Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 7th January, 2017

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 7^th January, 2017

Today's weather;

It's still grey and very wet over Koh Samui, third day running now and more torrential rain is expected this morning. The rain isn't necessarily hard, but non stop and relentlessly coming down and there's still a fair bit of wind. Later today, currently predicted to happen around 4pm, the rain may drastically slow down and this may the sign of the rain slowly fading away in general. 

The current floods are harsh and seem to be worse than in recent early December 2016 but the 2011 floods on the island still seem to be worse compared to the current situation.

Roads are still flooded due to the relentless amount of rain but the airport was active last night and flights were departing at 11.30pm. The ferries between the mainland and Koh Samui-Koh Phangan-Koh Tao are still running although the situation especially on Koh Phangan seems to be dire.

The mainland in Southern Thailand is also very hard hit, trains stop now in Chumphon, roads and bridges have been wiped away and Nakhon Si Thammarat closed the airport down. 

The rain has now also reached the West coast and Phuket is having lots of rain now as well.

Follow my Facebook page for more updates.

Current temp at 7am is 24C, the next 7 hours some 76mm of rain are expected and 124mm over the next 24 hours, from 7am to 7am.

As the flood situation in southern provinces is getting worse posing threat to lives and properties of the people, Interior Minister Anupong Paochinda announced the upgrading of management of large-scale disaster to Level 3, according to ThaiPBS news.

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 7th January, 2017; The direct connection or road to our house in Plai Laem is still closed down. In front of Big C was passable yesterday but at the traffic lights in Bophud it was still flooded. The situation doesn't seem to get any better until later today, during the late afternoon

Yesterday saw relentless rain almost all day long, except a few dry spells during the morning. The airport was able to open up for a short while and some planes could land and take off. The situation was dire all around the island. Check my Facebook for more updates. Max temp yesterday reached 24C

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 7th January, 2017; The clouds over Southern Thailand as of 1pm last night Koh Samui is still completely covered but moving on to the outskirts now

The forecast is looking better, still torrential and relentless rain today until around 4pm and after that the rain should drastically slow down and come Monday morning it should start to clear up according to current forecasts. Later next week it should be partially cloudy and we even have some sunshine. The run off water from the hills will still be around for around a week though but things should slowly settle in and get back to normal. 

Do 'like' my Koh Samui blog Facebook page and don't forget to use my Camille's Samui hotel recommendation blog and my Camille's Thailand hotel recommendation blog for all your hotel bookings on Koh Samui and around Thailand. By doing so, you will support my blog. Thanks folks! 

Camille

Typhoon Haiyan / Yolanda rages over Malapascua island in the Philippines

By now most of my readers will have heard, read or seen about the devastating effect that typhoon Haiyan or Yolanda as it's named in the Philippines, caused around the Philippines and especially around the Tacloban area.

In this post I like to highlight the damage that occurred on Malapascua island, a place I've visited a few times and where I conducted a few PADI IDC programs and hence I have a few friends there, that hopefully I can help with this post.

Photo courtesy of Edmund James Y Porter

The above and below pictures give an idea of the devastation on Malapascua and I hope you are willing to help by donating, so the good folks on Malapascua can rebuild their lives and their island.

There's a website for donations dedicated to Malapascua which can be found here and there's a Facebook page 'Help Malapascua'.

Photo courtesy of Edmund James Y Porter

The island is known in diver circles for the rare sightings of Thresher sharks that can be observed here. Over the years a thriving diving industry has been build up and has become a livelihood to many local people.

Photo courtesy of Edmund James Y Porter

Despite the devastation as shown on the pictures, first reports seem to indicate that no one was seriously injured on the island or was killed by the typhoon, which is great news, considering other footage from around the Philippines.

The roads are now also open all the way from Cebu City to Daanbantayan, where the boats leave for Malapascua. relief efforts are being set up and tomorrow the first help should arrive on the island.

Photo courtesy of Edmund James Y Porter

If you want to get in touch with someone on the island, SMART communications stated that most of their towers should be back up and running within 1-2 days from now, hopefully that will include Malapascua.

Photo courtesy of Edmund James Y Porter

My thoughts are with the people in the Philippines and especially with all my friends on Malapascua!

Photo courtesy of Edmund James Y Porter

Don't forget to use my Camille's Samui hotel recommendation blog and my Camille's Thailand hotel recommendation blog for all your hotel bookings on Koh Samui and around Thailand. By doing so, you will support my blog. Thanks folks!

Situation on Koh Samui is under control

Situation on Koh Samui is under control

As predicted, the rain eased up during the morning around Koh Samui and I went out and had a look around some nearby parts and roads of the island, mainly in Chaweng, which are notorious for flash floods. Nothing is flooded, all roads are wet and some may have some large puddles but no road is flooded, except for the narrow back road from Chaweng to the departure lounge of the airport. The wind is also supposed to calm down and traffic at Samui airport has not been interrupted besides a few delays.

The situation in the Southern provinces is also easing up, as mentioned by Richard Barrow in his blog.

Red flags on Chaweng beach today

Chaweng beach is rough though and the red flags are up. It's definitely not a good time to swim, remember my warning of the rip currents just a few days ago. Nonetheless there was a Scandinavian family 'enjoying' the waves just some 50 meters away from the heavy incoming waves. I did go up and warn them, the Dad thought that he was fine and the warning was only for the open beach, not the part 'protected' by the reef. Less than 50 meters away big pieces of wood were bouncing up and down in the waves. He did call his kids and wife out of the waves though.

Just part of the debris gathering on the beaches around the island.

One resort was actually cleaning the beach, which is a good thing. I was less impressed with the fact that they just dug holes in the sand of about half a meter deep and deposited the debris in the freshly dug holes.

These guys had some trouble getting their flooded boat out of the water. Hope for them that they could secure the outboard or longtail motor

Apparently the seas were really rough 26th December but right now it was all under control, rough, yes, but nothing to worry too much about.

Waves at Chaweng beach around 9am this morning

All in all the current situation seems to be nothing to worry about, right now and I'm looking forward to some sunny days coming up soon.

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 5th April, 2011

Today's weather;

Samui woke up under a nice sunny sky this morning! Some deliveries to the island go slow, due to the bottle neck and floods in Surat Thani. Eggs and milk are very expensive. The clean up and repair work is full swing though and most of the water has receded from the roads on the island. Current temp at 7am is 27.5C

Yesterday saw plenty of sunshine and besides cleaning and fixing things, laundry was also a welcome option to many, clothes could dry again afterwards in the sun! Max temp reached 29.7C

More donations were received by Sean and Adam, keep the beer money coming people and also keep hitting the right buttons! It's much appreciated!

Recovery begins as rains ease by the Bangkok Post but Surat Thani is still critical.

Bt6.1bn relief fund as toll hits 51 dead, 29,000 ill by The Nation. Train travel remains suspended south of Chumphon, especially in areas from Thung Song to Surat Thani, where railway tracks remain under flood water.

A Public Health Ministry update yesterday gave a death toll of 51 for people drowned or otherwise killed in the two-week flooding crisis. The ministry said 29,414 people had become sick, including 227 suffering from stress or requiring counselling.
The number of people affected by the floods, updated yesterday by the government's ad-hoc relief centre, has reached 2,009,134, from 581,085 households. Those evacuated number 40,981, including 35,651 in Surat Thani. Around one million rai of farmland is flooded and 20,000 crew members of fishing trawlers are affected.

The Reggae pub a few days ago in Chaweng

A few people have asked how the situation is with respect to disease outbreak after the flood, a very good question. Samui should be fairly fine but large parts of South Thailand are badly affected.

Illness - mostly from respiratory problems - has struck more than 20,000 residents in flooded provinces in the South. They are seeking or receiving treatment at government clinics, hospitals, or from mobile medical units, Public Health Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said yesterday.

Land encroachers are blamed for the landslides in Southern Thailand, let's see if anything will be done to them in time to come!

Jack hammering the rock

Koh Lanta woke up under a nice blue sky and it looks like it's going to be a hot day! Current temp at 7am is 24.3C

Yesterday saw sunshine all day long and it was warm. Max temp reached 30.5C

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 4th April, 2011

Today's weather;

At last Samui woke up under sunshine, this morning! Clean up work is going on and repair work started everywhere. New pictures pop up everywhere and I try to give you some idea how mad it was and how things are right now. Current temp at 7am is 26 C

Thanks to Wieslaw for your donation, much appreciated, it helps to keep the spirits up and keep the blog going!

Yesterday saw a tiny bit of rain in the morning on Samui but sunshine during a hot afternoon! Max temp reached 29C

Some excellent pictures can be found on the My Home Koh Samui blog.

Many people keep asking about the condition of the beaches around Samui, well, here's a picture of Free House Bungalow on Bophud beach by Oh, from 2nd April. Later today I hope to get some picture from the beach near Centara hotel in Chaweng.

An aerial picture of Phun Phin, where Surat Thani's railway station is located, 4 meters of water were reported here, picture from the Bangkok Post.

On a good note, apparently highway 44 between Krabi and Surat Thani is open again so my gateway to Samui is open, now I can get to Surat and just need to find a way to get to Donsak and take a ferry to Samui come the 9th April.

How it was, bridge in Chaweng near Ali Baba, picture by Joe Clasby.

Parking

Sunset yesterday on Koh Lanta

Koh Lanta also woke up under a blue sky with a current temp at 7am of 24C

Yesterday saw a nice and hot day on Koh Lanta, max temp reached 32,4C

Camille

Samui clean up in full swing after floods

Samui clean up in full swing after floods

After some encouraging pictures of clean up work in full swing in Nathon in my 'Welcome to April 2011' post yesterday, here's some more good news. Most roads are getting dry now, especially after this afternoons sunshine and the roads are being cleared of sand.

Remember my post with an update of 30th March, with pictures of the big rocks that fell down on the road between Chaweng and Lamai?

Today they started jack hammering the rocks to pieces, which will take a few days, but the clean up and repair works are in full swing! Did you notice the nice blue skies?

Here today, gone tomorrow

Please keep an eye on my blog for the latest updates on the weather forecasts and clean up and repair activities.

Despite the clean up work on Samui and the sunshine today, here's an update on the overall situation in the South of Thailand by the Nation.

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 3rd April, 2011

Today's weather;

Samui woke up with another dry day to look forward to and although the sun isn't out right now, it should come out later today. Food is coming in, Big C and Tesco Lotus Chaweng have been re stocked and the markets have fish again because the fisherman are going out fishing. Current temp at 7am is 24.3C

Yesterday saw a dry day with some sunshine and repair work is in full swing, see yesterday's post. That's a good thing and I hope to be able to give more updates on clean up and repair work in progress soon. Most roads are dry or are drying up now. Max temp reached 28.6C

Thanks Joanne for a donation made!

Jet skis downtown Chaweng, roaming beach road, no jet ski scam recently on Samui!

The land roads to Samui are still blocked however and highway 44, between Surat Thani and Krabi, my gateway home has collapsed bridges and the old road north of Phuket is not an option since 4 meter floods are reported in Phun Pin, where Surat Thani's rail way station is. It may be possible of getting to Samui by making a big detour over Ranong. The roads from Chumpon to Surat is packed however by 100's of cars that can't move on and people are parked at the side of the road and on gas stations. It's going to be interesting to get back home again!

Flooding by night

Dear readers of my blog, I appreciate very much that you check in and that you are concerned about your upcoming trip and holiday to Koh Samui but please;

-Please keep in mind that I do NOT have lists of individual hotels and their current state. If I stumble over one or hear about one I will post it here on my blog.

-If you're planning to visit Koh Samui within a week or so, expect a damaged island with a lot of clean up and repair work going on. I'm sure that hotels that aren't affected will do their uttermost best to accommodate you but Samui won't be at it's prettiest! Everybody wants tourists to come back, beach clean ups will also be conducted.

-If you're planning to visit Samui around mid April, I would expect a lot of damage and debris been taken care of and your visit should be fine.

-Anybody planning on visiting towards the end of April or early May or even later, don't worry. Do not reschedule for November, that's usually Samui's rainy season!

Flooding in Khanom late March 2011

-As before, please support my blog with either donations, hitting the beer allowance buttons or keep booking your future hotel stays on Samui and around Thailand on my Samui hotel recommendation blog or Thailand hotel recommendation blog. Please bookmark them.

Koh Tao evacuation, picture by Neil van Niekerk

-For information about Koh Tao, check out Ayesha's blog on Koh Tao, she claims that all is fine on Koh Tao and they never had food or drinking water shortages and should be up for diving and business as usual later today!

For Koh Phangan updates check out the 'My Jungle life' blog for updates.

For Phuket updates, check out Jamie's Phuket weather blog.

On the HTMS Chakri Naruebet, evacuation from Koh Tao picture by Neil van Niekerk

Koh Lanta woke up under a lightly clouded sky but I expect the sun to burn through rather quickly and it should be a lovely day! Current temp at 7am is 24.2C

Koh Lanta has been lovely yesterday. During our dive trip of the current IDC on Lanta we had a flat ocean and got slightly sunburned in the face or if you weren't careful, your whole body. Max temp reached 29.3C

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 1st April, 2011

Today's weather;

Things are definitely on the up, Samui woke up under sunshine this morning! Motorbikes are moving around again in front of our house in Plai Laem on a road that had unprecedented levels of water on it. The current temp at 7am is 24.7C

Most roads around Koh Samui are fine again, some have a few puddles on it and some are still flooded, overall though, things are improving and especially having a forecast with 7 days of more or less sunshine will definitely improve things around all three Gulf islands.

Yesterday saw some bits of rain but just 8mm over the last 24 hrs. Max temp reached 25.5C

Wading and swimming in the water near Donsak

For all people contacting me, last night I answered emails and messages on my blog for over 5 hours, from 18.30 onwards last night. A lot of the questions are very repetitious and I must first of all thank you all for showing support, especially David and Peter for their generous donation and Robert as well.

-However, please keep in mind that I do NOT have lists of individual hotels and their current state. If I stumble over one or hear about one I will post it here on my blog.

-If you're planning to visit Koh Samui within a week or so, expect a damaged island with a lot of clean up and repair work going on. I'm sure that hotels that aren't affected will do their uttermost best to accommodate you but Samui won't be at it's prettiest!

-If you're planning to visit Samui around mid April, I would expect a lot of damage and debris been taken care of and your visit should be fine.

-Anybody planning on visiting towards the end of April or early May or even later, don't worry. Do not reschedule for November, that's usually Samui's rainy season!

-The weather forecast for the next 7 days is good, with plenty of sunshine, no wind and just a few occasional drops of rain. I can only hope that the weather will be as it usually is during April and that's HOT!

-Due to the overwhelming amount of mails and messages, I won't be able to answer each individual mail or message anymore at the rate they're coming in, please accept my apologies for that but please read the above, it should answer 99% of all questions! Questions out of the ordinary I will definitely answer.

-As before, please support my blog with either donations, hitting the beer allowance buttons or keep booking your future hotel stays on Samui and around Thailand on my Samui hotel recommendation blog or Thailand hotel recommendation blog. Please bookmark them.

-For information about Koh Tao, check out Ayesha's blog on Koh Tao, she claims that all is fine on Koh Tao and they never had food or drinking water shortages and should be up for diving and business as usual later today!

For Koh Phangan updates check out the 'My Jungle life' blog for updates.

For Phuket updates, check out Jamie's Phuket weather blog.

In the meantime, Koh Lanta woke up to a lightly cloudy sky and it looks like more sunshine may be ours later today and yesterday saw actually bits and pieces of sunshine with a few rare drops of rain, the dive boats went out yesterday! Current temp at 7am is 24C and max temp reached 28.2C yesterday.

The biggest concern right now is still the province of Nakhon Si Thammarat and all of a sudden the province of Krabi with it's landslides.

So far 13 people have been confirmed to have died as a result of the recent weather in Southern Thailand.

Especially the Ban Ton Harn Ville in Khao Phanom district has been hit hard. Luckily there has also been a feel good story, at least partially!

I'm looking forward to a speedy recovery for Koh Samui and all affected areas and that rebuilding may lead to a good job done and will prevent unnecessary and avoidable flood situations.

Camille

More updates about floods and drought in Thailand, March 2011

More updates about floods and drought in Thailand, March 2011

The Bangkok Post has a very good graphic displayed below that shows the affected areas that have severe flood and severe drought. All in one country. For good measure, some earth quack affected provinces are thrown in as well.

Ever considered this; A crocodile is captured by zoo workers yesterday at Suan Somdej Phra Sri Nakharin Park, where Nakhon Si Thammarat municipality’s zoo is located. It was one of 11 crocodiles that escaped the flooded zoo. Zoo staff shot dead one crocodile and caught three others. Seven remain at large. Two bears also escaped. NUCHAREE RAKRUN

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 29th March, 2011

Today's weather;

Samui is waking up under very dark clouds and is about to assess last nights torrential rain damage. Just over 400mm came down over the last 24 hours and 90mm between 1 and 4am. There will be damage to roads and buildings, I just hope it all will be within limits and reason.

Current temp at 7am is still 25C

The tendency is that all long term residents have never experienced anything like the current floods, even the November 2010 floodings were not as bad as the current situation.

The water levels in front of our house on the road between Plai Laem and Choengmon have never been as high as they are now. A lot of problems are caused because the water is 'boxed' in and can't follow it's natural flow to the ocean because of too much construction blocking the way to the ocean.

There are power cuts all over the island, so land phone lines won't work and the batteries on mobile phones will be getting very low soon or are dead already. The power cuts are either genuinely because of over load and are partly on purpose in order to avoid electrocutions. The spaghetti wire above the roads doesn't really look too re-assuring.

Max temp yesterday didn't get any higher than 26.5C

The current prediction is about another 80mm of rain for Samui and surrounding islands until 7pm today and than it's supposed to ease off with sun and no waves and wind starting from Friday onwards.

Good luck to everybody on Samui, hope it will be all good again very soon!

The situation on Koh Phangang and Koh Tao is not looking good, especially Koh Tao seems to have had some serious battering with plenty of structural damage and they must be running low on food and especially drinking water by now. I don't expect the airport to open today, due to wind and rain.

The overall situation in the South of Thailand is very bad, see the chart below. The current death toll is nine. The Nation resports; Flood waters are now wreaking havoc in the provinces of Chumphon, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Surat Thani, Trang, Krabi and Phatthalung.

To date, 13 districts of Surat Thani have been declared disaster zones, with the inundation having damaged four bridges, 11 roads and two temples.

Education Minister Chinnaworn Boonyakiat said the flooding had damaged 613 schools in Trang, Krabi, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Surat Thani, Songkhla and Phatthalung.

Bangkok Airways cancelled all 36 domestic and international flights in and out of Samui yesterday, due to the severe thunderstorms hitting the island and the surrounding area. It said affected passengers should contact its ticketing office to rebook their flights at no additional charge.

Meanwhile, just as the floods have been raging in the South, PM's Office Minister Satit Wongnongtaey said 47 other provinces were suffering from drought.

Chaweng ring road

Bophud

Koh Lanta's sky is also dark and grey but the amount of rainfall here is just a fraction of what came down in other parts of Thailand. Current temp at 7am is 25.5C an yesterday's max temp reached 27.6C.

Yesterday saw some heavy rain but nothing serious. 'Just' 45mm of rain in 24 hours. All dive boats were cancelled yesterday though and I'm not sure if the dive boats will run today. As far as I know the car ferries are still running.

A next updated is not expected before noon since I'm conducting and IDC on Lanta and won't have time to be online that much.

Keep hitting the right buttons though to upgrade my beer allowance and if you plan on booking hotels on Samui or around Thailand, please use the links provided, all bookings through these sites will help me make more beer money!

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 28th March, 2011

Today's weather;

Samui is still covered under dark clouds, just like the rest of Southern Thailand and the region South and West of Thailand. It looks like a lot more rain is going to come down today and the ferries to Koh Phangan and Koh Tao might not run today because of big waves. Current temp at 7am 26C

Yesterday saw another 95mm of rain pour down on Samui. The ferries connecting Samui to the near islands and the mainland in Donsak have been cancelled, due to big waves and the fact that once in Donsak there's no way out of there, as already posted by me two days ago and experienced by myself. The back roads to Kanchanadit are now flooded as well.

On Samui there are plenty of flooded areas, the Bang Rak area as pictured below, Laem Din market and the ring road before entering Lamai, the usual hot spots are flooded again.

There were a few moments without rain shortly after noon but other than that it was almost non stop rain, including during the night. By Thursday the strong rain and wind is predicted to subside.

Max temp reached 27C

Nakhon Si Thammarat has been declared a disaster area and some areas in Surat Thani have undergone the same treatment, see The Nation's report here.

The flooded area in Bang Rak, the fire brigade trying to pump water away.

In sharp contrast, this is Koh Lanta yesterday!

Koh Lanta has also dark clouds this morning and it just started to rain. Current temp at 7am is 24.5C

Yesterday saw a very nice and sunny day on Lanta, after a slightly cloudy start but soon the sun broke through and it was warm and nice. Max temp reached 31C

The weather here predicted to be rough today but the rain should slow down by tomorrow and it should be all good again come Friday!

The IDC on Koh Lanta also kicked off yesterday and it was easy cruising in the sunshine yesterday!

If you find my blog and updates useful, don't feel embarrassed by donating some beer money! Plenty of buttons do the trick here and if you want to book your hotels on Samui or in Thailand, please use the links provided. It all helps to keep this blog going!

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 4th November, 2010

Today's weather;

Samui's situation should start to ease up as of today. Almost all night there was electricity and although currently it's still raining and the roads at lower parts of the island are still flooded, the rain and wind should slow down essentially in the course of the day and I would expect water on the flooded roads to recede accordingly.

One of the problems that occurs each year with rains like this will be the run off water from the hills which may continue for days after the rain has stopped. Current temp at 7am is 24.7C

Yesterday saw Big C, Tesco Nathon and a few others open their doors again, the difficulty was in getting there! Many 7-11's were closed though, especially during power outages.

The amount of rain that came down yesterday was a bout a third compared to the previous day, 'only' 107mm.

Another blog where you can see loads of water and rain pictures is Elina's Samui blog.

The airport opened again yesterday at 3pm and the the forecast would allow the ferries to pick up their services very soon as well. Max temp reached 27.2C

It's been difficult being away from Samui during these times but I'm glad that I can have very regular contact with my wife and children and also with many other people on Samui and even Koh Tao.

The real problem areas in Southern Thailand are around Hat Yai and my thoughts go out to the people that are affected by all this water and the flooding there.

It's been amazing how many visits my blog had, just over 1.000, two days in a row with well over 4.600 page views and loads of enquiries and comments. If you're happy with my blog and updates and the information you receive, feel free to leave some beer tokens! Thanks to all who visited and left messages, keep coming back when Samui starts to turn to 'normal' again.

Airport road, with thanks to Richard ten Brinke

Getting back to my situation on Koh Lanta which is in total contrast to Samui! My IDC is coming along nicely and weather conditions are just fine here. Although a lot of rain is predicted for today, there are plenty of blue spots in a partly overcast sky. Current temp at 7am is 26C

Yesterdays sunset at Klong Nin on Koh Lanta

Yesterday morning started out with rain until about noon when it cleared up and the remainder of the day was sunny and agreeably warm and people came out to hang out on the beaches. Max temp reached 31.2C

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 3rd November, 2010

Today's weather;

Samui is recovering after having been in the news a bit yesterday. Right now there's still rain but the wind is slowing down and electricity has been on almost all night long, to the relief of all residents. Current temp at 7am is 25.5C.

The forecast is looking a lot better as of this morning, today subsiding winds and still a lot of rain but than slowly the wind and amount of rain goes down pretty much each day to be over by the weekend and the sun might pop out again!

It's interesting to look back at some pictures from the November 2008 flooding, which wasn't anywhere near what happened this time around.

My family is doing fine so far and we're in steady contact.

The ring road in Lamai yesterday

Koh Lanta is wet this morning, Phuket and Phi Phi, which you can see most of the time from here, where covered and white clouds but in front of Lanta were some dark clouds and they're shedding their water weight right now. Current temp at 7am is around 26C.

Today my IDC continues after having had a day off yesterday.

7-11 Lamai at ring road yesterday

Yesterday saw 263mm of rain come down on Samui, yesterdays posts with pictures and video tell the story pretty much and today has another glimpse on conditions around the island.

Things are slowly getting better now though and by the end of the week it all should be back to normal. Just hope the island can be restocked with food etc very soon and the ferry schedule will be resumed soon. Max temp reached 27C

Besides Samui, it was Songkla and Hat Yai that really have been hit bad, a lot worse than their last flooding 10 years ago with water reaching a 3 meter height at some parts.

Koh Lanta on the other hand had some really hard storm condition around 5.30am but by 7.30am it was dry again and by noon the sun was out and it remained dry pretty much the rest of the day. Max temp was around 30C

Camille

Koh Samui storm early November, some pictures

Koh Samui storm early November, some pictures

Although I'm enjoying a sunny afternoon in Koh Lanta, I'm in regular contact with my family and friends back on Samui and the stories are interesting.

Since yesterday evening Samui is having a lot of rain and somewhere during the night the power went off, not to come back as of right now, a good 18 hours later! Apparently the power may be off for another 2 or 3 days due to a problem at the main power distribution station.

A view on the ring road near Bangkok-Samui hospital

Here on Koh Lanta we had very strong and heavy wind very early in the morning but around 8am that subsided and we have sunshine now during the afternoon.

Samui on the other hand is in for less wind and almost no rain tomorrow but than another 3 to 4 days of rain are on the horizon before there may be any sign of sunshine again.

Chaweng downtown

As expected and as shown in the picture above, there is flash flooding around the island, this picture showing downtown Chaweng. With the new drainage system, I expect the water to subside a few hours after the rain stops.

More flooding in Chaweng

My wife reported about flash flooding near our house in the Plai Laem area. Let's hope they can get the power back on again quickly!

All the best to my family and friends on Samui.

Camille

4th October, 2009

Today's weather;

A cloudy sky with plenty of blue spots has welcomed this new day over Samui with a current temp at 7 am of 26.8C.

Yesterday saw dry but not that much sun. Max temp reached 30.5C. Today it's full moon, for some here that means party time at the Full Moon party.

After typhoon Ketsana has left the building, the Philippines are now undergoing the power of Parma. Good luck to them.

Camille

2nd October, 2009

Today's weather;

There's heavy overcast over the ocean but for the first time in a while the sky over land is laced with plenty of blue spots. Current temp at 7 am is 25.7C.

Yesterday saw a lot of overcast all day long with during the afternoon some scattered rain drops and some heavy rainfall during the evening. Max temp reached 29.5C.

We're still on the outskirts of Ketsana, that by now has reached Thailand but has been downgraded to a tropical storm.
My thoughts go out to the people in Samoa and Padang, Indonesia who endured a tsunami and a serious earthquake.

Camille

30th September, 2009

Today's weather;

Fairly cloudy with strong wind, that's how this month is going to end. It's currently 28C at 7 am.

Yesterday saw very strong wind all day long, in contrast to what I reported early in the morning for the previous day! It culminated last night in a seemingly constant storm after midnight. Tropical storm Ketsana is being felt in the Gulf of Thailand,
There were already massive flooding in the Philippines with almost 300 dead and Ketsana raged over Vietnam yesterday. On top of this, Samoa and American Samoa have endured a tsunami after an earthquake in the ocean nearby.

Max temp was around 31.8C.

Camille

25th August, 2009

Today's weather;

Plenty of overcast this morning but the strong wind that prevailed yesterday seems to have finished, for the time being at last. Current temp at 7 am is 26.2C.

Yesterday and today all speedboats have been cancelled due to very strong wind. The TMD or Thai Meteorological Department has some 'heavy rainfalls and strong wind waves' warning up, including for Surat Thani province, of which province Koh Samui is part of. There are similar weather patterns right now over pretty much all of South East Asia.

Yesterday saw overcast and some rain until noon, after that it cleared up nicely and the sun came out. There were some heavy wind bursts during the afternoon though. Max temp reached 30.8C.

Camille

6th July, 2009

Today's weather;

It's slightly overcast but the sun is peeking through. Current temp at 7 am is 25.7C

Yesterday saw a warm day with plenty of sunshine and bits and pieces of overcast. Around 6.30 pm we had our current regular evening shower. Max temp reached 31.7C

There is some major flooding in the general South East Asian region and specifically in China, Vietnam and India where dozens of people have died due to major water problems.

Camille

8th May, 2008

Today's weather;

A very blue sky is reigning this morning with a current temp at 7 am of 27C.

Yesterday was warm and sunny throughout the day, although it started out rather cloudy. Max temp reached 33.8C.

By now I assume that everybody is well aware of the human tragedy happening in Myanmar, due to cyclone Nargis. A death toll possibly reaching 100.000. Pictures that I saw last night on TV showed a completely changed coast line. similar to the Tsunami effect on Bandah Aceh.
Let's hope the aid workers are allowed full access soon.

Camille