A number of schools and universities in Bangkok and its suburbs are closed today (Wednesday), due to heavy flooding in many areas of the capital following heavy rain overnight.

Kasetsart University’s demonstration school, for instance, posted a notice on its webpage today stating that areas surrounding the university and the school are flooded, making it extremely difficult for students to attend classes in person and, therefore, the management of the school has decided to suspend on-site classes and to use online learning instead.

Students who arrived at the school this morning were told to return home and to learn online.

This morning, the Meteorological Department forecast that Bangkok and its surrounding provinces, the eastern region and the southern west coast of Thailand will face heavy to very heavy rain covering 80% of those areas. A similar situation is also forecast for the northern and north-eastern regions.

People living near natural waterways and at the feet of mountains have been advised to brace for overflows and flash floods.

In Bangkok, many bus commuters were left stranded late last night because of the shortage of public transport, including buses and taxies, which were stuck in gridlocked traffic due to the flooding.

Commuters were seen wading along flooded roads in the Chaengwattana and Bang Khen areas due to the lack of public transport.

Troops were out in force last night in heavily-flooded areas, to provide free transport to commuters in their six-wheel trucks. They also helped cars which had broken down.

On Chaengwattana Road, some areas were under about 50cm under water late last night, but it started to recede at about 1am this morning as the rain subsided.