Socio-economic Impact
“My husband died years ago I have no children, I live with my handicapped brother. I am old so I can only attend to my small rice shop and grow some vegetables at the backyard (for consumption and selling). But now my rice shop is flooded and I have no money to buy new stock (of rice). My vegetable garden was also flooded so now I have to use money to buy everything. My only income now is 500 baht (Elderly Living Allowance) from the government. Peri-urban resident, 75 year old
"Prices of goods sky rocketed. They can charge anything they want. Taking the boats to work cost me 2-300 baht per day. Cabbages used to be 10 baht now they are 50-100 baht. Our salary is gone" government staff Uthaithani
Impact on Livelihoods
Livelihoods have been severely disrupted in all research locations with significant variations noted between rural and urban or peri-urban areas. Urban poor groups and tree crop farmers in rural areas emerge as some of the most affected groups in the visited communities. The urban poor have been particularly hard hit due to: (i) loss of stock and equipment for small businesses and home based enterprises145; (ii) the drastic reduction in short-term informal work opportunities, and (iii) accumulated debt with informal lenders146. A large number of affected households in the urban sites visited relied on short-term, informal work for income prior to the floods, with typically uncertain earnings. Flooding has significantly reduced income generating opportunities for this category of urban workers with shops and markets remaining closed for the duration of the floods. 147