Bangkok hit by torrential rains. The authorities of the Thai capital declared a state of natural disaster in all of its 50 districts on Saturday September 26.
If the floods have “stabilized” since Saturday afternoon, according to the city governor, Chadchart Sittipunt, the damage is considerable. Nearly 300 millimeters of rain have fallen on the metropolis since Thursday.
“The water keeps rising. It’s difficult to get out now. It’s up to my waist,” Somkid Pheuk-ngam, a 67-year-old seller who is on the edge of a canal near the center, told AFP.
“I can’t go anywhere. I closed my shop for two days,” she adds, estimating that she has not seen such floods in the city for fifteen years.
Rain has been falling almost continuously since Thursday afternoon, flooding the roads, swelling Bangkok’s many canals and seeping into the buildings that line them in tight rows.
A person wades through floodwaters in the Bang Bua district of Bangkok, September 26, 2026 © Wikus De Wet, AFP
Many roads were also flooded on Saturday, AFP journalists noted. Residents were forced to walk in water sometimes reaching their knees, or even their thighs, in several neighborhoods.
“I woke up to go to work and the street in front of my house was flooded,” says motorcyclist Samruay Nakkamnueng, in the Ari district. “I wondered if my bike would be able to cross that much water.”
In the On Nut district, an AFP journalist saw residents filling sandbags to take home to protect their homes and businesses.
Emergency measures
Bangkok authorities announced that they had prepared one million of these sandbags for distribution and opened several temporary shelters in schools.
Declaring a natural disaster allows them to take emergency measures.
According to Governor Chadchart, the most affected part is the east of the city. “It continues to rain and we are doing our best. We are trying to pump the water, but the canals are full. The risk areas are where people live near the canals,” he told reporters.
Also readSeven of the nine planetary limits exceeded, the Earth is absorbing less and less shocks
He encouraged patients bedridden at home and dependent on vital medical equipment to consider a temporary stay in hospital.
Water levels began to stabilize thanks to the city’s pumping stations, which were operating at full capacity, discharging some 1,200 cubic meters per second, the BMA (Bangkok Metropolitan Administration) said.
Once nicknamed the “Venice of the East”, Bangkok is built on ancient swamps and sits just 1.5 meters above sea level.
Record rainfall
Municipal employees were busy Saturday trying to clear the roads.
“Our job is to ensure that trash along the road does not block the gutters, so that the water can drain quickly,” explains Kwan Nobnom, one of the members of one of the teams wearing bright orange raincoats.
September is the peak of Bangkok’s rainy season, but it has been wetter than usual, according to data from the drainage and sanitation department.
Also readThailand: people flee deadly bar fire in Bangkok
The capital recorded 487 mm of rain between the 1st and 25th of the month, compared to an average of almost 269 mm for the same period from 1991 to 2020.
Scientists warn that the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events will increase as the planet continues to warm due to fossil fuel emissions.
The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation reported a low pressure area in eastern, northeastern and central Thailand until Sunday. He said there was a risk of flash floods, forest runoff, landslides and river overflows.
In 2011, major floods across Thailand killed more than 500 people and damaged millions of homes.
With AFP
