Post by arjay » November 6, 2011, 9:16 pm

Mally, I can't honestly be sure about Phimi/Phimai and Khorat, but I haven't heard anything of floods there since earlier this year. Certainly it hasn't rained in Nong Khai or Udon that I'm aware of, for about a month now, and there are currently no floods here. In fact the Mekong is well down from it's late August highs.

It would sound to me that your GF is either conning you or referring to problems suffered early this year!! Whatever, they surely wouldn't have got worse in the last week even if they had previously had problems.

mally
udonmap.com
Posts: 366
Joined: February 1, 2007, 4:15 am
Location: UK / UT (as often as I can)

If Bangkok goes under - Thailand Floods

Post by mally » November 6, 2011, 10:03 pm

Thanks Arjay, this seems to back up what my cynical old brain is telling me.
Unless someone posts with reliable info to the contary I'll keep my hand in my pocket.

davecryan
udonmap.com
Posts: 250
Joined: January 21, 2009, 1:57 pm
Location: Rattanawapi.130km East of UT. Ex Manchester. UK

If Bangkok goes under - Thailand Floods

Post by davecryan » November 6, 2011, 10:31 pm

dake333 wrote:
davecryan wrote:
stattointhailand wrote:
fredythehound wrote:The baht has been strong over the last 7 years but i think the wider flood problems looks sure to devalue
Yeah right ....... this morning 49.5 now 48.9 :-" :-" :-"
Its all relative....its bad here but there are greater financial problems in UK, US and Euroland ( all going down the tubes faster than Thailand )..thats my answer..Ive been thinking the same as you for 3 years :( :( :cry:
Going down the tube faster? Incidentally, do realize that Thailand has over 200 billion in foreign reserves and is rated 11th highest of all countries .Going down the tube,highly unlikely.
Read my post again ..carefully. I did not say that Thailand was going down the tubes. Have known for a long time that Thailands foreign reserves exceed UK and Australia's combined.

User avatar
KHONDAHM
udonmap.com
Posts: 2428
Joined: November 15, 2009, 3:07 pm

If Bangkok goes under - Thailand Floods

Post by KHONDAHM » November 7, 2011, 5:07 am

We've family stuck in Ayuttaya and Bangkok whom we warned fervorently to get out and come back to Udon well before the flooding. We even offered to put them up in a hotel in any nearby city/town for as long as necessary. Just get out before it hits. "Knowing better" or feeling lucky, they ignored us. Now the wife is getting calls for help. I say f*** 'em. They should have listened and acted before it became near impossible to find other accommodations or return to Udon. Not sure what the wife will do, but I ain't lifting a finger. Somnon-na.
Enjoy this site much more by adding idiots to your ignore list (Friends & Foes tab).
http:\\www.udonmap.com/udonthaniforum/ucp.php? ... &mode=foes

User avatar
arjay
udonmap.com
Posts: 8349
Joined: October 2, 2005, 12:19 pm
Location: Gone to get a life, "troll free"

If Bangkok goes under - Thailand Floods

Post by arjay » November 7, 2011, 8:47 am

Mally, (not meaning to highjack this thread).

See final link below re Moon River.

A couple of reference points re the weather:

http://www.worldweatheronline.com/weath ... /info.aspx

http://www.meoweather.com/weather/Thail ... Korat.html

The floods I was remembering from the news appear to have been in Oct 2010:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/2 ... tter-korat

http://www.grumpyexpat.com/blog/2010/10 ... d---o.html

Ah, wait, just found this about the Moon River bursting its banks on 19/20th October, 2011 - this year!!, - Nong Sung district

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/2 ... rsts-banks

User avatar
JimboPSM
udonmap.com
Posts: 3581
Joined: July 4, 2005, 3:23 pm
Location: Isle of Man / Bangkok / Udon Thani

If Bangkok goes under - Thailand Floods

Post by JimboPSM » November 7, 2011, 1:02 pm

Apologies if this is taking the topic off course, but this is my observation regarding the earlier comments on the value of the THB and foreign currency reserves.

While having substantial foreign currency reserves certainly helps in keeping the value of the THB high it is only one of many factors that impact on the value of the currency.

When you stand back from it all there is not much, apart from the foreign currency reserves and market sentiment that is currently actually positive for the Thai economy and the THB.

In my opinion, far more important than the foreign currency reserves in these troubled times and probably the most important factor in the value of the THB is market sentiment.

A considerable part of the market sentiment revolves around how relatively easily the market perceives that it can operate and make profits in a country; it has precious little to do with reality of life on the ground for its citizens (or expats).

Thailand is perceived to be a country where, despite laws being in place, outside businesses can operate with little effective interference by the authorities in areas such as planning, health and safety, environmental matters etc (all of which incur heavy operational costs); where such issues do arise, they are viewed as being fairly easy and cheap to brush under the carpet (with the distribution of a little largesse).

For businesses the labour pool is viewed as being both cheap and compliant, it has the ideal attributes of there being a large pool of readily available labour that is “sufficiently” well educated, “reasonably” poor and largely unorganised thus enabling low labour cost operations.

The difficulties that its citizens (or expats living in the country) actually experience count for little in comparison to the ease of making profits.

Although sentiment is still very strong, it has been slowly been weakening over the last year, this can most clearly be seen when looking at the USD/THB rate where seven interest rate increases over the last year has failed to increase the value of the THB, in fact it is lower now than when the round of increase started last December.

Market sentiment and knowledge is far from perfect which is one of the reasons that we get bubbles that burst - 1997 and 2008 are a couple of bubbles that spring to mind :-k
Ashamed to be English since 23rd June 2016 when England voted for racism & economic suicide.

Disgusted that the UK is “governed” by a squalid bunch of economically illiterate, self-serving, sleazy and corrupt neo-fascists.

davecryan
udonmap.com
Posts: 250
Joined: January 21, 2009, 1:57 pm
Location: Rattanawapi.130km East of UT. Ex Manchester. UK

If Bangkok goes under - Thailand Floods

Post by davecryan » November 7, 2011, 2:26 pm

JimboPSM. Thank you...very informative =D> =D>

mally
udonmap.com
Posts: 366
Joined: February 1, 2007, 4:15 am
Location: UK / UT (as often as I can)

If Bangkok goes under - Thailand Floods

Post by mally » November 7, 2011, 7:57 pm

arjay wrote:See final link below re Moon River.
Thanks Arjay, I'll dig a little deeper, and keep an open mind for now.

User avatar
FrazeeDK
udonmap.com
Posts: 4910
Joined: February 13, 2006, 2:02 am
Location: Udon Thani Thailand

If Bangkok goes under - Thailand Floods

Post by FrazeeDK » November 7, 2011, 8:20 pm

flood waters are creeping ever closer to downtown Bangkok.. This last weekend saw the road outside Chatuchak Marker innundated and the adjacent MRT station closed. By noontime today (Monday 07 Nov) the waters had pushed further south to Saphan Khwai. A week ago the mass of water was 15km north of town.. Now its about 5km.. Of course, there are intervening Khlongs that go west to east that must fill up completely before the water comes further south.. Will another week see Central World, Rajaprasong, Sukhumvit, and the other business areas covered in .5-1 meter of water??? Tonight I saw more business on Lang Suan Road near Lumpini Park having thousands of sandbags dumped to build flood protection so they must think it is distinctly possible.... Time will tell...
Dave

mally
udonmap.com
Posts: 366
Joined: February 1, 2007, 4:15 am
Location: UK / UT (as often as I can)

If Bangkok goes under - Thailand Floods

Post by mally » November 8, 2011, 4:47 pm

OK, TAT saying one thing, forums saying another, and as I dont know where most of the areas of BKK are actually located, I have the big question.
Do I book my forthcoming vacation or not ?
My plans are to land at swampy Dec 16, fly straight to udon for a few days, I know UT is dry, but whar's the reaistic forcast for swampy in 5 weeks time ? Then down to Pattaya for 5 days, on to Hua Hin for 5 days, as both these places are south of BKK and on the coast, are they in the way of the flood water ? Also, what's the real situation with food (not forgetting drinking water & beer) ? After that I'll be going to Phnom Penh, then intended to visit BKK for 5 days in Jan before flying home. In BKK I mainly stay in the Sukhumvit area, which I read has not been flooded, but I do worry about sanitation & food supplies.
All this is planned between Dec 16th & Jan 10th, will it all be over by then as TAT says, or is the situation not so clear ?

lepidoptra
udonmap.com
Posts: 569
Joined: October 18, 2008, 1:46 pm

If Bangkok goes under - Thailand Floods

Post by lepidoptra » November 8, 2011, 5:16 pm

mally wrote:but whar's the reaistic forcast for swampy in 5 weeks time
I think if we could see into a crystal ball your question could be answered. The government has assured us that Swampy will not be affected. Unfortunately their information has to be taken with a 'pinch of salt'. If however Swampy is open for business your trip to Udon should not be affected as there is no need to leave the airport for your domestic flight. As you know Udon has no problems apart from prices rising for fear of a shortage.
If you intend to travel south from Bangkok it appears that the coastal resorts will not be affected.( Providing you travel by air).
Don't forget to change your money into Baht when you arrive in Thailand to avoid being ripped off in your own country.
Have a safe journey and enjoy your trip ;)

JR
udonmap.com
Posts: 633
Joined: June 12, 2007, 5:33 pm
Location: Udon Thani
Contact:

If Bangkok goes under - Thailand Floods

Post by JR » November 8, 2011, 9:51 pm

Re food and drink. Some shelves in big shops in Udon are empty, others stacked as usual. Soft drinks seem to be a problem. 1,5L bottles of Pepsi, Coke etc have not been restocked but small cans still available. Water still here. In a month time, it will probab ly not have been improved, probably worse.

User avatar
KHONDAHM
udonmap.com
Posts: 2428
Joined: November 15, 2009, 3:07 pm

If Bangkok goes under - Thailand Floods

Post by KHONDAHM » November 9, 2011, 12:13 am

mally wrote:Then down to Pattaya for 5 days, on to Hua Hin for 5 days, as both these places are south of BKK and on the coast, are they in the way of the flood water ? Also, what's the real situation with food (not forgetting drinking water & beer) ? After that I'll be going to Phnom Penh, then intended to visit BKK for 5 days in Jan before flying home. In BKK I mainly stay in the Sukhumvit area, which I read has not been flooded, but I do worry about sanitation & food supplies.
You will want to make some changes to that plan. Bangkok folk have fled to Pattaya and Hua Hin. My sources in Pattaya confirm drinking water, food, and lodging are all very difficult to come by. If you are knowledgeable about Pattaya's infrastructure, you know it was already teetering on the edge from over-development. It's pretty much over that edge now. Not so much information available about Hua Hin, but a neighbor who usually stays there has returned here because of the Bangkok refugees everywhere.

To avoid the shortages of water, food, and lodging, you may want to stick to the Isaan area. We're doing just fine.

FYI - I was shopping at the old Lotus yesterday and they were restocking everything. Shelves full-up.
Enjoy this site much more by adding idiots to your ignore list (Friends & Foes tab).
http:\\www.udonmap.com/udonthaniforum/ucp.php? ... &mode=foes

Post Reply

Return to “General Udon Thani Forum”