When Bangkok’s Roads Became Rivers, the Skywalk Became a Shelter

道路は川、スカイウォークは寝床に。バンコク洪水で生まれた「二階の街」

On September 27, 2026, parts of Bang Kapi in eastern Bangkok were still under deep floodwater. Around the Happy Land intersection, cars and buses sat stranded while roads that normally carried heavy city traffic had effectively become waterways.

But the stranger scene was above the street. Residents had carried bags of clothes, valuables and basic supplies onto an elevated pedestrian skywalk. Some were no longer simply passing through it. They were using it as a place to stay — and, for at least one family, a place to spend the night.

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When Ambulances Couldn’t Get Through: Why Bangkok Flood Medics Had to Switch Vehicles

救急車まで入れない――バンコク洪水、医療チームが軍用GMCへ“乗り継いだ”理由

In late September 2026, days of heavy rain left large parts of Bangkok flooded. Cars sat stranded in brown water, streets became channels, and once again the city was confronted with the familiar problem of moving people through neighborhoods that had effectively stopped functioning as roads.

But this time, one detail stood out. Some of the vehicles sent in to help could no longer get through either.

Standard six-wheel trucks used by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) became unusable in some of the deepest-flooded areas. Ambulances also ran into trouble. In response, doctors and emergency personnel had to travel as far as an ambulance could safely go, then transfer to high-clearance GMC trucks for the final leg into flooded residential districts.

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