Welcome to Marches Travel News Page 2011/12

OCTOBER | NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY | FEBRUARY
| Back to News Index Page |
	THAILAND FLOODS....undermining the past........8.27am, Sunday 27th November. As floodwater recedes from the stricken plains of Central Thailand people are gradually rebuilding their lives. However rebuilding the physical past may be more difficult. At Wat Phra Si Sanphet, the World Heritage site in Ayutthaya, the rapid rise and fall of floodwater is causing concern, undermining these precious structures. The latest deluge may have delivered a fatal blow to some of the ancient capital's World Heritage-protected sites as frantic effort to sure up the temple walls is underway. THAILAND FLOODS…..trains to North, NE back to normal but monsoon rain batters the South.……..8.52am, Saturday 26th November. The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) has resumed its train services from today, Nov 26, on normal routes to the North and Northeast after the flood has receded, SRT public relations chief Nuan-anong Wongchan announced. Trains can now run from Hua Lampong past Sam Sen, Bang Sue, Lak Si, and Don Muang stations to destinations in the North and Northeast as usual. Northern routes: - Special Express Trains Nos 9/12 (Bangkok-Chiang Mai-Bangkok); - Special Express Trains Nos 1/2 (Bangkok-Chiang Mai-Bangkok); and - Rapid Trains Nos 105/106 (Bangkok-Sila At-Bangkok). Northeastern routes: - Express Diesel Trains Nos 75/76 (Bangkok-Udon Thani-Bangkok); - Express Diesel Trains Nos 77/78 (Bangkok-Nong Khai-Bangkok); - Special Express Diesel Trains Nos 73/74 (Bangkok-Sikhoraphum-Bangkok); - Special Express Diesel Trains Nos 71/72 (Bangkok-Si Sa Ket-Bangkok); - Special Express Trains Nos 67/68 (Bangkok-Ubon Ratchathani-Baangkok); and - Special Express Trains Nos 69/70 (Bangkok-Nong Khai-Bangkok). Meanwhile heavy rain, brought by the northeasterly monsoon, continues to hit many southern provinces, bringing flash floods to rural communities. Many roads are damaged and many people evacuated to higher ground. THAILAND FLOODS…..now southern regions affected……..7.47am, Friday 25th November. While Bangkok still grapples with runoff affecting western districts in particular, in the South, heavy rains have continued for four days, with floods in a number of provinces. Many districts of Pattani province are inundated and hundreds of families were evacuated. In Phatthalung province, runoff hit 11 districts, affecting over 23,000 families and flooded over 160 square kilometres of farmland. In Narathiwat province, floods occurred in Sungai Kolok, Rangae and Muang Narathiwat districts with depths ranging from 50 centimetres to 1.70 metres. Runoff and overflows are forecast in Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung, Songkhla, Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, Trang and Satun provinces and waves 2-4 metres high, caused by strong winds in the Gulf, are forecast along the eastern coastline from Nakhon Si Thammarat province southwards. THAILAND FLOODS....southern buses, trains back to normal……..8.29am, Wednesday 23rd November. The southern bus terminal has reopened today as previously announced, with services moving from the temporary station at Holland Brewery restaurant on Rama II Road back to the permanent location on Boromratchonnanee Road. The terminal itself is generally intact suffering little from flooding. The State Railway of Thailand has also announced the resumption of normal south-bound train services. The flooding in Bangkok's Bang Bua Thong, Bang Bamru and Taling Chan areas has caused train services to depart from Nakhon Pathom instead of the Hua Lamphong and Thon Buri stations in Bangkok. The situation in those areas had now returned to normal and the SRT had resumed normal services for all south-bound trains starting today, the statement said. THAILAND FLOODS……..1.43pm, Monday 21st November. With little news in recent days it may have been assumed things were quickly returning to normal in Bangkok. However the reintroduction of tollway fees is causing major traffic congestion as people return to the capital. Traffic is reduced to single lanes in some instances and with some key city roads still affected by the floods the situation is grim for many travelers. With this in mind the government as asked the tollway operators to suspend the levy to relieve traffic congestion. Don Muang district is still badly affected but should be clear by the end of the month. Meanwhile state-owned Transport Co returns bus services to south-bound Bus Terminal at Boromratchachonnanee Road from Wednesday as flooding eases. UNDERWATER TUNNEL OPENS IN VIETNAM........Sunday 20th November. The longest cross-river tunnel in southeast Asia, Thu Thiem, has opened to traffic across the Saigon River in southern Vietnam on Sunday. A big ceremony with the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which has invested in the project was held at the two ends of the tunnel.The 1.49-kilometer tunnel can accommodate up to 150 cars and 300 motorbikes, or between 500 to 800 people at peak time. Thus, it is expected to reduce the traffic flow on the overloaded Saigon Bridge. CAMBODIA'S ANGKOR AIR TO SERVE SIHANOUKVILLE........Saturday 19th November. Cambodia Angkor Air will begin a domestic service between Siem Reap and Sihanoukville from 14 December. The carrier will operate three weekly services using ATR72 aircraft, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday departing Siem Reap at 1410. The return flight will depart Sihanoukville at 1550. The flight time will be one hour and 10 minutes. The service will mark the first scheduled service to the airport since June 2007, when a PMT Air aircraft crashed into a hillside on its approach. All commercial flights to the airport were halted for safety reasons. THAILAND FLOODS....Suvarnabhumi arrivals down 25%........6.58am, Tuesday 15th November. Savarnabhumbi’s acting director, Somchai Sawasdipol, has confirmed he number of tourist arrivals at Suvarnabhumi airport had dropped from an average 130,000 a day to about 100,000 because of foreign tourists’ concerns about the widespread flooding. This is despite reassurances that the airport is unaffected. To emphasise the point Ning Paksee, planning and policy analyst in Sukhothai, confirms that foreigners were absent from the annual Loy Krathong festival there on Thursday. They would, of course, have been most welcome. THAILAND FLOODS……..6.02am, Sunday 13th November. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration on Sunday issued an announcement declaring three communities off Rama II road in Samae Dam sub-district of Bang Khun Thian district evacuation areas. They are the Karn Kheha community 1, Sapsin Pattana community, and Chuam Samphan community in Soi 88 off Rama II road. Meanwhile floodwater at many inundated spots in Bangkok has continued to recede gradually, reports say. These include Ratchadapisek, Vibhavadi Rangsit, and Phahon Yothin. The situation generally is expected to improve this week as sea levels fall allowing more rapid drainage of floodwater into the Gulf. HALONG BAY IS A NEW WONDER OF NATURE........Saturday 12th November. The New7WondersFoundation has announced that Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay is one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature after the first count of global voting ended a day earlier. The seven locations have been reduced from an original 440 locations in 220 countries in a campaign lasting four years. Ha Long Bay is located in the northern province of Quang Ninh. It features thousands of limestone karsts and isles of various sizes and shapes. The bay has a 120-kilometer long coastline and is approximately 1,553 square kilometers in size, with 1969 islets. INCREASE IN VISITORS TO PREAH VIHEAR........Friday 11th November. Foreign visitors to the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple, on the Cambodian-Thai border, rose almost 78 per cent between January and October compared with the same period last year, despite a deadly border dispute that drew international attention in February. The increase was probably due to its raised profile while local visitor numbers were down reflecting the unrest there. 3rd THAI-LAOS FRIENDSHIP BRIDGE OPENS……..Friday 11th November. The newly constructed Friendship bridge at Nakhon Phanom has opened as planned on the auspicious 11/11/11 (Prathem Rattanarachasuda). Construction of the bridge by Italian-Thai Development Plc lasting 900 days spans 780 metres across the Mekong River and cost 1,723 million baht. The bridge connects Ban Hom in tambon Artsamart of Nakhon Phanom's Muang district with Ban Veun Tai, 13 kilometres South of Thakhek town in Khammouane province of Laos. It links with roads through Laos to Vietnam and southern China. THAILAND FLOODS........1.16pm, Friday 11th November. Highway 340 due to re-open……..With Rama II Highway still exposed to threat of closure due to flooding the Transport Minister has announced that Highway 340 will reopen soon. This highway through Talin Chan and Supan Buri should be cleared today of remaining floodwater. Areas still at risk are confined to areas near the Gulf including Savarnabpumi Airport. If these area remain dry in the next week then the crisis may well be over. THAILAND FLOODS........7.08pm, Thursday 10th November. Bangkok dry within 10 days……..That is the prediction based on latest calculations as floodwater appears to be receding in some metropolitan areas. Confidence is building that no new areas are under immediate threat including the important transport hub at Victory Monument. The capacity of pumping stations is now at least equal to the water entering the city. November 15th will see sea levels falling after recent high tides. This will allow much more water to drain naturally from flooded fields into their natural water course particularly the Chao Phraya River. However there is still a large body of water surrounding the city, 60% being to the west. In Thonburi it is expected that water levels will remain high for 2-3 more weeks. In Ayutthaya a big clean up day has been announced, signs of improvements there at least. THAILAND FLOODS…….12.58pm, Tuesday 8th November. Good news, bad news……..For weeks reports of new areas affected by floodwater and enforced evacuation has appeared in the media. The latest area affected is Bung Kum including the Prime Minister’s residence which is protected by a sand bag wall. Bung Kum is astride Khlong San Saep, evidence that the water is trying to drain into the Gulf of Thailand. The good news is that water levels are falling in Prathum Thani to the north down about 50 centimetres. Three bus lines have commenced travel using the northern highway out of Bangkok. It is hoped that all but a few minor roads will be dry there within 10 days. THAILAND FLOODS........2.09pm, Monday 7th November. No end in sight……..Chatuchak and Khlong Samwa are the latest areas to be evacuated as floodwater moves further into central Bangkok. There is report that water has moved down as far as Supan Kwai. The disruption to travel continues. Rama II Road is closed in places and diversions are in operation. The southern bus terminal on Boromratchonnenee Road is closed due to flooding. A temporary terminal has opened at the Holland Beer Hall on Rama II Road, which has the capacity to handle up to 60 buses at a time. The MRT is subject to restrictions but presently remains open as is the BTS offering the quickest route across the city. After warnings by their own governments foreign travelers are avoiding travel. My recent flight to the UK was only about 20% capacity. While Suvarnabhumi Airport remains functional there is no comfort for travelers to Bangkok with road closures, food shortages and uncertainty. Many destinations in the provinces remain unaffected directly by the floods but access may be difficult. There are no reports of food shortage there but unless you are better advised this is not the time to travel. THAILAND FLOODS........7.57pm, Wednesday 2nd November. Inter-provincial buses were avoiding flooded Vibhavadi-Rangsit road and using Chachoengsao and Samut Sakhon as gateways to the North and North East. From the bus terminal at Morchit Mai, the northern-bound buses use the Si Rat expressway to go to Rama IX road before entering Maha Chai in Muang district and Ban Phaeo district in Samut Sakhon. They then use a route to Nakhon Pathom’s Kamphaeng Saen district to go to Suphan Buri’s Si Prachan district and other provinces in the Central Plains before going further to the North. For the northeastern route, the buses also travel along the Si Rat expressway to the Motorway. They then enter Bang Nam Prieo and Phanom Sarakham districts in Chachoengsao before using Highway No 319 to Prachin Buri and going via Nakhon Nayok and Sara Buri to the North East. Trains are avoiding the flooded areas at Don Muang and the key rail junction at Bang Sue. North and northeastern trains now depart for Chachoengsao before heading north to Phachi Junction in Saraburi province. Southern trains cannot depart directly from Hualumpong. Passengers for southern destinations are being bused to Nakhon Pathom to pick up trains from there. Meanwhile floodwater is spreading further into the city. Travel is becoming difficult in more areas. The MRT is affected in certain stations and Bang Sue is closed. Some bus routes are suspended. Clearly the city is best avoided for the casual visitor at present.
Wat Phra Si Sanphet, Ayutthaya
Halong Bay Panorama
Preah Vihear Temple
Flooding in Bang Khen
Moon River in Ubon Ratchathani in Full Flood
Floodwater Reaches Bangkok Streets
A Multistory Car Park or a Place of Safety?
New Fashion Footware for Bangkok Floods

If you have any information on the flooding in Thailand I would be pleased to hear from you Email: marchespast@yahoo.co.uk