Mally,mally wrote: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 ?
here is a regularly updated map of how Bangkok is currently looking with the floods:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8& ... 8a39456d14
I live on Sukhumvit in Bang Na (Bangkok), work in Bangphli (Samut Prakan) and I am out daily visiting clients all over Bangkok almost every day of the week, and so far, I/we have been relatively unaffected (luckily) by any of the floods currently hitting some areas. Other than logistic disruptions due to road closures, it's pretty much business as usual for most of Bangkok.
The floods are currently predominantly affecting the Northern Districts of Bangkok, although they are moving in on both the West and the Eastern sides of the city.
No centrally located areas of Bkk have, at this time, been 'badly' affected. So at the moment, most tourist areas are perfectly ok to visit other than a number of places close to the river adjacent to Thonburi.
Here is a regularly updated tourist map showing the locations of affected tourist destinations in Bkk:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=210 ... urce=embed
Don Mueang Airport, the old international airport, has been closed until further notice due to flooding. The two domestic airlines operating from Don Mueang have temporarily switched their operations to Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok has not been affected by the floods and is operating as per usual. The airport has considerable flood protection measures in place and officials are monitoring the situation closely. This could change overnight though.
All other airports in Thailand are currently open and operating normally.
MRT/BTS is currently operating normally and only some bus/train routes have been slightly affected by the floods.
The problems with food/water/beer/soft drink shortages are being dealt with, but will take time to rectify, no one really knows for sure how long it will take though - the key is trying to tone down the panic buying that is now happening on a daily basis - no suppliers/manufacturers can increase orders to the demand required in such a short space of time.
Imported products are now starting to make up for the shortfalls.
Also logistics are a real headache due to Distribution Centres being located in the affected areas, but most companies are trying to relocate them.
To summarise, the floods are expected to hit much of Bangkok over the coming weeks, there are lots of theories being presented in the media, but to predict the future is very difficult at this stage.
The bottom line is that no one really knows how things will be in 1 week, so planning that far in advance will be very difficult.
Best plan for you would be to check back in for an update nearer the time.
But with an alternative holiday plan prepared (more time in Udon maybe ) as if the situation get's worse in Bangkok, then areas such as Pattaya and Hua Hin will be even worse then they are now for supplies - due to the locals heading out of town again to avoid the floods.