Bangkok student builds flood map used 13,000 times

A 17-year-old student in Bangkok has built a live web map showing flooded streets across the Thai capital and nearby provinces. The service recorded more than 13,000 uses in its first 24 hours.

Tuammai, which means "is it flooded?" in Thai, was created by Phonlawat Sirajindapirom in a single night as severe flooding hit all 50 districts of Bangkok. The free site displays geotagged photographs of flooded streets and updates every two minutes.

The map draws on public flood reports submitted by residents through Traffy Fondue, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's citizen-reporting platform. Each report includes a timestamp and photograph, which the site plots on a map and colour-codes by recency.

Users can zoom in until each pin becomes the photograph itself. Selecting an image shows the full picture, the time it was taken, the address, and the original reporter's note.

Sirajindapirom built the site after struggling to find useful information on flood conditions along his own route.

"Everyone in Bangkok was asking the same question on Saturday: can I leave the house?" said Phonlawat Sirajindapirom, Student at Tuammai. "Every website that was supposed to answer it was either overloaded or showed a table of numbers that no one could read. I thought, people don't need numbers. They need to see the street. So I built that."

The project emerged as residents in canal-side neighbourhoods reported waist-deep water and city authorities declared the whole capital a disaster zone. By the following morning, the map was live and being shared in family messaging groups and neighbourhood social media pages.

How it works

The site is designed to help residents check conditions before travelling. Instead of relying on forecasts or searching through camera feeds, users can look up recent photographs of streets along their route.

"The idea is that before you leave for work, you look at the streets on your route and you see what they actually looked like twenty minutes ago," said Sirajindapirom. "Not a forecast. Not a CCTV feed you have to hunt for. A photo, from that spot, from a real person who was just there."

Alongside flood images, the map includes a relief layer showing free flood parking opened by government bodies and shopping centres, as well as temporary shelters run by the city. Those entries include capacity, opening hours, phone numbers, and directions.

A separate panel lists emergency hotlines that can be tapped directly, including the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration flood centre, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, and emergency medical services. Any photograph or location can also be shared through a direct link.

The site works in Thai and English, offers light and dark modes, and does not require an account, app download, or personal information. That low-friction approach appears to have helped drive use on the first day, particularly in the early morning when commuters were checking conditions.

One-night build

Sirajindapirom said the service began as a personal attempt to answer a practical question during a flood emergency. He then realised many other residents faced the same problem.

"I wasn't trying to build a product. I was trying to answer a question for myself, and then I realised everyone I knew had the same question," said Sirajindapirom. "The data was already there. Thousands of people had already photographed the flooding and sent it to the city. It just needed to be put on a map that anyone could open on their phone."

He also credited Traffy Fondue and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration for making the underlying reports publicly available. The map does not create new reports but reorganises official public submissions into a format intended for quicker visual checks.

"None of this would exist without Traffy Fondue. They built the reporting system and they opened the data. All I did was give it a different front door. The city's teams were out in the water all weekend. I was at a desk. I wanted to help in the way I actually know how to."

Limits clear

Sirajindapirom has also sought to distinguish the map from an emergency response service. The site is intended as an information tool rather than a reporting channel or warning system.

"This is a way to see conditions. It is not an official warning system and it is not a way to ask for help," said Sirajindapirom. "If someone is in trouble, they should report through Traffy Fondue or call 1555. I say that on the site and I'll keep saying it. The last thing I want is for someone to think they've reported an emergency to me when they haven't."

The service includes a visible credit to Traffy Fondue and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and provides a contact address for requests to remove photographs. By Monday afternoon, it had logged more than 13,000 uses, with the busiest period during the morning commute.