Exorbitant boat fees annoy

B200-500 charged for trips to mouth of soi

White-collar employees in Bangkok affected by the flooding are up in arms over exorbitant fees charged by boat owners to ferry them to work, or even to the mouth of their soi.

Some have asked the police to arrest boat operators and demanded state agencies arrange free or cheaper boat services in the city's flood-hit districts.

"It is a really expensive boat ride. I pay up to 200 baht for the short ride to work and then back home every day," said a state-enterprise official.

He said some people have been forced to pay about 500 baht for the short boat ride from their flooded communities to main roads.

Since the flooding hit Bangkok about three weeks ago, the official has taken a boat from his flooded home to Chaeng Watthana Road to catch a ride in a free military truck to his office near the Government Centre.

Tanikan Sopito, a government official, said she also has trouble travelling from her flooded house in Laksi district to work in Phaya Thai district.

Ms Tanikan said she has commuted five hours in the morning and three hours in the evening every day since her house was submerged in waist-deep water. She takes a boat ride from her home to a pick-up spot where a military truck takes her to a main road.

There, she takes another ride in a bigger 10-wheel truck to catch a bus to her office in Phaya Thai district.

"I am tired of travelling during the floods. It normally takes only about an hour," she said.

While many parts of Bangkok are under water, workers are facing difficulties travelling from their flooded suburbs to their offices, mostly in unaffected inner parts of the city.

Some have called on employers to temporarily close businesses until the water recedes, or allow them to work from home or some other suitable place. One employee with an advertising company, who asked not to be named, said her boss had called her twice, asking her to go back to work.

She and her family left Bangkok for Tak's Mae Sot district almost 10 days ago to live with friends as they could no longer endure the tap water, which had turned yellow.

"I didn't know what to do, so I told my boss that I wanted to take leave without pay for two weeks to keep both sides happy," she said.

She said she does not know how to get to work from her apartment in Bang Phlat district, which has been flooded.

One office worker, Onrasri Macmai, has been fortunate. Her office in Lat Prao district has been flooded since last Sunday.

But shortly after the flooding, her boss told all staff they could work from home.