Thailand Floods

I got very nervous a few days before I was to leave and began to wonder if my trip was even going to happen. Thailand was experiencing the worst flooding in years and it already closed one of its two international airports, Don Muang. The flooding was quickly approaching its other airport, the one that I would be flying through, Suvarnabhumi. Fortunately, it would remain open with the aid of a 3.5 meter barrier around the entire airport, six reservoirs able to store 4 million cubic meters of water, and two pumping stations that can move 1 million cubic meters of water per day.


I arrived in Bangkok around 10pm and went through immigration. My original plan was to check in to a hotel near the airport and then relax with a Singha beer and Thai pancake, before flying out around 8am the next morning. However, when I found the shuttle to my hotel I was told it was flooded and could no longer be reached. I went in search of a hotel on the other side of the airport that was safe, at least for now, from the flooding, and would accept the voucher given to me from my original hotel as compensation.

I found a hotel and just wanted to shower and get a quick nap. I figured I could get my Singha beer and Thai pancake when I flew through Bangkok again going from Bhutan to Myanmar. Bangkok was hot and humid but fortunately the hotel had an air conditioner, however that was just about all it had. There was no hot water, so I opened the window, took a cold shower, and then turned back on the air conditioner. I went to set the alarm clock so I could get up in time for my flight, only to find out that there was no alarm clock. I figured I could use my phone but it was a little low on battery power, so I got my charger, voltage adapter, and went to plug it in. That’s when I realized there was no alarm clock because there were also no electrical outlets anywhere to plug it in to. I got around 20 to 30 minutes of sleep that night as I was constantly checking my phone in fear that the battery died.

Having accomplished nothing more than taking a shower I was glad to see no further flooding. I was able to get back to the airport for my flight out on Bhutan’s only airline, Drukair, operated by the government.

On the way to the airport I met a fellow traveler from the US, Michelle, who just came from Myanmar and was heading to Bhutan on my same flight. We talked about past travels and she provided me with some information on Myanmar. They weighed our backpacks, checked our passports, visas, and route permits, and we were off to the departure gate. Foreigners are restricted to only two cities in Bhutan, Paro and Thimphu, unless you can secure additional route permits, which we both had done. We said goodbye and went to our seats.

VIDEO: Bhutan Introduction