Returning to Flooded Ayutthaya…
On October 6 I visited Ayutthaya to see the extent of the flood. If you haven’t read the post, go to Ayutthaya Underwater. Areas located by waterways were difficult to get to by car but with perseverance we finally made it to our planned destination, Wat Chiawatthanaram.
Photos of four separate areas were taken that day: A small (still unnamed) community alongside the highway, Klong Sabua floating market, Wat Mahathat (famous for the Buddha head wrapped in the tree), and Wat Chiawatthanaram (which also had a floating market community).
After I left Ayutthaya, the floods increased. Newspapers reported transportation going from wheels to waves. For weeks after, the only Ayutthaya updates were made by rescue crews or a few hardy photographers and news teams. With boats needed to get supplies into the region, unnecessary visits were ill-advised.
Over a month later, on November 17th, I returned to Ayutthaya to see what progress, if any, had been made. Below are photos comparing both visits.
A small community in Ayutthaya…
Bridges especially were difficult to access so it took many stabs before we finally made it to Wat Chiawatthanaram. This was the first community we stopped at. It was impossible to go on so we turned around, to try again from a different angle.
OCT 6: This video shows how far down the highway the flooding went.
OCT 6: Compare this before photo with the following after photo.
NOV 17: During 40+ days the water rose to further swamp the area, and then subsided, allowing the community to clear mud, muck, and garbage from the intersection.
OCT 6: This before photo shows the right of the intersection.
NOV 17: Fairly dry, check out the watermarks on the Family Mart. And unless the mud wall was raised, I doubt the community outside these walls stayed dry.
OCT 6: On my various trips I came across flooded sois similar to this one. Many residents chose to stay in their homes, guarding against robbery. To access their homes, a few built walkways, others waded in or went via some sort of floating contraption. Due to a shortage + crazy prices, boats became optional methods of transportation.
NOV 17: As you can see, the road isn’t totally dry but it’s only been a few weeks since the water started subsiding.
NOV 17: This sign was posted across from the Family Mart. During the floods many people lost their livelihoods. No work = no pay. After no income for weeks (months?) those with cleaning skills have it made. For now.
รับจ้าง ล้างบ้าน /ráp jâang láang bâan/
โทร 08-025619940 /toh/
NOV 17: In front of shops and houses are piles of refuse waiting to be taken away. The piles, some quite high, consist of ruined clothes, furniture, floors and interior walls. Similar sights are found on the edges of Bangkok.
NOV 17: When you compare the flooded photos to this one, you can see just how hard the communities in Ayutthaya are working to clean up their city.
But Ayutthayians are not alone in this mess. November 10 was the first official cleanup day for the ancient monuments. December 5 is the next. For more about the clean up days, read We Care Ayutthaya Project to Clean the City.
Wat Mahathat, Ayutthaya…
By my visit on October 6 the flood still hadn’t arrived at Wat Mahathat. There was a bit of standing water but that’s it.
OCT 6: The before and after photos from this angle are almost identical…
NOV 17: …That is, until you notice the bleached out bricks and the vegetation now missing from the lower walls and fences.
NOV 17: Due to the flood damage you can barely read the sign for Wat Mahathat. What’s apparent is that the entire sign was under water for awhile.
Now, check out the house across the street. From this photo the house looks to be lower than the Wat but when wandering through the grounds at Wat Mahathat I came across watermarks many feet higher than my head. And I stand around 5′ 3″.
A closeup of the watermark on the house can be seen below.
NOV 17: Hindsight – There’s nothing in this photo to show scale. Pity. But you can better bet that everything on the ground floor of that huge house was ruined.
NOV 17: A ticket seller at Wat Mahathat points out how high the flood got. Twenty feet to the left of this photo, where the ground dips into a small lake, it was higher still.
Note: During my trip there was no entrance fee’s at the Wats. So no 10 baht for Thais and 50 baht farang fees to get into the monuments.
I’m not sure how I feel about the decision to forgo entrance fees. The Wat’s gardeners mentioned that they’d been off work for weeks without pay. And while I didn’t see many tourists, the monies collected do add up. And well… you know.
NOV 17: Only last weekend Richard Barrow had to wade to get to the famous Buddha head. By the time I got there, it was standing water only. Did you notice the watermark?
To get an idea of the height of the head, scroll down on this page to the last photo: Buddha Head in Tree Roots, Wat Mahathat, Ayutthaya.
NOV 17: Note the watermarks on the bricks at Wat Mahathat.
NOV 17: All three Wats I visited had watermarks. This photo shows watermarks at Wat Phra Si Sanphet (ancient royal palace).
Klong Sabua floating market…
This floating market was discovered during yet another abortive attempt to locate Wat Chiawatthanaram. The Wat was close, merely further up the road and across the river to the right. But without a boat, we had to backtrack. Again.
OCT 6: The flooding in this area was recent – take note of the pristine white sandbags.
Market Water Ayutthaya Klong Sabua
ดลาด น้ำ อยธยา คลอง สระบัว
dà-lâat nám a-yà-tá-yaa klong sà-bua
NOV 17: Between the two visits the sandbags either slid down the mud banks or were carted away. A bit of both? Note the different water levels under the bridge.
OCT 6: I took two different angles of this house but you can easily see the contrasts in the water levels.
NOV 17: If I were to build a house in Thailand, it’d be on stilts!
OCT 6: This and the following photo was taken with different camera settings, skewing the perspectives. Here I’m standing on dry ground but in the below photo I’m well into the previously inundated road.
NOV 17: This community lives close to the river so the floods will be around for awhile.
Wat Chiawatthanaram, Ayutthaya…
And we finally make it to Wat Chiawatthanaram! A mere two days before my first trip the Wat flooded.
OCT 6: Tough going, it took us a half hour to wade from just below the top of the soi to this point.
NOV 17: Note the lower water level and the now dead shrubs. In Aytthaya’s cleaned up areas the dead hedges and brown shrubbery are a dead giveaway of places once underwater.
OCT 6: This isn’t exactly a great video but you can see the water level, the mud dykes, and the still green trees. Also shown in the photo is an often seen sight – a dog rescue in progress.
NOV 17: In a bid to limit the damage, the pumps are slowly draining the Wat. Because if the Wat dries out too fast, the ancient bricks and mortar could crumble. A real fear.
OCT 6: The comparison photos were taken at different times of the day, with this one being around 3pm and the following trip around noon.
NOV 17: The biggest difference (that I can see) between the two photos is the appearance of the shrubbery in the foreground and the sign partially submerged.
OCT 6: These girls were having fun goofing off in the water.
NOV 17: And here’s the same spot, only further away. The motorcycles mark the spot where the gals played.
OCT 6: A practical Thai house on stilts.
NOV 17: Same house but it’s now weeks later and not much damage, if any, is visible.
On the way back from Bangkok…
The way back to Bangkok on the second Ayutthaya trip got really hairy. Khun Pissout often asks locals about flooding conditions and this time he was given incorrect advice. Someone mentioned that the way we’d come in the morning was no longer an easy return so we went a different way. Smack into the heavily flooded Wang Noi.
At several points the water was too high so we were forced to backtrack along major highways into oncoming traffic. Scary. There were trucks, vans, and tractors. We were the only taxi.
More than the car sputtered, coming close to a complete stall in the deep water.
Even with the mostly cleared off Don Muang Tollway, it took us more than three hours to get to Aytthaya. The way back? Almost five.
Thai Floods: 2011…
The Thai flood posts keep marching on:
Ayutthaya Underwater: Bangkok Now Bracing for Floods
Bangkok is STILL Bracing for the Thai Floods. Barely.
Thai Language Thai Culture: Primer on Thai Disaster Words
Thai Language Thai Culture: Basic Thai Flood Phrases
Bangkok Flood Info: Preparing for Floods in Bangkok
Thailand’s 50 Million Blue Whales Flood Bangkok
Karn.TV Cartoons: Flooding in Thailand
Thai Floods: FROC’s Highway to…
Thai Floods: 1000 Boats? Nope. Just 6 Boats Pushing Flood Water
What’s next? Well, as I mentioned in a previous post, there’s still the Big Bag Barrier… we’ll see.