Notes to self: Crisis chic

Some people have dealt with the Bangkok floods by fleeing the city and heading to the overcrowded shores of Pattaya and Hua Hin. I've heard it's chaos down there, but at least it's dry. Partly out of laziness and partly out of work commitments, most of my friends and I have chosen to brave it out in Bangkok. Some have had their houses and jobs flooded and have been evacuated. We've all had a few hairy moments when we thought our houses were next, or when we've been caught in a blackout or when we've been stuck in town with no way to get back to our area. But, overall, we've been lucky. My friends and I have grown closer and my passion for Bangkok and for the attitude of its people (it's not called the Land of Smiles for nothing) has boiled over. I love Bangkok.

The other day, my friends and I decided to have some dinner with the strict understanding that we would not speak about the floods. They're a source of stress to us all and we wanted a short break from the incessant news stories and Facebook photos.

It was Friday night, so I opted for jeans and a sequined top. Obviously, as soon as I stepped out of the house, a tropical storm started. The wind was howling to the point where people's market stalls were collapsing. The rain lashed as if a bucket had been poured over Bangkok, transformers blew up with loud, bright bangs and there was a blackout for the next three hours. It was scary.

After the shock wore off, we ate by candlelight and had a great evening. As a doctor I interviewed last week told me, laughter is truly the best medicine. He believed in it so strongly that when I told him where I lived he threw his head back in fits of laughter and said, "Your house will definitely flood!"

But he's right; you need to laugh. You need some relief, or this whole situation is just too stressful. With that in mind, we joked about how inappropriately I had dressed for the evening. Delicates and tropical storms just don't mix. I shrugged and claimed it was "Crisis Chic". We laughed. Then we took the joke a little further than most would. We created a flood fashion blog and put together a photo shoot for it. The theme behind it was "sure, my house is dry, but my jeans are soaked".

Thankfully, it has been really popular. We don't seem to have offended anyone, and people seem to enjoy a little light relief. The local press has enjoyed this little fun news story among the stressful stories. I love the fact that even in the face of the worst floods in Thailand's history, life goes on and people smile. Yesterday we took a train ride as far as the train runs before the flood water gets too deep; people's houses and businesses, and even the airport are submerged to chest-height. People are wading and boating along what used to be a major highway and is now a river. They're being evacuated by truck and abandoning their possessions. But we didn't see anyone crying. We didn't see anyone screaming "Why me?" Instead, we saw people getting on with it. And we saw hundreds of people waving and smiling to us.

Thailand has gone on better than keeping calm and carrying on. They're keeping as positive as possible and carrying on.

http://crisischic.tumblr.com