NYT: what's new in bkk ?

12is12 · 2026-04-13T08:03:38Z

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/27/travel/bangkok-thailand-new-hotels-restaurants-bars.html

PeterRS · 2026-04-13T09:07:55Z

A fascinating article with a new hotel for @Olddaddy - the US$908 per night Siri Sala Private Thai Villa! 🤪

Curious, though, that there is no mention of Bangkok still sinking. Already the city sits an average of only 0.5-1.5 meters above sea level. Largely due to the soil on which the city is built and the idiocy of the post WWII period when many of the khlongs were filled in with concrete to create wide roads, Bangkok is now sinking at the rate of 1cm - 2cm per year. Much less than during the 1970s but added to the effects of sea rise as a result of global warming, some experts suggest parts of the city will be under water within 30 years. As Professor Seree Supratid, the director of climate change and disaster centre at Rangsit Centre, stated in an aticle almost two years ago -

"We cannot avoid such catastrophic flooding. This is not fortune telling, this is science." He added it was difficult to find politicians willing to fund construction projects that could take up to 20 years to complete. Normally they are not interested because they say, "I am elected for four years, I will not think for more than four years," so this is a big problem for us.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-11/bangkok-is-sinking-residents-warn-rising-seas-will-swallow-city/102559364

This Buddhust Temple in Khun Samut Chin Village is surrounded by water and only stands firm because the temple's monks arranged to have walls built around it more than 20 years ago.