Restaurants lose up to 80% of sales in a flood even when the building stays dry
Bangkok restaurants reported sales down as much as 80% in late September 2026 because customers, staff, deliveries and riders could not get through. Rent, salaries and utilities continue; the Restaurant Operators Club chair said smaller venues face a liquidity crisis after about two weeks. Owners are cutting hours to noon-6 PM and trimming perishable orders by guesswork.
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Hardware and sensors
Door Sign: an e-ink shop sign with four buttons that tells regulars the real hours today
The owner presses one of four buttons: Open, Delivery only, Open till 6, Closed. The e-ink sign at the door changes, and the same state goes to a public status page that regulars can check before they wade over. When hours change every day with the water, nobody has to post anything.
Build with ESP32, 4.2in e-ink, 4 buttons, Google Sheet or Supabase status page, QR sticker
Camera and vision
Fridge Cutter: photo of the fridge tells you tomorrow's fresh order
Before the evening, the owner photographs the walk-in and the prep shelf. Claude vision counts what is there and, with today's sales and a flood-day sales guess of 20 to 50%, writes the exact fresh order to send the supplier. It stops the guess-and-spoil trimming that burns cash.
Build with Claude vision, Next.js, Google Sheets for sales, supplier order template
Web portal
Meal Card Maker: print prepaid meal cards regulars buy now to keep the shop alive
The owner types the shop name and a card value, and gets printable cards with a PromptPay QR, a card number and ten stamp boxes. Regulars buy cards at the counter or by QR and the shop gets cash now while the floods keep customers away. Each card stub is scanned when redeemed so nothing is double-spent.
Build with Next.js, PromptPay QR, PDF generator, Supabase for card numbers
Data and maps
Go or No-Go Card: a morning card that says whether staff and riders can reach the shop
Each morning the owner gets one card from public rain radar and Bangkok water level feeds, plus the home districts of staff and the delivery zone. It says 'full menu', 'half menu, 2 staff' or 'stay closed until noon'. Hours and orders get trimmed by data instead of gut feel.
Build with BMA water level and rain radar feeds, Google Sheets of staff districts, Claude, daily print or screen
Web portal
Fresh Swap: neighbor shops trade perishables before they spoil
A shop with extra crab sticks or milk posts it with one photo and a pickup time, and a nearby shop that is short can claim it at cost. Each shop in the flood zone is cutting orders by guesswork, so swapping the leftovers keeps both from bleeding cash. A printed QR at each shop door opens the swap board.
Build with Next.js, Supabase, Google Maps radius search, QR sticker
What people reported
The Nation, 29 Sep 2026: up to 80% revenue loss, doubled vegetable prices, hours cut, two-week liquidity warning
nationthailand.comr/Thailand thread (210 upvotes) sharing the story
reddit.com