Konmanee Supply Co. owner
Pairaj Konmaneee - an evacuee himself from the company’s headquarters in
Lopburi - said his stock levels have dropped to near zero.
Manoon Makpol
Pattaya residents complaining about heavy traffic and
light supplies of foodstuffs caused by Thailand’s devastating floods
should talk to Sumreng Khruemai, Praset Saengmai-on and Chaiyanan
Pansirisod. For these Bangkok-area evacuees taking refuge in the city,
flooding has imperiled a lifelong dream, a career and an everyday way of
life.
“I’m scared,” 75-year-old Praset said, “I lost my
construction job and my home has been flooded with so much water, it has
almost reached the roof. Rice and betel are hard to find and expensive
when you can. I’ve come to Pattaya for survival.”
Pathum Thani resident
Praset Saengmai-on (right) says, “I lost my construction job and my home
has been flooded with so much water, it has almost reached the roof.”
The Pathum Thani resident, whose home is near the
over-run Phraudom Canal in Lumkaew District, isn’t alone. Since flood
runoff from central Thailand smashed through levees and barriers into
metropolitan Bangkok last month, Pattaya has been inundated itself by
frightened, desperate and overwhelmed victims. The lucky ones have
enough resources left to afford specially discounted hotel rooms. About
12,000 less-fortunate souls have ended up in blankets on the floors of
schools and recreation centers around Chonburi.
Prasert has found work as a contractor with Pattaya’s
Konmanee Supply Co., but even though the supplier of storage tanks and
water pumps has not been affected by the water itself, the flooding is
still having an impact on the firm. Owner Pairaj Konmaneee - an evacuee
himself from the company’s headquarters in Lopburi - said his stock
levels have dropped to near zero as supplier factories have closed down.
He’s now trying to find alternate suppliers closer to Pattaya.
In parts of Bangkok - where eight of 50 districts
have been inundated - finding any sort of supplies has become nearly
impossible, said Nonthaburi evacuee Chaiyanan.
Lions Club of Pattaya
President Somchai Chancharoen (right) and Namchaichana Deeve (left), an
associate judge at the Central Labor Court in Bangkok, joined together
to donate more than 1,000 bags of relief supplies for flood victims in
Singburi, where the Bangsomsri Dam burst.
“Drinking water, instant noodles, baby formula, rice
and diapers are all in short supply and what there is cannot meet the
needs of those in Nonthaburi,” she said. “Near my home at the Mahasawat
Canal water is crashing into the embankments and my neighborhood is
flooded. I didn’t want to stay there anymore and came to Pattaya.”
Sumreng, a wheelchair tennis athlete, is also waiting
in Pattaya; not only for the waters to recede from his home along the
overflowing Chao Phraya River in Minburi, but to be able to restart
training for the upcoming Asian Games in Indonesia, where he was
scheduled to compete.
His practice sessions were canceled until further
notice and, once his house flooded, he fled the city to Pattaya. “The
situation is extremely frightening and the crisis is getting worse,” he
said.
For their part, Pattaya public officials, business
leaders and most residents are trying to make the unfortunate visitors
welcome.
“As a Pattaya resident, I want to welcome and
encourage all the flood victims,” said Namchok Ningthum, 25, of Huay
Yai. “Don’t give up because the water goes up, and it goes down - you
don’t have to worry about it. Later, it’ll be gone.”
“As a Pattaya resident, I
want to welcome and encourage all the flood victims,” said Namchok
Ningthum, 25, of Huay Yai.
Others, meanwhile, are trying to help those toughing
it out in the capital.
Lions Club of Pattaya President Somchai Chancharoen
and Namchaichana Deeve, an associate judge at the Central Labor Court in
Bangkok, joined together Oct. 28 and donated more than 1,000 bags of
relief supplies for flood victims in Singburi, where the Bangsomsri Dam
burst.
Following his return to Pattaya from delivering the
packs, Namchaichana said more than 400 families came out to accept the
supplies. “It may not be much, but these donations came from Pattaya
citizens are not facing the flood crisis directly, but still want to
help.”
“This is the time we all need to help one another,”
said Tourism Authority of Thailand Pattaya office Director Athapol
Vannakit. TAT has recruited nearly 40 hotels to offer steeply discounted
rates for flood victims. He said the city is ready to handle evacuees
even as high season starts and tourists will not be turned off to the
city because of it.
The influx of refugees is
causing traffic build up in the area.
Sumreng Khruemai, a
wheelchair tennis athlete, waits for the waters to recede from his home
along the overflowing Chao Phraya River in Minburi, so he can resume
training for the upcoming Asian Games in Indonesia.
