Bangkok flood relief: where to claim, how much, and by when

On 26 September 2026 the Governor of Bangkok signed a notice extending the disaster-area declaration to all fifty districts, effective from 25 September, having first declared only Nong Chok, Suan Luang and Khan Na Yao. The declaration is not symbolic. It is the legal condition that lets agencies release relief money and lets those affected file claims at all.

The common mistake is to assume there is only one route and to sit waiting for the state payment. There are at least five, they are separate, and each has its own decision-maker, deadline and evidence. Several can be used together without giving up the others. People who wait on one route often lose the others by simply running out of time.

Why does the disaster declaration matter?

The disaster prevention legislation lets the director for an area declare it a disaster zone. The effect is that agencies may draw on standing advance funds immediately, instead of waiting for the normal budget cycle.

• No declaration means there is no channel to pay relief under the regulations.
• Once declared, anyone inside that area with real damage may file.
• The notice states the date it takes effect. Damage occurring earlier may be assessed separately, so record the date and time the water entered.

Note what this money is. It is relief for people affected by a disaster, not compensation for loss, so it will not cover the damage in full. Taking it does not give up any civil claim against whoever is actually liable.

How much can you claim, and where?

People affected in Bangkok can claim under two schemes. They are separate and do not yet share data, so filing under one does not count as filing under the other. If you qualify for both, file for both.

The first is the cabinet relief payment for those flooded in the 2026 rainy season, paid by the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. File through the Thang Rat government app, which opened for registration on 2 October 2026 and now covers all fifty Bangkok districts, or at the district office for the address in your house registration.

• A main residence flooded for seven days or more: 9,000 baht per household.
• A main residence, or a unit in a high-rise, cut off by surrounding water: 5,000 baht per household.
• Each house can register once. The system checks by house registration code, and if someone in the household has already filed it says the house is already registered.

After filing, follow the status in the Thang Rat app. "Returned for correction" means information is missing or the wrong district office was chosen: correct it in the app and resubmit. "Not approved" or "already registered" does not end the matter, because an applicant who is refused may appeal. First check whether someone else in the household has already filed. If not, or if the house is in a declared area and was genuinely damaged, lodge an appeal at the district office with photographs of the damage and proof that you live there.

Under the law on administrative procedure, an appeal against an official's decision must be lodged within fifteen days of being notified, so do not wait. File as soon as you see the result, in writing, saying which part of the decision you dispute and why, and keep a copy stamped as received by the district office. If the appeal fails, you can still go to the Administrative Court.

The second is relief paid by Bangkok according to the actual damage. File at claim.bangkok.go.th at any hour, or at the district office for your registered address, which accepts claims every day including holidays. Bangkok has published these ceilings.

• Repairs to the home, as actually incurred: up to 88,600 baht per house.
• Temporary accommodation: up to 3,000 baht a month for up to two months.
• Tools of trade: up to 13,500 baht per household.
• Basic living costs: 3,800 baht where the whole house is damaged, 1,900 baht where it is partly damaged.
• Medical costs: up to 2,000 baht as an outpatient, up to 4,000 baht as an inpatient.
• A consolation payment for injury: 2,300 baht per person.
• Funeral costs: up to 35,700 baht per person, with up to a further 35,700 baht where the person who died was the family's main earner.

These are ceilings, not flat payments to every house. Officials decide on the actual damage and the evidence filed, so the amount may be lower. Bangkok says assessment and transfer take at least sixty days.

What is the deadline?

Bangkok's published notices say claims must be filed within thirty days of the disaster affecting you. A deputy governor was reported on 3 October 2026 as saying claims may be filed within ninety days of the disaster declaration. The two figures do not match. The safe course is to count thirty days from the day the water came in and file within that. If thirty days have already passed, ask the district office and file anyway; do not assume you have lost the right.

What documents do you need?

• A copy of your national ID card.
• A copy of the house registration.
• Photographs of the damage.
• PromptPay linked to your national ID number, or a bank account as the system requires.
• Further documents for the particular head claimed, such as proof that you live there.

You do not need a police report or a daily-record entry. Bangkok advises anyone without a title deed, whose name does not match the deed, or whose home has no house number to file at the district office rather than online. A certificate confirming you were affected, for your employer, is issued by the district office.

What can tenants claim?

Tenants, and people who actually live in a home without being on its house registration, may claim subject to the conditions and evidence required. Repair money, however, goes only to an owner who lives in the house. For a house that is let, neither the owner nor the tenant receives repair money. A tenant may still claim other heads, such as temporary accommodation, tools of trade and medical costs.

The Bangkok hotline on 1555 answers questions about the process around the clock.

Does your insurance actually cover flood?

Open the policy and read it rather than guessing from its name. Flood is usually an extra peril that has to be bought; it is not automatically part of basic fire cover.

• On a household fire policy, check whether flood is added as a special peril and what the annual limit is.
• First-class motor cover generally responds to flood damage; other classes usually do not. Read the particular policy.
• Business policies may include business interruption, which pays the profit lost while you cannot trade.

Notify the insurer without delay, and do not move or throw away damaged property before it has been inspected. Clearing the house out because you want it clean again is the single most common reason a claim fails. Photograph and film everything first.

Can you sue whoever caused the flooding?

Yes, if you can show the loss came from someone's conduct rather than from rainfall alone. Two broad situations.

• A private party changed how water runs: filling land across an existing drainage route, building without the drainage required by the permit, or dumping material that blocked the drains. That is a civil wrong.
• A state agency or official failed in a duty and loss followed. Separate legislation governs the liability of officials, and it requires a claim to be submitted to the agency first, not straight to court.

The deadline is what catches people. A claim in tort must be brought within one year of learning both of the wrongful act and of who is liable, and the claim to a state agency carries a one-year period as well. A year goes faster than it sounds while the house is still being repaired.

Exceptionally heavy rain can be raised as force majeure, but it is not a complete shield. Where the party had a duty to prepare and did not, or made the existing drainage worse by its own acts, that defence weakens considerably.

Do employees who cannot get to work still get paid?

Two situations with clearly different answers.

• The employer suspends operations because the workplace is flooded: labour law requires payment of not less than 75 per cent of the wage for a working day throughout the suspension, with at least three working days' notice to the employees and to the labour inspector.
• The workplace is open but the employee cannot travel because their own home is flooded: that is the employee's side. The employer may allow remote work, the use of existing leave, or unpaid time off.

On 27 September 2026 the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare wrote to employers asking them to let employees who cannot travel, or who arrive late, because their homes are affected by flooding take the time off without it counting as leave and without treating it as a breach of the work rules.

Read that letter for what it is. It asks for cooperation; it is not an order and has no binding force, so an employer who does not follow it is not thereby in breach of the law. Nor does it create any right to be paid for the day. "Not counted as leave" does not mean "paid".

In practice it carries real weight all the same. The statutory ground for dismissing without severance is three consecutive working days' absence without good cause, and a home under water is good cause on the face of the provision. The letter only underlines what the Act already says. An employer who dismisses for three days' absence during this flood is taking a serious risk of the dismissal being held unlawful.

An employer that suspends operations and does not pay what the Act requires can be taken to a labour inspector at no cost. And flooding is not one of the statutory grounds that removes the right to severance.

What to record today, while the water is still there

Evidence gathered while the water is up is worth far more than anything collected afterwards.

• Photograph and film the water level against something permanent — a door, a stair, a wall — with the date stamp switched on.
• Photograph damaged items one by one, showing make and serial number, before moving or discarding anything.
• Keep every receipt: repairs, materials, temporary accommodation, removals.
• Ask the district office for a certificate confirming you were affected. It serves for the relief claim, the insurance claim and any court case.
• Write down when the water came in and how high it reached. Memory shifts; a note made that day does not.

This page is general information, not advice on your situation. Relief rates and filing channels change with each cabinet resolution, so check with the district office for your address before filing. If the loss is substantial, or you think someone else caused it, send the firm your photographs and documents.