Flooding Koh Samui January 2017

Flooding Koh Samui January 2017

Flooding Koh Samui January 2017 just about a month after we had flooding in December 2016 around the island and he tail end of the monsoon bites us in the behind again!

Flooding Koh Samui January 2017; Plai Laem this morning, this part of the road is now closed

Unlike last month, this should only last today and to a lesser degree tomorrow, Saturday the recovery should start already and come Sunday all should be fine again with the wind and rain gone.

The airport has been severely affected today and to the best of my knowledge, only the 6am plane Bangkok bound was able to take off, if at all. All other flights in and outbound have been delayed for the time being and I'm not to sure if there will be any more planes be able to depart or arrive today.

Car ferry traffic with the mainland was unaffected as far as I know and between Koh Tao - Koh Phangan - Koh Samui, some ferries may have run, but possibly not all of them.

Flooding Koh Samui January 2017; At the Bophud traffic lights, for small cars not a good idea at the moment, you will need at least a pick up or a similar high sized car

This is hitting Koh Samui hard though and there are floods all over the island. The amount of torrential rain today and last night is almost unreal. There's water everywhere. 

Flooding Koh Samui January 2017; Chaweng lake becoming a real lake again, little by little, drop by drop

All the usual suspects and lots of other places weren't able to handle the amount of rain today. Once the rain decides to stop, most or all of the floods will recede within hours. Around the Chaweng lake area various pumps are installed since early last month to pump the lake clear.

Flooding Koh Samui January 2017; The Chaweng roundabout near Chaweng lake, where everybody pretends not to understand how a roundabout is supposed to function when giving way, or rather, not giving way

Before the new drainage system was put in place, a few years ago, the water would remain for a couple of days, up till weeks. Now we just have to deal with the run off from the mountains once the water has receded.

Flooding Koh Samui January 2017; Between the ring road and the start of the one way section in Chaweng, going slightly down hill

A lot of the problems have been caused by construction being build without considerations of the natural water ways, seeking the shortest way to the ocean. These are a lot of times blocked now and contribute to the overall flood problem or in some cases cause them.

Flooding Koh Samui January 2017; The hill to Nathon

We didn't have floods like this since a long time but now we have them twice in the time frame of just one month apart. December saw some serious and continuous flooding, this should only be mainly today and to a much lesser content also tomorrow.

Flooding Koh Samui January 2017; The sheep farm in Maenam turned into an instant water park, enjoy it whilst it lasts! The salad hydroponics are ok, high and although not dry, yet safe

On the mainland the situation is even worse, especially the province of Pattalung has been hit very hard but various other provinces, starting at Surat Thani and South of it and mainly the Eastern side of Thailand, have some serious water and flood problems. South bound trains can't get any further than Nakhon Si Thammarat at the moment and some major roads have been blocked.

Flooding Koh Samui January 2017; The road to Nathon, under construction and under water

We need to sit this one out and hope for it to better or less come tomorrow, as the prediction stated. If you don't need to go out, stay inside today, is my advice at the moment.

Batten those hatches down!

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Camille