I spent this past weekend in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Not to get away from the floods here in Bangkok though - I’d booked it long ago after seeing a cheap deal on Air Asia. Although Cambodia has also suffered badly from floods this year, its capital remains unaffected for now.

But back in Bangkok now, it’s rather a different story. The influx from the North reached Don Muang airport a few days ago. That’s the city’s second airport - the vast majority of flights go through Suvarnabhumi International Airport, which is completely safe and unaffected.

A few cheap carriers were still running domestic flights from Don Muang. Those services have now moved to the international airport.

So those “Bangkok airport flooded” headlines are a little misleading - it would be like reading “London airport flooded” and then finding out that only Stanstead was affected, and that Gatwick & Heathrow were both absolutely fine.

The government’s Flood Relief Operations Centre (FROC), however, is based at Don Mueang airport. So the flood response centre is flooded. The irony meter’s pegged on that one.

Three of the city’s 50 districts have received evacuation orders, with evacuation also suggested for some residents of a few areas of a fourth. So 90% of the city has not been evacuated. Where it’s bad, it’s very bad. But everywhere else, life goes on almost as normal. Things could get worse over the next few days - but for now, nobody knows.

There are still a few empty shelves in shops, but this is improving by the day - Tops supermarket at All Seasons Place had plenty of drinking water for sale this morning, although there may not be much left now. Shoppers who don’t mind getting ripped off can easily find a few bottles of exotic imports such as Perrier if they’re prepared to pay the extra money for it.

But the city will cope, one way or another. The supermarket chain Big C has begun ordering staples such as bottled water from Malaysia to make up for the domestic shortfall (many industrial estate and warehouses north of Bangkok were flooded, affecting the supply chain).

Meantime, the filtered water available from the vending machines all over the city for just ฿1 per litre seems to be fine. It’s coming out clear, with no residue or sediment and no smell. The Thais all seem happy enough to drink it, and they’ve far more experience with this kind of thing than I have.

I live about 6 miles from the river. The streets remain bone dry.

A few people have left town for a long weekend - I know two westerners who’ve fled to Pattaya and Phuket. But Pattaya also has supply problems, with bottled water hard to find - one KFC down there has even run out of chicken! For myself, and the vast majority who remain in Bangkok, life continues pretty much as usual.

It’s a nice hot day, with a light breeze and no rainclouds visible. I may even go for an ironic swim.