TAT: Tourists need not worry
The Tourism Authority or Thailand reiterates today that there are no barriers for tourists in Thailand or who want to go to Thailand journey.
Although the situation in Central, North and Northeast Thailand is serious, there are no problems for tourists. In the south of Thailand (Phuket, Krabi, Koh Samui and Koh Chang) nothing is wrong and tourists can enjoy a well-deserved holiday.
Virtually all major tourist destinations such as Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Lampang, Sukhothai, Kanchanaburi, Ratchburi, Pattaya, Ko Chang, Rayong, Phuket, Krabi, Trang, Ko Samui and Hua Hin and the provinces have not been flooded and the weather conditions are normal for the time of year.
tourists who information wishes can call the TAT Information line: 1672 (in English). Current weather forecasts can be viewed on the Thailand Meteorological Department website: www.tmd.go.th/en
Update for bangkok
The areas in central Bangkok where tourists usually go are not flooded and are fully accessible. The situation is normal, both for visitors and residents of Bangkok in these areas. Most reported flooding occurred in provinces north and east of Bangkok.
The city of Bangkok is protected by a large network of walls, dikes, canals and drainage tunnels. The city government uses this network to manage water flow and limit flooding in the city. Some remote suburbs of Bangkok city could face flooding if the current situation continues. During periods of heavy rainfall, localized flooding of certain low-lying streets and neighborhoods in Bangkok may occur. This is usually solved quickly by water pumps that are deployed en masse.
The Chao Phaya River, which runs through Bangkok, is at a higher than normal level. This causes some local flooding along certain parts of the banks. The water flow is monitored by officials and every effort is made to prevent major flooding.
The area around Suvarnabhumi Airport has significant flood protection measures in place. The airport has not been affected by flooding and is operating normally.
The water levels in Bangkok can be seen on the website of the Royal Irrigation Department: http://dds.bangkok.go.th/scada
Detailed information for tourists can be found on the website of the TAT: www.tatnews.org/
tried to buy drinking water this morning, was at TOPS and Tesco Lotus here in Lad Phrao and there was no bottle available, racks are completely empty, there is beer and cola, but NO drinking water
Hahaha…the TAT? The club that should stimulate tourism to Thailand? It would be news if the TAT declared the opposite.
A Thai simply cannot say anything negative, that creates the wrong forces. Follow the reports about Bangkok in the Bangkokpost and calculate the given figures. Follow the figures on the expected amount of water and the possibility of how much of it can be dumped into the sea per hour. Then you can expect nothing other than that Bangkok will also be partly covered. The airport has a storage capacity of 4M cubic meters and can discharge 1M cubic meters per day. There will be 5.000 cubic meters of water towards the airport. OK, keep thinking positively, just like the Thais.
For the holiday goers in the making. Thailand is very big. If you place the north on Denmark, the south ends up at the bottom of Spain. Enough space for a holiday.
What's the real truth? We leave for Thailand on Thursday and would like to be informed of the correct situation.
@ As it says there. I spoke to several people today, both in Bangkok, Pattaya and Hua Hin. No problems. No problems in the south either. Neither does Bangkok (yet). I can't make it more beautiful. Only Ayutthaya is not an option.
I am now in Bangkok, Banglampu. Our Guesthouse does bring all the stuff up, others don't. I don't think anyone can predict exactly how bad it's going to get. The fact is that a lot of water is coming. Between the 14th and the 18th it would be at its worst, bring life jackets ;P
@ Bangkok is 1,5 times the province of Utrecht. So it kinda depends on where you are.
I was only talking about the Banglampu district. In addition, I think that most tourists limit themselves to a few places in BKK, Banglampu is one of them. Despite the fact that this district is not mentioned anywhere as a risk area, many people are still busy carrying stuff around here. Good example of the confidence of the local population in the reporting of their own government.
I also wonder what the real truth is. It says 'tourists needn't worry' but is it so? I tried to follow the news closely and would leave for Thailand next Saturday for backpacking. As it looks now, I'm not going, because I simply can't make my tour. Major access roads are closed and the night train to Chang Mai hardly runs, if at all, then I would only be able to go to the South, while I would stay in the North/Northeast for at least 2 weeks. I don't think Belgium has issued a negative travel advice for nothing?
@ There are two options, adjust your itinerary or don't go. You can take a domestic flight to Chiang Mai.
Fear is always a bad counselor. There is not much going on in the Isan and there are many roads that lead to Chiang Mai, for example via Udon Thani and Loei. A real backpacker is not afraid of water.
Blub blub. Just kidding. Anneloes. Just go. “Backpacking”? That's adventure. You can shake your refund for your ticket. The situation must be much more serious for that.