Despite not having slept for two days, Prinya Vijachai, a second lieutenant with the Thai Army 11 Regiment, 2 Battalion, King's Guard, seems in good spirits attending to the needs of flood victims in Bang Khen district.
He is one of hundreds of soldiers who work round the clock to bring relief assistance to all the residents. The 35-year-old pays special attention to the needs of women, children, the sick and the elderly. Prinya is also a walking call centre, tasked to connect distressed callers with the right source that would best remedy their grievance.
The burly Udon Thani native brushes off the need for sleep by saying that it is his national duty to serve the general public in their time of great need.
Wearing sunglasses to cover his bloodshot eyes, he admitted that his heart went out to the thousands of families who had been affected by the deluge. His only regret is not being able to help everyone.
Soldiers came in from day one of the deluge, setting up relief call centers, shelters, transport and other flood relief measures," said Prinya in between taking calls from distressed victims.
"I try to spend as much as time with the caller to determine just how we can help them. We also do get our share of prank calls along the way, which doesn't upset me because I realise everyone is under a lot of stress.
"Thai soldiers have united to address the needs of the people who have been affected by this catastrophic inundation. A life of soldier is all about sacrifice, so most of us have gotten used to a few hours sleep.
Compared to the numerous families that sleep in knee to waist deep waters, we are very lucky that our barracks are dry.
My sleeping pattern has been affected because the only time I get to do logistics involving donations and other relief work is when I get back to my headquarters.
Part of my duty is to coordinate between agencies and groups interested in taking part in the flood relief efforts, which is currently focused on gathering drinking water and bamboo rafts and boats. However, we are open to all sorts of assistance."
Prinya has a team of 60 soldiers that take turns manning the Bang Khen roundabout flood relief coordination center (08-5675- 1427) daily. On the day Life caught up with him, Prinya had just taken a paralytic to hospital and was on an army truck delivering donated bamboo rafts and drinking water to the flood relief coordinating centre.
He explained that the floating contraptions had to be distributed sparingly because there were not enough to go around. Recipients should reside in homes flooded above waist level.
As our conveyance navigated its way through a sea of murky waters, the large waves it generated landed on people who were wading through it.
Both Prinya and his subordinate, who was in the driving seat, dutifully apologized to the pedestrians by offering them a wai.
Evacuation orders from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) for communities in the Bang Khen and Laksi districts unfortunately fell on deaf ears, said Prinya.
"Less than 20% of the residents [in these areas] heeded to the call to leave. Many that left originally came from other parts of the country, the ones that stayed either have a home or have resided in these areas all their lives.
Their concern for their material belongings and pets is often the primary reason they decide to stay.
"Just recently we were called to accompany a pregnant women from a house in Phahon Yothin soi 48, who despite being in labour refused to go to hospital for fear that her home would be robbed. She would only leave when we guaranteed someone would watch her place."
Just as we arrived at the flood relief center, Prinya began supervising soldiers unloading rafts and water bottles under a tarpaulin. In less than an hour, he received yet another distress call this time from a volunteer informing him of Thongbai Thamthong, 93, who was in immediate need of medical attention for her heart condition.
In minutes we were on an army truck heading towards Phahon Yothin soi 49/2, a paramedic and wooden boat in tow. Prinya and his men trudged through thigh-level floodwater to reach the awaiting patient.
Pencil-thin Thongbai and her husband sat precariously on their staircase as waters had risen well above a meter in their living room. On being told that she was to be taken to the hospital, Thongbai threw a tantrum and refused to leave her home saying that thieves would loot it if left unattended.
It took 30 minutes to convince the nonagenarian to get on the boat that would take her to the army vehicle parked 200 meters from her home.
Thongbai became cheerful on the way to the hospital: "My heart has been causing me trouble, but nothing serious," mused the former school teacher. "
I don't want to be a nuisance to the soldiers who have been of great help to our community. They are sometimes slow in getting us flood relief, but I understand this is because they are busy with many tasks.
"The other day one of my neighbors called one of them to fix a faulty electric wire. He managed to do a good job. But when she wanted to show her appreciation by offering him a small reward, he refused to accept it.
I have found them to be patient and kind to us. I am relieved to know that they are nearby and can be called on for every need."
Thongbai rolled her eyes in anxious anticipation when asked to comment about the rising waters in her home.
She said in all her years she had never experienced such severe flooding. "If you ask me, the deluge is here to help us purge the poison that has been caused due to disunity among Thais. I hope we can all learn a lesson from this."
As we sat chatting, a number of pedestrians, who bravely had ventured out to purchase groceries, requested to be picked up and sent to their home a few sois away.
With an acute shortage of public transport, army vehicles often pick up residents traveling in the same direction.
On the way to sending Thongbai to hospital, Prinya's phone began to ring of the hook once again, this time requesting assistance to pick a lady in her early 50s with thyroid complications from Amarin Nives 1 housing estate. As the patient's home was on our way, we picked her up on a stretcher from a housing estate chest deep in water.
The army truck left us at the Bang Khen roundabout on its way to the hospital because Prinya had to supervise a team of soldiers to carry donated clothes to an evacuation shelter at Phranakhon Rajabhat University.
During the half hour wait, we managed to have lunch consisting sticky rice and dried green curry rolled up neatly in plastic bags. It was 3pm by now.
Prinya ate his meal while answering his phone under a makeshift tent, which served as a flood relief center with a couple of chairs and fordable table.
A few meters away a young soldier was attending to a deaf young woman's request to enter her flooded home to retrieve her belongings. He seemed attentive and spoke kindly, offering a bag of lunch and drinking water to her as they communicated through written language.
On our way to Rajabhat University, Prinya said that his biggest worry was for people in waist-deep waters and hoped that they would request to be evacuated soon.
Since the floods converged a month ago, over 400 residents had moved to Chon Buri's evacuation center. He said a concerted effort should be made to find safe areas that are not in sectors susceptible to floods.
Chaeng Watthana Road, where the Phranakhon Rajabhat shelter is housed, resembled an expanse of klong water. Needless to say, the educational institution is also under flooded water.
The housing for the evacuees is on elevated ground. After the team effort taken to distribute used clothes to them, we concluded our mission for the day as the sun began to set by accompanying soldiers to survey the communities that live in the inner sois of Phahon Yothin and surrounding areas.
By and large residents in the communities put on a smile for the visitors. Chai, a 29-year-old shop owner, said he has a renewed sense of respect for the soldiers since the waters destroyed his business and they stepped in to assist with bringing some sense of normalcy in their daily lives.
"Since the floods arrived, the soldiers have become a part of our community. They might not always be efficient but they are polite to us. I believe that they are genuinely concerned about our well being.
Through the kindness they have showed us, I have a more positive opinion of them. When we offer them money for a kind deed, they refuse.
They say if we want to show our gratitude towards them to post an encouraging message on Facebook."
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