Severe flooding in Thailand, mainly focused in the central Bangkok region, has seriously disrupted the lives of residents. So far, the Bangkok Post reports that 40 people have died as a direct result of these floods. Over 150 schools have been flooded, and facilities in others are being used as local evacuation centers for nearby residents according to the Japan Times.
Lives have been impacted in ways too numerous to count, and that of course includes people's working lives. Multiple motorcycle and automotive plants exist in the area, and a total of four different Toyota plants and one Honda Motorcycle plant have temporarily paused production thanks to the historic flooding. Thai Airways has also had its cargo flight activities interrupted, and separate issues involving major baggage backups at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport have affected thousands of passengers.
Honda's affected motorcycle factory was reportedly not directly damaged by the flood waters, but the flooded streets basically made it difficult or impossible for its employees to get to work. The plant can produce up to 1.67 million motorcycles annually. Many of the motorcycles it produces are sold locally, such as the Wave 110 and Scoopy models you'll normally see zipping through traffic on every block when the roads are full of rainwater.
Around two billion Thai baht (about US $59,511,560 at the time of writing) has been earmarked by the Thai government for flood relief for victims, and additional plans are under discussion for an eight-year project estimated to cost around 160 billion baht, which would reroute flood waters that hit Northern Thailand away from the more densely populated areas of the country downstream.
Lat Krabang, where the Honda motorcycle plant is located, has been making use of both water pumps and water-propelling boats to move some of the water into the nearby Prawet Burirom canal.
If you're wondering how you can help from overseas, Bangkok Community Help Foundation is a registered nonprofit organization that is on the ground and helping those affected by the floods.
