If you live, work or commute near the Chao Phraya River this week, check the tide times before you set off. Thai agencies have warned that seawater pushed up the Gulf of Thailand by strengthening easterly winds could lift river levels above their critical marks on several mornings until 17 November, flooding low-lying riverside areas and some roads in Bangkok and nearby provinces.
What the Navy forecast says
The Royal Thai Navy's Hydrographic Department, which publishes Thailand's official tide predictions, issued notice 15/2569 on 5 November 2026. Near the Navy headquarters on the Bangkok riverfront, it expects water to reach about 1.70 to 2.00 metres above mean sea level between roughly 07:30 and 13:30 each day from 9 to 16 November. That is close to the 2.00-metre critical line, and the department warned that water could seep through joints in flood walls, piers and drains.
Downstream at Phra Chulachomklao Fort, at the river mouth in Samut Prakan, the forecast is 1.80 to 1.90 metres between about 06:00 and 12:00 from 9 to 17 November, above the local critical level of 1.70 metres. The notice says this could cause the river to overflow its banks there.
Where the warnings apply
The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM), the national disaster agency, has told Bangkok and six central provinces to prepare for 9 to 17 November: Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi, Nakhon Pathom, Samut Sakhon, Samut Songkhram and Samut Prakan. In Bangkok it singled out areas along the Chao Phraya and its canals, especially low-lying communities outside the flood walls and places with no permanent flood defences.
The Office of the National Water Resources (ONWR), the government water policy agency, issued its own watch for 9 to 14 November covering eight provinces, adding Chachoengsao on the Bang Pakong River, as well as the Tha Chin and Mae Klong rivers. It expects levels in rivers that meet the sea to run about 10 to 30 centimetres above critical, and named Sukhumvit, Suksawat and Rama II roads as routes where water could pool.
What this means for residents
The warnings are aimed mainly at riverside homes, piers, businesses on the water, communities outside the flood walls and low roads during the morning high-tide window. If you live in a ground-floor unit near the river or a canal, it is worth moving valuables and electrical items off the floor. If you drive Sukhumvit towards Samut Prakan or Rama II towards Samut Sakhon, allow extra time in the mornings.
Piers are among the structures the Navy says water could pass through, so river boat users may find wet landings at peak tide. The forecast is the Navy's prediction, not a guarantee of flooding, and rain or stronger winds can change it, so check the Hydrographic Department's daily Chao Phraya water-level page or local district announcements before travelling. For the wider weather picture, see MEM's reports on the cool season forecast and this week's southern heavy rain warning.