The Great Flood of 1942

More on the great flood of 1942 - July 8, 2005

Manager had an interesting article on the great flood of 1942. Translations of the photo captions:
The first photo: In 1942 a heavy rain in the northeast and northwest of Thailand make a big flood and caused lots of damage to farms, field, and houses in the central, northeast and northern region. This was in September, October, and November and was one of biggest floods in the history of Thailand.
The second photo: This make Rajadamnoen Road became to be a lake.
The third photo: Also Victory Monument became a lake in 1942.
The fourth photo: Because of the big rain people traveled by boat instead car.
The fifth photo: This old man explained that at the time he was very young (15 years old) so it was very fun for him, but the adults feel grief and sadness because it caused damage to people. He also said the water level is over people's head especially at parliament by King Rama 5 statue. People couldn't stand so they use boats and if someone has boats they felt smart or cool and will take women to travel with. The schools were closed so the students play in water and race boats. Some people fished and could catch lots of fish. At that time the water was clean which is different than today.

Flood Photos - December 1, 2002
(and few misc photos)

2B reader Suchada bought these photos for 50 baht from a little old lady sitting under a walkway at Victory Monument. They are on extremely waterlogged and yellowed paper with nothing on the back. They have captions in Thai which have been translated into English here except for our comments in brackets [ ].

Some account from the Great Flood of 1942 can be found here, including a photo of a tram on a flooded street (just search for the word "flood" on the page).



Victory Monument



October 13, 1942 at Sanam Luang



The Great Flood of 1942 in front of Hualampong Train Station
[The caption of the photo also notes that the people who are wearing hats are government employees as that kind of hat was in vogue for government workers.]



October 12, 1942 - Democracy Monument
Taken from the front of the Suksahpanpahnit Shop (a bookshop) toward Pan Fah Lee La Bridge.
[although it looks like it was taken from the divider in the road]



Phan Phiphop Lila Bridge built in 1902
[The inset is a photo from after the bridge was expanded in modern times]



The traffic in Bangkok Noi Klong from picture number 10 from the book Siam by Karl Dohring

'

The first bus--Rot may nai lert [Mr. Lert's bus]



Roi mee long taw [a type of bus where people sit across from each other] in the Sanam Luang area.