A BRIT holiday hotspot has declared a flood disaster after torrential rain left the city underwater and forced hundreds from their homes.
Thailand’s sprawling capital has been battered by almost 48 hours of relentless downpours sparking an emergency red alert.
Roads have been swamped, canals have overflowed and filthy floodwater has surged into homes and businesses.
Authorities declared all 50 Bangkok districts disaster zones on September 26 as the deluge brought parts of the city to a standstill.
Almost 300mm of rain has hammered the capital since the afternoon of September 24, with residents forced to wade through waist-deep water.
Around 980 people have been driven into temporary shelters, while 36 bedridden residents relying on life-saving medical equipment have been transferred to hospitals.
Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt urged residents to stay home as emergency crews battled to pump out the stricken city.
Vendor Somkid Pheuk-ngam, 67, who lives near a canal just north of central Bangkok told AFP: “The water keeps coming in. It’s hard to go out now. It’s like at my waist level now.
“I cannot go anywhere. I have been closing my shop for two days now.”
The torrential rain has even flooded areas around Don Mueang Airport, with floodwater pooling close to parked aircraft at nearby Air Force Base 6.
Waterlogged roads around the airport have sparked travel chaos, with around 10cm of water reported across several entrance and exit lanes.
Passengers have been warned to brace for delays and allow an extra two to three hours to reach the airport as traffic crawls through the flooded streets.
And the devastating scenes have stirred grim memories of Thailand’s catastrophic 2011 floods.
Somkid added: “I think this time is worse than the 2011 flood.”
More than 500 people were killed and millions of homes damaged when widespread flooding devastated Thailand 15 years ago.
The latest deluge has seen at least 13 roads flooded.
The eastern parts of Bangkok have been hardest hit, with those living alongside canals facing the greatest danger.
“Our problem is that the canals are full,” Chadchart said.
“We are cooperating with nearby provinces and try to drain water out through other sides, minimising the amount that flows into Bangkok.”
The governor urged those in vulnerable areas to haul their belongings to higher ground as more rain threatened the capital.
“The rain keeps falling and we are doing our best. We are trying to pump the water out, but the water in canals are full,” he said.
“The risk areas are those who live near canals. Every canal is now filled.”
Bangkok’s pumping stations have been running at full capacity as authorities fight to shift the vast volumes of water.
They were pumping a combined 1,200 cubic metres per second as municipal workers desperately tried to keep drains clear.
Worker Kwan Nobnom said: “Our job is to make sure rubbish along the road doesn’t block the drains, so the water can drain away quickly.”
“We thought this year would be dry, so we didn’t expect the flooding to be this bad.”
In the On Nut neighbourhood, residents were seen frantically filling sandbags to defend homes and businesses from the rising water.
Elsewhere, the sudden deluge left commuters facing a treacherous journey to work.
Motorbike rider Samruay Nakkamnueng said: “I woke up to go to work and the street in front of my house was flooded.”
“I worried if my motorbike would be able to wade through floodwater this much.”
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s disaster declaration gives local organisations special powers to respond to the crisis.
But Chadchart urged residents not to panic over fears flooded roads could trigger food shortages.
“The public don’t have to be panicked,” he said.
By mid-afternoon on September 26, the governor said the crisis had “stabilised” – but warned it could still take days for the water to disappear.
“If more rainwater doesn’t fall in the area, it will be solved.”
“If the rain stops, it is expected that it will take 2-3 days to drain the floodwater,” he added.
But forecasters warned Bangkok could face yet more punishing rain.
September is the peak of the city’s rainy season, but this month has been dramatically wetter than usual.
Bangkok recorded 487mm of rain between September 1 and September 25, compared with an average of almost 269mm over the same period between 1991 and 2020.
Thailand’s Meteorological Department warned heavy rain was expected to continue across much of the country through Sunday.
A powerful low-pressure system over central Thailand was also strengthening monsoon conditions.
Disaster officials warned eastern, north-eastern and central Thailand could face flash floods, forest runoff, mudslides and overflowing rivers until September 27.
Bangkok is particularly vulnerable to rising water, with the low-lying megacity built on former marshland and sitting only around 1.5 metres above sea level.
Once dubbed the “Venice of the East” for its vast network of canals, the city is now battling to use those waterways to drain away the devastating deluge.