Bangkok Floods # 2

Latest from Management

Celine and I returned from Hanoi today to the latest message from management about the floods in Bangkok. The situation is getting worse but I don't see the water hitting 2 meters deep here in the center of Bangkok. But I could be wrong. The owner of our apartment block certainly thinks so. He told me I should leave Bangkok. He said the water will arrive in the next few days and that, in his words, I will have to "shit in a bag" if I stay. There will be no water therefore no toilet and no electricity when the floods arrive. While I was enjoying a swim in the roof pool today workers were installing a metal door too the access area to the pool. This, the owner told me, was to control residents access to the pool when it became the only source of water in the apartment block. He didn't want everyone coming to the pool to wash themselves. He also told me they were going to have an armed guard at all times. I am not sure why. My gut feeling is that this is all a bit extreme but I guess time will tell.

One of the airports was closed today and I think the government has declared a public holiday for the next few days. You can find the latest on the floods at the Bangkok Post otherwise Twitter is providing a constant flow of information.

Bangkok just had a pretty intense downpour for about 45 minutes.

Bangkok Marathon

Well it's official. I have signed up for the Bangkok Marathon...........well half marathon.

The race is on the 20th of November and starts at a very early 5am. I have to be in the starting line at 4.30am. To be honest I am not sure if I can get up that early and even less sure that I can follow up the early rise with a 21km run. My younger years of competitive sport have long been replaced by beer and couch sport. But, there is no going back now. It will be tough but I do have a goal. And that goal is to beat my brothers half marathon time from Sydney. That time, which still needs to be verified, is I think 2 hours and 15 minutes. Losing to a younger brother is not an option so I now have under a month to find a way to cover 21km in under 2 hours and 15 minutes.

The race starts and finishes alongside the Royal Grand Palace and passes some cool sites along the way. I am actually really looking forward to it.

So for anyone else keen on getting involved in the marathon day (there is also a 10km and 5km option) check out the link above.

Private Dancer

The bar scene in Bangkok

As the books front pages say this "should be compulsory reading for all first-timers to Thailand". It is an interesting take on the go-go bar scene in Bangkok from both a Westerners and a local Thai girls perspective. The book is based on the go-go bars in Nana Plaza, which is about a 20 minute walk from our place.

The whole foreigner - Thai relationship is prevalent in Bangkok. Most of my colleagues have Thai girlfriends; many expats in our flats have Thai girlfriends; and whenever you go out and about you will see a foreigner with a Thai girl. I am not saying that these relationships started in go-go bars. I assume most don't. However, I have had coversations with some foreigners who have met a girl in a bar and they often don't end well.

Anyway, I recommend this book for a bit of an insight into how the bar world in Bangkok works.

Flooding in Bangkok

Note from Management

The flooding around Thailand and the rest of South East Asia has been terrible. It is the topic of discussion with all of my classes. One of my students is the head of BCM for her company and has had to evacuate a number of her stores throughout the country. Two other students are experiencing some level of flooding and another has has to leave her house. Despite that they all seem to be pretty upbeat about it all. One of my students, who is in a problem area, told me that his house was flooded and then proceeded to laugh.

I am in the center of the city and from "most" accounts it should be ok here. That being said, all shops around my area have sandbags at the front of their stores. Our apartment block seems to be going to extremes with a mass of sandbags and even a small motored boat. I received the above letter under my door this morning warning about the potential floods in our area. I have the feeling it is a bit of an exaggeration.........I hope so anyway...........ten days of going to the toilet in a plastic bag does not sound that enjoyable.

This mornings article in the Bangkok Post has declared Bangkok safe so I think all the hard work by thousands of Thai people to divert the water has paid off. I can only hope that it get's better from now and people can have a chance to get back to their normal lives.