🌧️ Good morning! All 50 districts in Bangkok remain under flood disaster zones today after the capital got more than 300 millimeters of rain starting Thursday afternoon. Officials expected conditions to improve Sunday.

Big picture: Eastern Bangkok took the hardest hit. The bottleneck is overflowing canals, which leave no room to drain excess water even with every pumping station running at full capacity, Gov. Chadchart Sittipunt said.

By the numbers: The city recorded 487 millimeters of rain this September up until Friday — about 80% higher than the 1991-2020 average rainfall for the same period.

🔗 What to do: Here are links to check Bangkok’s rain radars, water levels tracker, traffic map and where you can park your cars for free. The city’s hotline is 1555. Officials urged residents to document damage to qualify for relief aid.

Crews are burying or bundling communication cables along 12.3 kilometers of Rama IV, Sathon, Witthayu and Soi Suan Phlu roads. The work ends Oct. 10.

Why it matters: Officials call it part of a wider beautification push ahead of the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings. The meetings are expected to draw more than 15,000 people to the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center Oct. 12-18.

Flashback: Before Bangkok hosted the same meetings in 1991, authorities relocated hundreds of squatters and hid the remaining shacks in Khlong Toei behind mural-covered metal sheets.

Between the lines: Recent sweeps of homeless individuals on Rattanakosin Island have raised questions about whether the meetings are behind them, too.

A Bangkok and Japan International Cooperation Agency committee set 100 millimeters of rain per hour as the target for a new drainage master plan, up from about 76 today.

Why it matters: Design rainfall is the benchmark for how much rain the drainage system is built to handle. Climate models project 80-97 millimeters of rain per hour in Bangkok in 2046-65 — an increase of up to 27%.

Driving the news: The two agencies are in the early stages of a five-year effort to draft the master plan, which will guide future drainage projects and development rules.

State of play: Proposals under study include requiring buildings to design at least half of their open space to absorb rainwater and adding more “sponge” infrastructure, like rain gardens and underground water storage, citywide.

Zooming in: The committee also floats draining canals ahead of forecast heavy rain, lowering water below the usual level at key pumping stations. That makes room for rain but could temporarily worsen water quality and cause odors, officials acknowledged.

What’s next: The city and JICA will build a computer model of how floods spread and study where to add holding ponds and how pumps should run. Recommendations and a pump manual will follow.

Children’s Discovery Museums in Chatuchak and Thung Khru close temporarily Oct. 1, as their operating contract expires and a new operator isn’t in place.

Why it matters: October is peak season for the museums because of the school mid-year break. They’re the city’s only two children’s museums, and both are free to enter. Multiple complaints report canceled school field trips.

State of play: Deputy Gov. Sanon Wangsrangboon said the search for a new operator is slower this year because the June election delayed budget approval. The city council approved the 2027 budget Sept. 15.

Big picture: The 2027 budget includes 58.9 million baht for the Chatuchak museum and 48.6 million baht for Thung Khru. Last year, the city called for bids Sept. 23 and announced winners just before the new fiscal year, according to city records.

Zooming in: More than three dozen complaints on Traffy Fondue report canceled school field trips. A complainant identifying as a staffer wrote the closure means “employees are effectively losing their jobs, despite having consistently dedicated themselves” to the city.

What the city says: Sanon acknowledged the closure’s impact and said he urged the Culture, Sports and Tourism Department to find a contractor quickly. He added the closure isn’t a policy change, because the funds are already allocated.

As Bangkok promoted walking and transit during Car-Free Week, disability advocates and city officials pointed to the same gaps: getting to public transit at all.

Why it matters: Cutting car trips only works if the alternatives work for everyone, including people who can’t use them today.

Zooming in: Transportation For All’s Suphawat Samerpak told a Car-Free Week policy forum last week that some areas lack sidewalks or markings. Where sidewalks exist, he said, they can be too narrow for a wheelchair to pass.

The quote: “It makes us feel like we’re being pushed toward taxis as the only transportation option,” Suphawat said.

Zooming out: City officials walked and wheeled two routes in Phra Nakhon and Pathum Wan Sept. 15, and found similar problems, including uneven surfaces, broken ramps and utility poles that block large wheelchairs.

Yes, but… While the city plans to log problem spots in a database, it said some fixes may be limited by private land and utility lines.

What’s next: The city is urging residents to report barriers on Traffy Fondue. It has linked nine disability groups to the platform, letting them file reports for members and survey problems themselves.

A 3-meter-wide, 100-meter covered pedestrian bridge over Khlong Bangkok Yai opened, connecting Talat Phlu to the Bangkok Yai District Office.

Why it matters: The skywalk, running along the Talat Phlu Bridge, features an elevator on both sides and doubles as a viewpoint for the Buddha statue at Wat Paknam Phasi Charoen. The project also upgraded nearby sidewalks, lighting and drainage.

📸 See photos from The Standard here.

Sept. 28 is World News Day, and I’m asking for your support of independent journalism.

Why it matters: A recent study found $1 spent on journalism can save the public more than $100. Disinformation costs the world an estimated $350-520 billion a year.

Zooming in: In Bangkok, where English isn’t the first language, Soiciety works to bridge that language gap and keep you civically engaged.

The bottom line: Think back to your Bangkok information bubble before you found Soiciety. If this publication helped you break out of it, support the work. Celebrate World News Day by helping me reach five new Soi Residents today!

📧 Reach me at [email protected].