Floods: Escape to tent cities near homes

Flood refugees find high ground near their homes to protect them from burglars and wait out floods.

Photo above of Sayant Ketsakul, a community leader, showing the makeshift living quarters for 30 people set up on the platform of Sala Thammasop railway station (Photo:  SARITDET MARUKATAT). 

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Flood victims reach the end of the line, A railway station platform is the unlikely refuge for one community by Saritdet Marukatat

Some residents have escaped their low-lying homes in flood-hit areas to high-rise condominiums in inner Bangkok or resort towns away from the capital, but 30 people from the Sala Thammasop community have made their home on a railway station platform.

The platform of Sala Thammasop station in Thawi Wattana district has seen an unexpected intake of flood refugees since the Maha Sawat canal overflowed its banks two weeks ago

Most of the community of 300 people decided to stay put, although some evacuated to safe places such as the temporary shelter centre at Wat Parunawas.

Some of the rest decided to stay on the second floor of their properties out of worry for their houses.

However, those who live in single-storey houses had no choice but to flee when the floodwaters rose further, and the nearest high ground was at Sala Thammasop train station.

Even there, though, not a single square inch of the station is dry, including the platform, but it is where the water is lowest at about 10 centimetres.

"Most of us don't want to leave. We know the consequences but we're ready for that because we are worried about our places. Burglars are everywhere," community leader Sayant Ketsakul said.

The entire southern platform has been turned into makeshift living quarters. Some of the temporary tenants have turned the trunk space of their pickup trucks into bedrooms, while others have put up tents.

The other platform across the track is free of evacuees in case the State Railway of Thailand resumes services to the station.

Located between Phutthamonthon Sai2 and the shelter centre, the Sala Thammasop community is almost overlooked by aid and donating agencies.

Over the past two weeks, each resident has received only two relief bags, so they mostly live on what they have.

They have rice to cook for two more weeks if no more help comes, but they urgently need water and medicines. Luckily, they know they have available food right there in the water.

"We can catch fish from the water flowing from the canal," Mr Sayant said. "We share rice and fish and we care for each other. That's the only way we can survive."

At least the electricity is still on. The station residents play luk thung music through loudspeakers at the back of a pickup truck to cheer themselves up from time to time.

The rest of a typical day, as spent for the past two weeks, is passed watching water continue to flow from the canal passing the platform to hit other districts on the western part of Bangkok.

"What else can we do?" said Mr Sayant, who runs a car-cleaning business.

We know that the floods will not end soon but we will not leave here, that's for sure.

(Source: Bangkok Post, Flood victims reach the end of the line, A railway station platform is the unlikely refuge for one community, 9/11/2011, Saritdet Marukatat, link) 

Flood Refugee Vocabulary

refuge - a place where you go to protect yourself from something dangerous or threatening situation ที่ลี้ภัย ที่หลบภัย
a railway station platform is the unlikely refuge for one community

refugees - people fleeing (leaving, escaping) from some danger
flood refugee - a person escaping the dangers of the floods

intake - the number of people coming into a place
unexpected intake of flood refugees

evacuate - when people leave a dangerous place and move to a safer place อพยพ, ย้ายไปที่ปลอดภัยกว่า
evacuated to safe places

evacuee - a person who has left a dangerous place, moving to a safer place
the other platform across the track is free of evacuees

stay put - do not go anywhere (stay at the place you are at now)
most of the community of 300 people decided to stay put

victims - people who are killed injured or harmed in some way from an accident, natural disaster, crime, etc.
flood victims - people who are harmed by floods

burglary - the crime of breaking into a building by force and stealing things inside (See Wikipedia) การย่องเบา
burglar - a thief who breaks into a building or home and steals things ผู้ร้ายย่องเบา

wait out - wait for something to finish or for something to happen
wait out the floods - wait for the floods to finish (wait for the water to leave the land and go back to the river)

station - a place where some activity takes place (for example: power station, police station, fire station, space station, way station)
platform - an area next to a railway track where passengers get onto and off trains ชานชาลา
railway station platform - the place next to the train tracks where people wait for the train to arrive

track - a mark or line of marks showing the direction that something has moved ร่องรอย
railway track - the two metal "rails" along which a train travels along the railway

the end of the line - the last station on a railway line
flood victims reach the end of the line - meaning here: this is the last place these people escaping the flood can go

community - local people, all the people who live in a local area or place; all the people who live in a place and know each other ชุมชน

residents - people who live in a particular place or area ผู้อยู่อาศัย ราษฎรในบริเวณนั้น ชาวบ้านในบริเวณ ผู้อาศัยในบริเวณ
residents have escaped their low-lying homes in flood-hit areas

capital - the main city in a country that is the center for government  เมืองหลวง

canal -  a man-made waterway for either: 1. boats to travel along; or 2. to send water to a place (example: irrigation canal) คลอง (See Wikipedia)
overflow - when water goes or flows over the edges of the container or place that it is in ไหลล้น

banks - river banks, the sides of a river
canal overflows banks - water goes over the sides of the canal (and starts filling the dry land next to the canal)

the Maha Sawat canal overflowed its banks two weeks ago

shelter - a place where people are protected form danger or bad weather ที่หลบภัย ที่พักชั่วคราว
temporary shelter - a place where people can go to and live to escape from some danger (such as floods)

flee - to leave a place or person quickly because you are afraid of possible danger หนี อพยพ
single-storey houses - houses with one level
two-storey houses - houses with two levels (a second storey)

single-storey houses had no choice but to flee when the floodwaters rose further

square inch - a small unit of measurement of area ตารางนิ้ว,  ลักษณนามของมาตราวัดที่มีพื้นที่เป็นสี่เหลี่ยมจัตุรัสเท่ากับ 2.5 เซนติเมตร
not a single square inch of the station is dry - meaning: it is wet everywhere

consequences - the things that happen as a result of a decision or event
we know the consequences but we're ready for that

makeshift - temporary and made of low quality materials ที่ใช้ชั่วคราว (See glossary) using whatever is available and therefore not very good สำหรับใช้ชั่วคราว, ใช้ประทังไปก่อน

makeshift living quarters - a place to live for a short period of time (made of any low quality materials, you could find at the moment)

tenants - renters of land, apartment, office or other real estate ผู้เช่า
temporary - done or used for only a limited period of time, i.e., not permanent ชั่วคราว
temporary tenants - people living in a place for a short time

trunk -
trunk space of their pickup trucks

tent -  เต็นท์, กระโจม
put up tents - put the tents together (assemble them), so that you can use the tents and sleep inside of them

resume - start operating or work again (after stopping for a period of time)
resumes services to the station - trains are going to the station again 

overlook - missed, passed over, omitted, not noticed มองไม่เห็น, พลาดไป, มองพลาด;  ignored, disregarded ไม่เอาใจใส่, เมินเฉย,  ละเลย, เพิกเฉย

overlooked by aid and donating agencies.

aid - help; assistance ความช่วยเหลือ

resident - a person who lives in a particular area ผู้พักอาศัย, ผู้อยู่อาศัยในบริเวณ ประชาชนที่อาศัยในท้องที่
relief - help; money, food, medicine etc. that is given to help people in places where there has been a natural disaster, war, etc. เครื่องบรรเทาสาธารณภัย

each resident has received only two relief bags, so they mostly live on what they have.

urgently - needing to be dealt with immediately อย่างเร่งด่วน
urgently need water and medicines

share - to have or use something at the same time as someone else ใช้ร่วมกัน
we share rice and fish

survive - to stay alive, continue to exist after a difficult or dangerous situation มีชีวิตรอด  อยู่รอด สืบต่อไปได้ รอดพ้น
that's the only way we can survive

loudspeakers - a device for making sound louder; used to make public announcements in a community เครื่องกระจายเสียง, ลำโพง, เครื่องขยายเสียง

cheer themselves up - do something to make themselves happy

from time to time - occassionally, sometimes

The station residents play luk thung music through loudspeakers at the back of a pickup truck to cheer themselves up from time to time.

typical - the usual thing, the ordinary thing; an example of what is usual ซึ่งเป็นแบบอย่าง, ซึ่งเป็นตัวอย่าง
a typical day, as spent for the past two weeks