Panic has begun to set in for lots of Thailand folks. As Bangkok continues to become more and more underwater, Pattaya is becoming more and more crowded as refugees are seeking dry ground. Our friends the Clarkson's have been evacuated to the Sheraton here and we are keeping their two, dog, evacuees! We continue to have rain but have remained dry in our home and we are thankful for that. Yesterday one of Dustin's classmates was telling of their house flooding, he said roaches were covering the walls and many mice were swimming in the water flooding their house.
Things are expected to get worse as more of the Northern floodwaters converge on Bangkok this weekend. Our community is busting with people and now most store shelves are bare of bottled water, bread, eggs, sugar, and especially rice. Yesterday I stopped to get gas in the car and ran in to get a bottle of water, the shelves were empty! I told the boys if we just ate everything in our pantry we could last a few weeks, of course they would have to learn to like cranberry sauce and other interesting canned goods that have been hiding in the back of the pantry since we moved here!
Schools in Bangkok have been closed until November 7th and because of that 60 Bangkok Regent's boarding students have been transferred to our campus here and double bunking with our boarding students. I don't know how the kitchen staff will find enough food for that many additional mouths?
Yesterday our bakery was unable to deliver our normal vegetable quiches because leeks and spinach were impossible to find in this area as most of our fresh vegis are shipped from Northern Thailand and many of those roads are impassable because they are underwater. Hopefully our customers will be patient as I expect that more and more ingredients will be harder to find here.
I'm only concerned about clean water supplies and can disease be contained? Friends in Bangkok that haven't had their homes flood yet have had difficulty with sewage coming up their toilets and shower drains. Just pray for this flooding situation and that people would turn to Jesus during this time. I am again reminded how useless the Thai water goddess is.
On a happier note, I'm posting a short film a local bank put out about the spirit of the Thai people. I just love it! There are many floating villages in Southeastern Asia and I am always amazed at the ingenuity of the people that live there. We have seen floating basketball courts and soccer pitches. I've often wondered about the challenges of raising children in these small villages and the number of drownings experienced? Once I saw a small baby walker on a residents small porch overlooking the water!
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