Sinking city, rising rage: Bangkok’s floods fuel fury over government inaction
As floodwaters surged from Bangkok’s drains, Fon’s car sank faster than her hopes of escaping the floods unscathed. She had bought it less than a month earlier. “I woke up at 5am but it was too late,” the 24-year-old said, recalling her decision last weekend to wait until dawn to move her car to a nearby shopping centre. “My car was already submerged. I hadn’t even started making the payments and…
Bangkok was inundated by relentless rain, pouring a month's worth of precipitation onto the city in just three days. The floods submerged parts of the city, including the Khlong Chan neighbourhood in Bangkok's Bang Kapi district. Fon, a 24-year-old resident, lost her newly purchased car when it sank into the floodwater, and she had to remain stranded in her apartment for five days after the deluge.
The government's handling of the crisis has sparked fury among residents, with Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul receiving abuse as he attempted to distribute relief supplies. Critics accuse the government of being unprepared and blindsided by the calamity, emphasizing that the lack of comprehensive flood defenses is a failure of successive Thai governments.
However, Anutin acknowledged the backlash, stating that the government has heard the complaints and is not ignoring them.
Written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
