According to this news article from ABC, the residents of Bangkok are hoping that a series of dams, canals and tunnels spares the city from this year's intense flooding that has caused catastrophic damage to Thailand's rice-basket region, just upstream from Bangkok. Recent news reports have shown footage of residents in Ayutthaya using boats to travel down the city's streets.
This seems like deja vu. Exactly four years ago, I wrote this blog post: Flooding in Phitsanulok, Thailand. My wife says that her family in Ban Dong Phayom (Phitsanulok Province) has been hit hard by the flooding. Houses are raised on piles in the rural farming village where she grew up. Even so, her brothers and sisters have reported that the water level has risen enough to enter a large percentage of the elevated dwellings.
Typical home in Ban Dong Phayom. Photo by Kevin Borland.
My newphew's wife just sent me these photos she took near her home in Nonthaburi. Nonthaburi is just northwest of Bangkok.