Flooding In Sukhothai

The only city in my province, Sukhothai (which is also the name of the province), has been flooding this week as the Yom River, which runs through downtown, broke some of the levees that contain it and leaked into downtown, covering a 5 square kilometer area in as much as 1.5 meters of water.

I just had to see it for myself, so I went in to check things out...

A very high Yom River.

To my surprise, the scene was extremely peaceful. Yes, the downtown area streets were completely underwater, and yes, people were using boats to get to and fro, but it was quiet, and the expressions on people's faces were that of curiosity and maybe even amusement. There were many relief workers, soldiers, and police officers directing traffic, driving large trucks around, and helping people. Although, as I found out, the directing of traffic was more like "proceed at your own risk and I'll stand here and see if you make it."

I did make it though, into the middle of the flooded zone, on my little motorbike, but soon found that the 5-way intersection, which was a high-point and fairly dry, offered no better exit route than the one in which I had rode in on. I was hoping for something a little drier, as I ended up getting my shoes totally soaked the first time, but upon scanning the other streets, I realized they all contained much more water than the first one.

The whole thing was surreal, mainly because of how calm and seemingly happy everyone appeared to be. The first thing that came to mind was:

Why are all these people smiling?

These girls were certainly enjoying themselves...

I've never seen a flood first-hand in the U.S, but from what I've seen on TV, I seem to recall scenes of people panicing, crying, and devastated. What I don't recall is people smiling, laughing, and playing in the water.

Okay, so maybe it's true that I missed the worst of this flood, and maybe these people were freaking out the first day or two (I probably saw it on the 3rd or 4th day). But even then, I doubt people were freaking out like I would expect them to.

So why is this? What makes these people so able to handle this unfortunate situation with grace?

Did they expect the unexpected, or were they neither expecting, nor not-expecting the unexpected?

I believe that these simple Thai people didn't expect flooding to happen, but they weren't surprised by it either.

It just happened. Life happens. How we react to it is really the difference between living in harmony with nature, creation, God, or whatever you want to call it, or not. Maybe these Thai people weren't expecting something terrible to happen, but they weren't living in a fragile bubble either.

Many families that I know in the U.S. live in these little bubbles of fear. "God forbid that anything would happen to us!"

Well guess what, something will happen to each and every one of us: we are all going to die!!!

Our expectations, whether it's that something will happen, or that something won't happen, don't serve us for finding peace and happiness in this life. If anything, they make us vulnerable and desperate, with a mind that is always leaning toward, or away from something.

I love living in Thailand. Thai people are so wonderful! They are kind, respectful, and easy-going, and everyday I find there is so much for me to learn from them. When I think about why they are this way, I can't help but to think it's because they have accepted that they can't control everything, and that things happen. They don't walk around thinking that the world owes them something, but in no way are the pessimistic either. They are humble. They are patient. And when something out of their control doesn't go the way they want it to, they smile, laugh, or shrug it off. After all, what else can you do?

Read more about the flood here:

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Flooding-caught-Sukhothai-officials-napping-30190302.html