A flooded restaurant in Thailand has taken dining with a water view to the next level.
Chaopraya Antique Cafe, in Nonthaburi, near Bangkok, has stayed open for customers despite heavy monsoon rains flooding the restaurant with shin-deep water.
Instead, the crisis has been a boon for business as customers are flocking to enjoy the unique dining experience and the thrill of avoiding the waves created by passing boats.
Chaopraya Antique Cafe, in Nonthaburi, near Bangkok, has stayed open despite being flooded and customers are flocking to enjoy the thrill of avoiding the waves created by passing boats
Videos have gone viral on social media of the diners jumping onto chairs when passing long-tail boats sends waves through the restaurant.
Its customers perch precariously on wooden stools as murky brown floodwater laps at their tables and cheer and laugh as their chairs are knocked over by the water that breaches the restaurant.
Tropical storm Dianmu and heavy monsoon rains have caused flooding in 33 Thai provinces, inundating more than 300,000 households and claiming nine lives.
Riverside areas of Bangkok are bracing for flooding in the coming days and more storms are expected to hit the kingdom next week.
When flooding began, owner Titiporn Jutimanon intended to close the restaurant but soon realised customers did not actually mind being surrounded by water and the concept has spread quickly by 'word of mouth'
When flooding began owner Titiporn Jutimanon intended to close the restaurant but soon realised customers did not actually mind being surrounded by water.
'The concept has spread by customers' word of mouth,' he told AFP, adding footage of the quirky eatery quickly started trending on social media.
In the afternoons and evenings the restaurant is full of diners munching miang kham, a fiery leaf-wrapped appetiser, giggling and jumping on their seats as boats and rice barges cruise past the Chao Phraya River, sending waves of caramel-coloured water towards them.
The crisis has been a boon for business as customers are flocking to enjoy the unique dining experience and the thrill of avoiding the waves created by passing boats.
Videos have gone viral on social media of the diners jumping onto chairs and cheer and laugh as their chairs are knocked over by the waves
Restaurants in Bangkok and other hotspots yoyoed in and out of restrictions on in-house dining this year as a deadly third wave of coronavirus infections took hold.
Thai authorities allowed in-house dining to resume in September, as part of an easing of restrictions as new cases fell to around 10,000 a day, down from a peak of 23,000 in August.
An estimated 50,000 restaurants have shut down permanently according to the Thai Restaurant Association, and Titiporn is grateful he can keep his doors open.
'If I have to close down the restaurant again, it wouldn't survive for sure,' he said.
An estimated 50,000 restaurants have shut down permanently according to the Thai Restaurant Association, and Titiporn is grateful he can keep his doors open
Operating a flooded restaurant is a lot of hard work, Titiporn noted.
'You have to navigate your way through floodwaters while holding the customers' food,' he said, adding staff also have to mop up mud at the end of the day.
The experience has proved popular with young people and families.
'The economy is pretty bad these days... I think it's a very good idea. The owner has turned the crisis into an opportunity,' customer Neung, 49, said.
Health authorities in many countries advise people not to expose themselves to or swim in flood water.
Faecal matter from overflowing sewage, chemicals and industrial waste can cause illness and skin infections can occur from contact with open wounds.
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