Inner Bangkok has remained free from the massive floods covering a third of Thailand mainly because areas around the capital have been effectively used as dams and sacrificed to keep the heart of the city dry.
New York Times reporter Thomas Fuller illuminates the human element of this sacrifice in a thought-provoking story that ran yesterday Oct. 30. Fuller quotes unlucky citizens just outside the Bangkok floodwalls that have had their homes inundated with “brown water reeking of rotting fish” to save the capital.
“I am just hoping this floodwall will break,” one man told Fuller. “I understand that you want to save the majority. But no one seems to think of us, the minority.”
It’s important to remember that while much of Bangkok as we know it has remained flood-less and fancy free, almost everywhere around the city – and many districts within it – are in critical condition with floodwaters as high as 2 meters.
The complete story is here.
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Most of central Bangkok, like Asoke intersection here, is dry. Photo: Coconuts Bangkok
