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[title]Floods have swept across Thailand, turning familiar streets into waterways and leaving communities to navigate rising water, damaged homes and disrupted daily life. But somewhere between the heartbreaking reality and the Thai humour people are using to cope, another scene unfolds: neighbours helping neighbours, volunteers loading trucks with food and people doing whatever they can to keep their communities moving.
A flood on your feed vs a flood at your feet, up to your waist, past your neck…
It’s impossible to scroll through your feed right now without seeing something about the floods in Thailand. But forget the news reporters broadcasting live from the streets. Here, Thai people are dressing up as Aquaman, joking that you shouldn’t get your feet wet in case you reveal your hidden mermaid tail, and fully embracing the chaos with their best Tom Holland-inspired Umbrella dance.
Behind the humour people are using to keep spirits high, however, Thailand is still dealing with rising waters, damaged homes and communities in need of help.
Enter Bangkok Community Help Foundation, a non-profit providing food and essential supplies to communities affected by the floods.
The organisation was co-founded by Friso Poldervaart, a Dutch national who has called Thailand home for more than 15 years. What started as a relief effort during COVID-19 has since grown into a team of thousands of volunteers supporting communities across Thailand through food relief, housing, job training and disaster response.
Located in Khlong Toei, the foundation is hard to miss. Look for the bluest, busiest building around – just don’t mistake it for the United Nations as you meet volunteers from all over the world.
‘I’m from South Africa. I’m from Syria, Indonesia, America…’
Some have made Thailand their home; others are only here on holiday yet everyone chooses to come together to do what they can.
Among them are Thai volunteers whose own homes have been affected by the floods. As the water levels in their neighbourhoods recede enough for them to get out, they too have come to the foundation to lend a hand – helping others even as they continue to deal with the aftermath at home.
As soon as you enter, you can tell that they are a well oiled machine and clearly this is not their first natural disaster, as unfortunate as it is to say.
In the kitchen, people are chopping vegetables and stir-frying food while someone else starts yet another enormous pot of rice. Outside, the volunteers move like clockwork: a scoop of stir-fry into a plastic bag, a quick Thai knot, a scoop of rice. Pack, knot, scoop. Pack, knot, scoop. The same rhythm repeats again and again until thousands of meals are ready to go.
On the day Time Out joined the Bangkok Community Help Foundation, we made our way to Moo Baan Nagkila, which has been flooded since the weekend of the initial flood (Sept 26-27).
Many residents are still stuck inside their homes, leaving some without food, water or power.
We start out in a van before switching to a 10-wheeler truck – the kind used to transport heavy-duty goods, and one I’ve only seen in Criminal Minds when people are being smuggled out of the country. But trust the process. The 10-wheeler takes us as far as it can, dropping us off at the main road into the community. From there, the rest of the journey is on foot – and boat.
The moment I step off the truck, the water is already up to my knees. I’m 157cm tall, for reference. The water is the scariest shade of brown, streaked with a rainbow sheen from the gasoline leaking out of submerged cars. Trash and random objects like wood pieces, a Hello Kitty makeup palette and an infinite amount of plastic bags float around as the lead volunteer yells:
‘These are normally streets. Now there can be motorcycles, snakes, crocodiles, who knows.’
At one point, I did see a croc. Then another floated past. Both size 8.
We unload the lunches, water, medicine and other supplies onto kayaks before setting off into the neighbourhood. As we wade deeper and deeper into the community, the water rises quickly. Before long, all you can see are torsos bobbing carefully through the water as it gets deeper.
We wade through the neighbourhood, spotting people watching from the second floors of their homes. Everywhere we go, we’re met with smiles and gratitude. As I hand an aunty some boxed lunches, I didn’t even have time to check how she’s doing before she looks at me, worriedly, and asks:
‘Are you tired? Be careful. The water is dirty and there’s lots of glass that can cut you. Be safe.’
She took the words straight out of my mouth. I had come here thinking I was the one doing the checking in but for a moment, I was genuinely puzzled about who the victim was and who was supposed to be encouraging who. Thai kindness at its best.
Just keep smiling, smiling, smiling
As we travel from home to home, we’re greeted with nothing but smiles and wishes for us to stay safe. People wave, give us finger hearts and yell ‘soo soo’ – a Thai cheer of encouragement meaning ‘keep fighting’. Before long, the hundreds of boxed lunches we’ve brought with us are all handed out.
The neighbourhood guide that led our volunteer trip leaves me with a big hug. She tells me her daughter is around my age and apparently looks just like me. Before we part, she tells me to come visit again – when the water levels have receded as we’re standing waist-deep in floodwater. I came here to help, but somehow, by the end of the day, it felt more like I was visiting family.
And perhaps that’s what the Bangkok Community Help Foundation is really about. Beyond the boxes of food and essential supplies, it’s about showing up for communities and reminding people that they’re not facing a crisis alone. After spending the day alongside the volunteers and the communities they support, Friso shares what the past week has been like:
‘It’s bittersweet because you see the Thai people coming together to help. But the reason they have to is because there is no one else to help.’
For those who want to support the Bangkok Community Help Foundation’s mission and communities affected by the floods, the foundation accepts both monetary and physical donations. Useful items include drinking water, canned goods, pet food and other essential supplies.
More information can be found at: www.bangkokcommunityhelp.org