Bangkok floods leave Korean travelers stranded as flights face overnight delays
More than 330 millimeters (13 inches) of rain flooded Bangkok, disrupting flights and leaving hundreds of Korean passengers waiting at Suvarnabhumi Airport for over 14 hours.
People are transported by a boat in a flooded area during heavy rain in Bangkok, Thailand, on Sept. 27.REUTERS/YONHAP
More than 330 millimeters (13 inches) of rain battered Bangkok between Thursday and Sunday, flooding large parts of the Thai capital and stranding hundreds of Korean passengers at Suvarnabhumi Airport for more than 14 hours.
Floodwaters submerged neighborhoods across the city, with about 52,000 households affected so far. Approximately 4,900 displaced residents have taken shelter at more than 200 schools, temples and other evacuation centers, according to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.
Some airline crew members were reportedly unable to report to work on time because of flooded roads and heavy traffic. Passenger flights have faced repeated delays since Sunday.
Hundreds of Korean passengers who had planned to return home on Thai Airways were forced to wait for hours at Suvarnabhumi Airport from Sunday night.
A Korean passenger surnamed Kim was scheduled to fly home with seven family members on a Thai Airways flight at 11:10 p.m.
The departure was first pushed back to 1:40 a.m. on Monday. However, it was then delayed again to 3 a.m., 4 a.m. and 6:10 a.m.
“There wasn’t a single airline employee at the gate, and we received no information at all about the delay,” Kim said. “When I went to the Thai Airways lounge myself to ask, I was told that employees did not come to work because of the heavy rain.”
Another Thai Airways flight bound for Korea from Suvarnabhumi Airport at 11:35 p.m. on Sunday was also delayed.
Delayed passenger luggage stands at Suvarnabhumi Airport after flooding affected operations in Bangkok, Thailand, on Sept. 28.AP/YONHAP
“It was raining so heavily in Bangkok that we got to the airport early, at around 6 p.m.,” Kim said. “We’ve been waiting for more than 14 hours without getting any proper notice.”
The Thai government declared Bangkok, Nonthaburi Province and Samut Prakan Province disaster areas.
As the flooding worsened, panic buying broke out in parts of Bangkok over the weekend. After shelves were emptied at some stores, the Thai prime minister’s office urged residents not to stockpile necessities.
The government also ordered civil servants in Bangkok and three nearby provinces to take Monday and Tuesday off to ease traffic congestion.
Meanwhile, a body believed to be that of a Korean man who went missing during the floods has been found.
The body was discovered at around 6 p.m. on Sunday, three days after the man disappeared in floodwaters in Nong Prue, near Pattaya in Chonburi Province, according to local media outlet Pattaya Mail.
The body was badly decomposed when a local fisherman found it. The clothing was reportedly similar to what the missing man had been wearing.
Thai authorities plan to conduct an autopsy to confirm the identity and determine the cause of death.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
