We travelled at lunchtime to Fortune Town, which remains part of the little island of dryness in our part of Bangkok – Sutthisan is cut off (well, we could probably get through if we really wanted), as is Ladprao towards the entrance (i.e. declining numbers) from the Pawana junction (soi 43 is flooded now). The level of floods varies considerably since the ground beneath varies considerably.
Anyway, going along the back road from Ladprao 64 towards Sutthisan we went past the sois that run parallel to ours (we are soi 1 which has been redesignated as soi 2) and also parallel to the Ladprao klong (which is running high but not yet overflowing). Several of the lower sois (and some are noticeably below road level) had large puddles of up to perhaps a few cms deep. The water seems to be coming from the drains – not sure whether the klong itself has an impact but it seems hard to believe it is wholly irrelevant.
While we were there, it rained and soon began to pool up (drains are very high of course) so it was not possible to tell any more about floods instead of rain.
In any case, it is an ill wind that does nobody any good: along the roads now are numerous people selling boats and oars (or paddles) – these are plastic affairs, mostly one-person or more if you are small, I suppose. People are also selling wellington boots (which I had never seen here before) and plastic trousers, large plastic containers (for keeping clean water in) and bricks and so forth which can be used to support the fridge or other expensive consumer goods. Thais are entrepreneurial, after all – I suppose all people are entrepreneurial but some are more able to express it than others.
