Is it Safe to Visit Bangkok for Christmas or Will Floods Be a Problem?

I'm a 10-year resident of Bangkok, Thailand and a travel writer so, when a crisis occurs, I get e-mails from people all over the world asking about the safety of travel to Thailand. This month, Thailand has experienced the worst floods in half a century, with 25 percent of Bangkok hit by flood waters. My e-mail box has never been so full, with hundreds of people asking if it's safe to come to Bangkok for Christmas.

Christmas is peak tourist season in Thailand. It's the coolest time, temperature-wise, and one of the most fun times of year too as, although they're Buddhist, Thais love Christmas and subsequent New Year celebrations. Several hundred thousand tourists come to Bangkok and other places in Thailand for those two weeks and now, with Bangkok floods, many are considering canceling their trips. If you are one of those people, seriously……don't.

While, in many areas of Bangkok, floods have been devastating, in the mainly-tourist areas, flood water has been minimal or non-existent. In downtown Bangkok, Sukhumvit, Silom, Siam Square and Khao San Road saw no flood waters, and none is expected in the coming weeks.

Chinatown flooded a little when high-tide hit the Chao Praya River in early November, but it drained the same day, and they haven't been affected since.

Even the Chao Praya river boats, which stopped for two weeks when water overflowed the river banks, are operating normally again. So if you fancy taking the express boat to the Grand Palace, or an evening dinner cruise, you can do that too.

Out of the main downtown area, Bangkok still has flood water, but as most of these areas aren't highly visited by tourists, most tourists traveling to Bangkok for Christmas will never see flooding.

I live in northern Bangkok and, with tourists e-mailing me to ask how bad flooding was at one of the city's top tourist attractions, Chatuchak Weekend Market, just a mile from my house, on Monday I took a bus around my area of town, to assess the situation.

Tourists will be ecstatic to know Chatuchak Weekend Market, is completely free of flood waters, as it drained last week. Central Ladprao Mall, and the main five-way intersection next to, it is also water-free, even though it was under three feet of water only a week ago.

Further north, Bangkok's second airport, Don Mueang, still has a meter of flood water. But, if you had a domestic flight booked out of there, there's no worries there either. All airlines have temporarily re-located to the city's main airport, Suvarnabhumi, so you can expect to fly to Chiang Mai, Sukhothai, Phuket, or other Thai destinations just as you normally would.

Some tourists have asked me about the safety of tap water, and the possibility of getting a flood-borne disease.

Tap water in Bangkok is just as safe as it always was for showering, cleaning your teeth, and even for drinking, if you're so inclined. Bottled water, difficult to get when flooding started, is available again, and shops should be completely re-stocked by the beginning of December.

The chances of a tourist getting a flood-borne disease are also slim to none. I waded through flood waters in my neighborhood for two weeks and didn't get so much as a mosquito bite. In the 80 percent of Bangkok which is now flood-free, you won't catch anything funky either.

Finally, if you're worried about having to deal with floods on a Christmas vacation to Bangkok, believe me, unless you actively travel to far north Bangkok to see the floods, you won't even know they're there. In other words, it will be one of the safest, and most fun, vacations you've ever had.

Due to Bangkok's floods, Thailand's tourist industry has really suffered. Please don't cancel your trip to Bangkok for Christmas. There's no need and Thailand needs you even more than ever.