I have been following the news about heavy rainfall, mudslides and flash floods in the northern provinces of Chiengrai the whole week. The heavy downpour caused mudslide which killed four people and two mountain passes were closed. The situation got more frightened when the big bridge was demolished by the tremendous barrage of water flowing down from surrounding mountains. Several villages were cut off from the outside world and sending help was risky as the currents were very fierce. This natural disaster was once on a lifetime for people in the province. They barely escaped from rising water without any personal belongings. I was quite astounded by this sudden and severe apparition of massive volume of rainfall.
Flooding in Chiangrai Source
As soon as I arrived at the train station, I was anxious to see the water level of the Khong River. Nongkhai would surely be affected by the excessive rainwater in the northern part as the rainwater would finally run into the Khong River. It’s a matter of time when we would have flooding for the second time in two weeks. I was a bit shocked seeing the big columns of water traveling at high speed in the river. They looked like big silver logs racing down the river. The force of the water was much stronger and much more emotional as if they were angry to be thrown down from the sky.
I tried to find relevant news and information about the level of water on the river, the rate of increasing volume per hour, including the forecast of future rainfall. I was surprised that I couldn’t find all the important information from any official websites. This reflected poorly on the efficiency and effectiveness of information gathering and the basis for decision making by government officials. I had to gather relevant information from various sources and estimated how soon our banana groves would become flooded once more. There was one meter left at the highest point along the riverbank before water would spread onto fields and agricultural areas.
The following morning I could see water had breached the draining pipes along the river. The lower area of the banana grove seemed to be slightly flooded. After checking the water situation in the northern province and the news of the big dam in Laos having to release more water, I knew the flooding could be more serious. Within three hours, the food level has reached the lemon trees which had lost all their leaves since the first flooding. So, I told my gardener that this time it’s going to be a flash flood as the dam has started to release more water. I asked her to get the young chap to take off the automatic door machine one more time. This automatic gadget has become very costly.
I knew my gardener was quite upset that several fruit trees and mist of the lemon trees she had planted would all be dead soon. I was more anxious about the old Thai magnolias which were very difficult to grow; they have reached the height of five meters. The reflooding of the lower areas of the garden made it impossible to survey the damage. We would have to wait for this second flood to finish in two weeks’ time. I was very grateful to Mother Nature that we have been very lucky comparing with the lower areas a few kilometers away. Those areas were still like little lakes as the flood water took so much time to dry up.
I decided to cycle along the dirt road to the riverfront to observe how close the water level was to the edge of the riverbank. I was surprised to see that the flood level has reached the north side of the dirt road. This time the river has risen much faster than two weeks ago. I was hesitant whether I should gave up the idea of going out as I might not be able to travel along the dirt road in less than an hour. But the urge to see the river was too strong, I told myself to be out only twenty minutes.
As I cycled along the dirt road, I could see that all my neighbours’ land close to the river front was partially flooded. This gave me a serious warning about the speed in which rainwater traveled from the north of the river. My heart jumped faster as I saw more flooded areas on my right side. So, I cycled at higher speed to reach the river.
There were so many people along the river. They gathered in small groups to discuss about the fast flowing currents and increasing water level. In some spots, there was only 12 inches gap between the river and the river bank. I could see their worried faces as I cycled along the road. My plan to take only fifteen minutes’ ride was disrupted by the presence of an old acquaintance at the local administrative office.
I couldn’t recognise him at first as he seemed to have lost over ten kilos. He didn’t look as healthy or fit as I saw him over a year ago. I had to stop to chat with him and asked about his superior who used to be very helpful to me on construction project. I was surprised to hear that he had a stroke but he was sent to hospital on time. So he had been saved and rehabilitated; the skinny officer told me his health had been weakened recently. He asked me whether his health conditions and his superior were caused by the co-vid shots. I confirmed his suspicion and I reminded him that I did send him the alternative links a few years ago.
He told me that they were mandated to take these jabs, so he didn’t pay much attention to further information on how to detox the bioweapons. I could sense the fear and anxiety about his health after hearing what I told him about the death of my friend after two jabs, and other friends who went deaf including a friend with liver cancer. My heart was in a rush to observe the river and the flooding levels in the areas. All my neighbours’ front gardens were inundated with flood water; my banana grove was badly affected for the second time in two weeks. All the papaya trees were gone; I was very anxious for my six coconut trees!
My old friend who used to donate over sixty plants for my garden would certainly get me new plants later on. My gardener would be very sad when she had to count all the dead trees. We would have a lot of work in the garden when the flooding had subsided and the soil got dry once again. This time I had to choose plants which could survive prolong flooding. I dreaded that many fruit trees would perish during this second flooding. I arrived back at the dirt road to find out that flood water has flooded in front of the gate. So I couldn’t cycle through the floodwater. I had to push my bicycle through knee height water level to reach the front gate. My trousers were wet and my socks were drenched with brownish water. I was glad to be back just before the road became impassable.
I cycled back to see that skinny local official one more time to tell him about basic detoxing after the jabs. This caused me to spend ten more minutes. But I had to give him some basic information about our traditional herbal medicine. As these officers had four shots each, they really needed some useful advice. I would have to send him more information on deeper detoxing later on. Some researches and medical experts have made a study and forecast that there would be 400,000 new cases of people with cancer this year. I knew quite sometime ago that long queues overflowing the ‘chemo’ sections in all hospitals in the big city. All ICU beds were occupied by those who had 3-4 shots. Unvaxxed people weren’t on ICU beds. These data were confirmed by friends and their relatives working in hospitals.
So, this year seemed to be getting much tougher than I had expected as both internal and international factors would be influencing courses of actions by many stakeholders. My brain would feel quite overwhelmed by foreboding events and my psychic premonitions of the brar future. So, I had to remind myself to be contemplative and pray regularly to center my mind. Maintaining a healthy body and mind has become imperative in this demanding and challenging time. I hoped and prayed that my wits and mindfulness would keep me safe and enable me to make the right decisions at the right times.
Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.
Stay strong and cheerful.