Flood swamps Mae Sai market

[Khun Don]

Flood swamps Mae Sai market
Published: 4/08/2012 at 06:50 PMOnline news:
Flash floods have created havoc at the main border market in Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai as the Mekong River surged close to crisis levels in Nong Khai.

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Photo by Post Today

A third day of torrential downpours unleashed flash floods after the Sai River, the natural border between Thailand and Myanmar, burst its banks. The floods inundated border markets on both sides of the river.

Vendors at the Sai Lom border market in Mae Sai district and those at the Tha Lor market on the other side of the river in Tachilek town hurried to evacuate.

The Sai River surged to 2.48 metres, above the critical level of 1.9m.

The disaster prevention and mitigation office also issued landslide warnings in low-lying areas.

In the northeastern province of Nong Khai, the Mekong River peaked at 11 metres on Friday, the highest level this year.

Officials in Muang district mobilised water pumps at the main sluice gates to drain water from the city centre to prevent further flooding.

The water in the Mekong River receded to 10.6 metres on Saturday although it is still close to the critical level of 12 metres.

Authorities also put nine more water pumps on standby.

In nearby Nakhon Phanom province, the Mekong continued to rise. Farmers feared their crops would be flooded if the river kept surging. which prevents rivers and canals from flowing into it.

The Mekong River's rise has caused its banks to subside in parts, pulling down more than 10 homes in Muang district.

The provincial disaster prevention and mitigation office has prepared emergency equipment and boats to be deployed if necessary.

The office also instructed operators of ferry boats across the Mekong River to take precautions while navigating the fast currents of the river.

BANGKOK POST

[Betti]

I wonder if the Mae Sai border crossing, well known and essential for visa runs for most expats in the north, and also heavily used by Thais for cross-border shopping and semi-legal import of stuff, is open or not. not that I have a need to find out, just weird that it wasn't mentioned in the article.

[Khun Don]

Presumably it is open-fairly sure article would have mentioned it if totally closed-maybe it is still possible to use the bridge-which if memory serves is a reasonable height above the river.

[Betti]

but the markets are right next to the bridge - if those are flooded, almost certainly it means the access to the bridge involves a fair amount of wading in water, eve if the bridge itself is passable. anyway, I don't envy anyone with a border run to do these days. (and I bet there are updates and photos on thaivisa for anyone who really needs the latest info, it's a huge community and there is always info on these things.)

[Khun Don]

Probably still passable-report would have said so otherwise-obviously not for benefit of visa runners-but the Tachileik-Mai Sai trade.

[Khun Don]

Mae Sot hit by floods as Moei bursts it banks
August 10, 2012 4:22 pm

Vendors in Tak's Mae Sot district were forced to suspend business on Friday when the Moei River burst its banks following days of heavy rain.

About 100 border patrol police and rescuers rushed to the scene to help evacuate the vendors from the flooding, which was about 50 centimetres deep.

About 300 shops operate along the bank of the river, which demarcates the border between Thailand and Myanmar.

A rescue centre was set up to help affected residents in Tambon Thasailuad area.

The floods also reached downtown Mae Sot after water overflowed the spillway of a reservoir. Police had to divert vehicles from Rachakarn Rassadorn Damri 2 and roads around Mae Sot's district office, which were under 70 cm of water.

Mae Sot Municipality has been declared an emergency zone following torrential rains over the past month, which have caused reservoirs and rivers to overflow.

Water in Mae Sot reservoir, located in Tambon Pra That Pha Daeng, overflowed on to the spillway and increased the level of water in creeks, triggering floods in the municipality around 10am.

The municipality office has issued a flood warning for local people to evacuate and move their personal belonging to higher places.

Meanwhile in Chiang Mai province, Tassanai Buranapakorn, mayor of Chiang Mai Municipality, had inspected 10 flood barriers along Mae Ping river after heavy rain in the area over the past two weeks.

Last year, more than 800 cubic metres of water per second flowed pass Chiang Mai Municipality but the capacity of Mae Ping River was able to handle only 500 cubic metres of water per second.

The authorities were not able to increase the river's capacity due to construction blocking the flow. There were also no water retention areas in the municipality.

"We hope that these 10 barriers will prevent Chiang Mai City from flooding this year," Tassanai added.

However, he said Pa Prao Nok community is at risk of flooding as it is in a low-lying area. The municipality could not finish the barrier construction in time for this year's rainy season and will therefore build a temporary dyke and install water pumps to drain water from this area.

Meanwhile, Thai Meteorological Department reported that the northern and northeastern provinces of Thailand can expect heavy rain during next two days. Light rain showers are forecast for Bangkok and nearby provinces.

THE NATION

[fileeep]

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I liked this place as soon as I got here. For me, it really had a nice feeling about it. It did seems that the whole town is a market as it is huge and everywhere you walked there seemed to be another stall.

Just a few photos for anyone that has never been.

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The border crossing bridge Betti mentioned and a great little restaurant to the right that would have been flooded by the rising river. .
Thailand on the right and Myanmar (Burma) on the left.

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Looking up river, the building on the right is accommodation, nice but a bit run down, damp and smelly At this point you could walk across the river to Myanmar.
Thailand on the left and Myanmar (Burma) on the right.

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And zooming up river, a nice little guest house that would have also been under water.
Thailand on the left and Myanmar (Burma) on the right.


This little border town is really worth a visit….just not at this time.

[Khun Don]

Have not been there for many years. Is it still full of gangs of very persistent child beggars and street vendors selling what are supposedly sleeves of foreign cigarettes?

[fileeep]

I didnt see any of that Khun Don....i stayed 3 nights and found it to be a very pleasant experience with nice little cafe's and great food. when i took the photo of the Mae Sai sign, there was a off duty police man sitting there and offered me a beer from his cooler, i had some beers in my car so we had a few by the river and a chat....nice.

[Khun Don]

Good to hear-the kids in particular were a real pest-they would follow you all over town-6-8 of them in a gang- demanding money-some occasionally stopping to pick up things outside shops to get chased away by shopkeepers.