Thailand has a tropical climate with monsoon rains that come every summer. In 2011, the rains were unusually heavy, with a sequence of typhoons sweeping across southeast Asia. Regions of Thailand are now experiencing the worst floods in over fifty years, as water immerses villages, farms, and factories. The volume of water is so vast that more than half the country has already been flooded.
This flood not only affects Thailand, but the entire world. Thailand is the world’s largest manufacturer of rice, rubber, and computer hard drives, accounting for more than 25% of world production. Over 12.8 million people have been affected, and as of December 2011 the World Bank estimates that damages reached $45 billion.
Half a world away in the United States, it is hard to truly grasp how the people of Thailand are coping with the disastrous effects of the flood. We interviewed Dr. Nuttapong Wongjindanon, an epidemiologist with CDC’s Division of Global Migration and Quarantine – Immigrant and Refugee Health Program working in our Thailand office. He shares a firsthand account of how the flooding has affected him and the people of Thailand.