The Great Lake of Siam
As I write this, a torrent of water is surging into downtown Bangkok.
Like many people, I considered the flooding of this giant megapolis extremely unlikely . Now I'm scrambling to make last-minute preparations.
Thailand's central plain is a giant funnel, and all of the waters from the annual monsoon season must drain out through the little hole on the bottom. This hole is also known as the capital city of Bangkok.
Since the modern urbanization, pavement and sprawl of Bangkok -- which was once a watery Venice-of-the-East -- the national strategy has been to stop up the drain and let the rural provinces upcountry take a soaking. The panic unfolding downtown can't hold a candle of calamity to the dozens of provinces which have been under water for weeks.
Although global warming is suspect, the true fault according to Thai environmentalists are more traditional human impacts: Deforestation, urban development and destruction of natural water ways.
Water and dried noodle disappeared from stores two weeks ago when the hypervigilant (we rolled our eyes) bought it all. So much for sharing. During the course of the past week, as waters continued to advance and a secondary torrent of conflicting information leaked out, it became apparent that the Thai government has been less than forthcoming with information. Censorship is a cornerstone of Thai governance, but trying to keep hands on the spout -- to stretch the metaphor -- has led to confusion, panic and fear. No one has known for certain whether they are in danger or not.
The politically divided leadership has fallen to finger-pointing and undercutting one another, further eroding the public's confidence.
The levee of doubt crashed open during the weekend, and residents leaped into action to save their city. Those efforts were quickly overwhelmed by fast-moving water.
Municipal officials have declared the remainder of the month a holday, and have just urged people to leave if they can.
FYI, I have been and will continue to update via the Twits channel to the right -->
