The Rain Finally Stopped. Here’s How Bad the Flooding Was.

🌡️ Weather: 25-28°C (77-82°F). The five-day monsoon warning ended yesterday. Bangkok now expects 10-20mm of rain daily instead of the 300mm that caused the disaster. Lighter showers, not downpours. But floodwater is still draining in the eastern districts and near canals.

🌫️ Air Quality: 68-94 (Good to Moderate). Clean across the city. The monsoon did its job. Enjoy it.

🗞️ TOP STORY

THE CABINET DECLARED SEPTEMBER 28 AND 29 SPECIAL HOLIDAYS IN BANGKOK AND THREE SURROUNDING PROVINCES. 400+ SCHOOLS CLOSED. GOVERNMENT OFFICES SHUT. HERE IS WHAT THAT MEANS FOR YOUR MONDAY.

Thailand's Cabinet approved September 28 and 29 as special government holidays in Bangkok, Pathum Thani, Samut Prakan and Nonthaburi so residents can "take care of themselves and their families." More than 400 schools run by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration are closed today. Government employees whose work does not involve providing direct public services have been told to work from home. Three major Thai banks closed 113 branch locations on Sunday. The Department of Highways is operating six emergency shuttle routes across Bangkok and surrounding areas to help flood-affected residents connect with public transport.

If you work for a private company, this holiday does not automatically apply to you. Private employers can choose whether to follow the government closure or stay open. Check with your company. If you have children in BMA schools, they are home today and tomorrow. If you had government appointments, they are canceled. If you need to reach the airport, both Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang are operating normally despite flooding in surrounding areas, though metered taxi service from Don Mueang was temporarily suspended. The SRT has canceled Eastern Line trains and the Red Line was suspended on Saturday. Check MRT and BTS service status before heading to a station. The practical advice for today is simple: if you can stay home, stay home. The water is going down, but it has not gone down yet, and the roads that flooded on Friday and Saturday are still draining.

Bottom line: Monday and Tuesday are government holidays in four provinces. Schools closed. Government offices shut. Banks partially closed. The city is in recovery mode. If your employer gave you the day off, use it. If they did not, plan extra travel time and check your route before leaving.

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The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation reported on Sunday that flooding affected 128 districts, 587 subdistricts and 2,500 villages across 25 provinces, with 174,803 families and 545,022 people impacted. Bangkok recorded 52,000 affected families across all 50 districts. Eight people died in three provinces. Nearly 300 millimeters of rain fell in 48 hours, enough to overwhelm any drainage system in any city in the world. Samut Prakan had the highest number of affected households at 124,678, though water levels there were beginning to drop by Sunday morning.

The good news is that this is not 2011. Two leading disaster and environmental specialists said publicly that Thailand is not heading for a repeat of the devastating floods that lasted three months and killed hundreds. The low-pressure system that caused the downpour has moved toward Myanmar. Bangkok's rain forecast dropped from 300mm over two days to 10-20mm daily. Governor Chadchart said the flooding was beginning to ease but warned that water near canals would take time to recede because floodwater from surrounding areas keeps flowing in. "The rain keeps falling and we are doing our best," Chadchart told reporters. "We are trying to pump the water out, but the water in canals is full. The risk areas are those who live near canals." Reuters, BBC, ABC News, Associated Press and Bloomberg all covered the flooding internationally. A Wikipedia article titled "2026 Bangkok Floods" has already been created.

Bottom line: 174,000 families. Eight dead. 300mm in 48 hours. CNN, BBC, Reuters and AP covered it. But the worst is over. The rain has eased. The water is draining. The city is drying out. If you are in a flooded area, the 2-3 day drainage estimate the BMA gave on Saturday is tracking. Check on your neighbors. Check on anyone you know who lives near a canal.

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Thai Asian Games athletes were stranded at the airport overnight because flooding prevented baggage handlers from reaching work. Wrestling, golf and rugby teams were scheduled to fly to Nagoya on Thai Airways flight TG644 departing at 12:05AM on September 27. The flooding kept ground crew from getting to the airport, delaying the flight by nearly eight hours. The athletes spent the night at the terminal. It is the kind of flood consequence nobody plans for: your flight is on time, the plane is ready, but the people who load the bags cannot get to work because the streets between their homes and the airport are underwater.

Four British nationals were jailed in the UK over a £13.8 million cannabis smuggling operation that flew product from Thailand to Britain. The conviction is the latest in a series of international cannabis trafficking cases connected to Thailand. The drugs were shipped by air, which tells you the profit margin is high enough to justify the risk and cost of air freight. Thailand's cannabis control bill, which is moving through the House, is designed to close both the domestic recreational market and the international supply chains it feeds.

Bangkok is clearing tangled overhead cables ahead of the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in October. The BMA is working with MEA and telecom operators to remove unused cables and organize existing lines on major roads. The meetings will bring thousands of delegates from the global financial community to Bangkok, and the city is cleaning up for company. The question everyone is asking: will the cables stay organized after the bankers leave?

A beauty clinic in Phatthalung province used fishing line instead of medical thread for facelifts. Three patients discovered the line under their skin. The patients went to the clinic for cosmetic thread-lifting procedures, which normally use dissolvable medical-grade PDO threads. Instead, the clinic allegedly used ordinary fishing line, which does not dissolve, does not have medical approval and should not be inside a human face under any circumstances. Charges have been filed.

☕ SPOT OF THE DAY

FACTORY COFFEE (PHAYA THAI)

Factory Coffee sits at 49 Phaya Thai Road in Ratchathewi and has spent years building a reputation as one of Bangkok's most serious specialty coffee shops. The cafe roasts its own beans on-site and has won international awards for its signature coffee. The space is built inside a converted ground floor with an industrial feel that puts the focus on what is in the cup rather than what is on the walls. The menu runs through pour-overs, espresso drinks, filter coffee and cold brew, with Thai-grown beans offered alongside imported single-origins at a lower price point.

The 4.4-star rating across 4,017 Google reviews at ฿200-400 is a strong score at massive volume. "I gotta give credit to the place for giving kind service and attentive one," one reviewer wrote. Another said "I ordered their filter coffee, served with the Japanese iced method." A third recommended "a latte with Thai beans, cheaper than imported, for 80 baht." That last review tells you something important about Factory Coffee: it is a specialty shop that does not charge specialty prices for everything. The Thai bean latte at ฿80 is one of the best-value drinks in the Bangkok coffee scene. Factory opens at 8AM on Mondays and closes at 4PM with last orders at 3:30.

→ See their menu and find them here ←

Insider tip: The Thai bean latte at ฿80 is the move. The filter coffee with the Japanese iced method is the experience. Last order 3:30PM. Parking at Hotel Tranz BTS nearby.

📍 49 Phaya Thai Road, Thanon Phaya Thai, Ratchathewi, Bangkok 10400
📞 080 958 8050
🕐 Opens 8AM, closes 4PM. Last order 3:30PM.
⭐ 4.4 stars (4,017 Google reviews) | ฿200-400
🌐 factorybkk.com

Always check opening times before heading out.

📅 WHAT'S ON

THIS WEEK

⚠️ September 28-29 are government holidays in Bangkok, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi and Samut Prakan. Check event pages before heading out.

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER & BEYOND

See you tomorrow morning.

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