News about the heavy rain and floods in Southern Thailand has been spreading internationally. Unfortunately, by and large they have been both inaccurate and late in their reporting. The first provinces to be hit were the ones in the deep south; Narathiwat, Yala, Pattana and Songkhla. Out of these, only Songkhla is visited by tourists, in particular the city of Hat Yai. The business district of the city was never flooded and flood hit areas already had their Big Clean-up days ago. Most areas are now dry. In Yala, people have been cleaning their homes and schools are expected to re-open tomorrow.
The second round of floods and bad weather hit areas in places like Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phattalung, Chumphon, Trang and Krabi. However, it wasn’t always widespread and quite often it was only in outlying areas where tourists don’t visit. The above picture taken yesterday in Krabi shows a sunny blue sky. The top picture shows another blue sky above Samui after the rain has now stopped. Ferries to Samui and Koh Pha-Ngan are operating as normal. People on Phuket are also reporting blue skies.
One of the worst hit areas at the moment is Nakhon Si Thammarat. However, the rain has eased off today and the sun has come out. The airport is now fully open and operating as normal. The local government report that they expect all roads to be accessible by tomorrow. Some areas in the city are dry already and they expect the situation to be back to normal within 3-5 days if the rain stays away. A section of the rail track near Nakhon Si Thammarat is flooded and passengers have to change to bus. But this will improve soon.
For the latest news on the weather and flooding situation in Southern Thailand, please follow me on Twitter @RichardBarrow.
A headline in the Daily Mail today says “New travel warning as floods continue to hit troubled Thailand”. They go on to say that “Holidaymakers planning trips to Thailand should take extra care after the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) issued new travel advice for the flood-hit country.” None of this is really necessary. The situation is under control and improving quickly. Foreign tourists have hardly been inconvenienced apart from some rainy days.
Thanks for your uptodate information that we can always rely on. My local newspaper here in Singapore had a picture of a badly flooded street in Had Yai today. But I already know from your travel blog that they had a big clean up the other day. Thanks also for posting pictures of places with sunshine. Good to know it isn’t raining all the time.
We’ve we traveling from Krabi to Bangkok by bus and we did get stuck in a very flooded areas where our bus was almost half way submerged in the water! The worst part no one told us that we are going to travel through flood affected areas nor gave us option to opt for alternative way of traveling which I thing is wrong! They are not publicizing how bad floods are just save their tourism and they are taking risks as they don’t want to loose money which I think is not acceptable. We were lucky as we made it to Bangkok just with our backpacks completely soaked but the journey could have ended differently.
Sorry to hear that your luggage got wet. I guess this must have happened in Chumphon Province which was badly flooded over the new year. You have to pass through there to get to Bangkok. The main road there is nearly dry now according to reports yesterday. I know what you mean about not being warned. I was staying in a guesthouse once alongside the river in Sukhothai. The river was nearly empty and it hadn’t been raining so didn’t think any of it. I woke up in the middle of the night with several feet of water in my room. It was a flashflood from further north. My laptop and mobile phone that was charging were submerged. Sometimes there just isn’t any warning. I presume in your case your backpacks were in the compartment under the bus. The driver was wrong to drive through the flood without thinking about the consequence. He probably just thought it was fun.
Not only weather but also economic, politics, culture, arts and others else in Thailand are misinformed and even too over exaggerated by foreign press.
Hi Richard,
I have a holiday in Koh Samui next week and was wondering what is the situation around the choenmon Beach area, is it flooded or effected in any way.
Back to normal for this time of year. Certainly no floods. Last pictures I saw showed a blue sky.
Hi Richard,
We will go going to Phuket next Sat. Is/will Phuket be affected pls???
THanks!
Phuket is not affected by the floods that they had down South. Phuket is on the West cost and has its own weather system.
Hi Richard,
First of all Happy New Year and thanks for your post. I have a big trip planned from 14th Jan – 24th Jan covering Phuket (Patong Beach), Krabi (Ao Nang Beach) and Bangkok.
I would appreciate if you could give me some insight on my travel plan. Is it safe to travel to these places during this period? Is the flood still there?
Can you also let me know if you recommend water activities like snorkeling and day tour island hopping during this time?
I appreciate any information that you can provide me with.
Thanks,
Vik
There are no floods in Phuket as it wasn’t affected. Though they have had some rain. I will be flying to Phuket tomorrow so I will give you some live updates on Twitter if you are following me. They had some rain in Krabi but last reports say this has cleared up. But, there might be more.
Hi,
How is the situation in Phuket, is it flooded? safe to travel?
I’m planning to travel during the weekend from 15th Jan 2012 to 17 Jan 2012.
Br
Rakesh K
Phuket is an island and any rain is often drained quickly. Anyway, it is in a different part of Thailand to where they recently has floods. So, no problem for you.
Oh I almost forgot another point.
I am planing to travel from Krabi to Bangkok by Bus on 19th. Is it safe to do that?
Thanks
I am sorry, it is impossible to give any guarantees but you should have no problem. Be careful with leaving valuables in bags on overnight buses. Also, as someone commented before, if driving through floods, make sure the driver allows you to take your luggage out of the compartment below the bus. However, from what I have seen on the TV, all roads are now open and should be all dry by the end of the weekend. But then again, sometimes Mother Nature does things her own way and might send us some more rain.
As a backup to the backup, I’d also recommend keeping your stuff in plastic bags “sealed” with a elastic bands, and kept within your main bag. (Re-Sealable Ziplocks works as well). That way, you will have “dry bags” within your main bag. Think of it like the multiple ballast-tanks in a ship. If one plastic bag leaks/breaks you still have all the others…
But Richard is right, hand-carry your most valuable stuff with you on the bus. You can look at Pac-Safe, and other brands for their products. Also, You can try retractible locks, which are light, and secure. I used to chain my main backpack to the rails on the racks of the overhead compartment with a simple small padlock and a dog-chain. (choker chain). Just choose the ones which have welded links. They are cheap, easy to buy, and you can easily dispense with them when your trip is done.
All said and one, if you are dressed “flashy”, the chances of getting robbed dramatically increases. In a nutshell, use common sense. Hope this helps…
Cheers
Hi,
We will be travelling to Krabi soon – next week Thursday.. And wanted to get an update on the weather – in particalur if eveyrthing is opened as usual( eg island hopping tours) And is there any flooding around ?
many thanks