What Happened: Flooding in Soi Samakkhi, Khu Khot, 2026 (B.E. 2569)

According to a report in Ban Mueang (banmuang.co.th) dated 26 September 2026 (B.E. 2569), the Soi Samakkhi community, a canal-side neighbourhood behind Patrangsit Hospital in Khu Khot subdistrict, Lam Luk Ka district, Pathum Thani, had two days of continuous heavy rain. The water kept rising until cars could no longer get in or out. More than ten bedridden patients lived in the community, and local village health volunteers (known in Thai as Or Sor Mor) appealed for emergency boats to help care for and move them.

The national picture in 2026 (B.E. 2569) was just as serious. According to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM), as published by the Government Public Relations Department with data as of 06:00 on 7 October 2026 (B.E. 2569), floods had affected 27 provinces plus Bangkok, covering 123 districts and 984 subdistricts, with 1,154,875 households and more than 3.1 million people affected. Numbers like these mean that public agencies and service providers cannot reach every building at once. Care facilities have to be ready to look after themselves.

Example Case: A Mid-Sized Care Home in Khu Khot After the Water Receded

Note: this is a typical scenario compiled from situations commonly seen in care homes after floods. It is not the account of any specific facility or person.

Ann manages a mid-sized elderly care home in the Khu Khot area. She looks after about thirty residents, several of them bedridden. During the heavy rain at the end of September 2026 (B.E. 2569), water crept into the car park, then the ground-floor dining room and the physiotherapy room. Nurses and care assistants carried residents upstairs one by one. Some needed stretchers. Some wheelchairs had to be lifted up the stairs by four people.

When the water receded, the problem was not a thin layer of mud. It was a shin-high tide mark on every ground-floor wall, a damp smell mixed with drain odour, a linen store and nappy store soaked through, sediment on the grab rails in the bathrooms, rubbish washed up in the car park and, most worrying of all, the dining room where every resident gathers three times a day.

Three housekeepers started with mops, buckets and hand-squeeze spray bottles. After two days, they had not covered even half of the ground floor. Meanwhile, families began calling to ask, "Is it safe there yet?" Some asked to take their relatives home for a while. Others waited for confirmation that the building had been properly cleaned and disinfected. Ann knew that an outbreak of diarrhoea or flu in the weeks after the flood would affect far more than residents' health. It would damage families' trust and the home's reputation for a long time.

Her question was simple: "How do we cover the whole building in the time we have, without waiting for outside contractors who are already overbooked?" For many care homes in this position, the answer is to own a properly powered backpack mistblower and to train the team to use it correctly.

Why Older Adults Face Higher Infection Risk After Floods

Floodwater does not just bring water into a building. It carries whatever was in the canal, the drains, septic tanks and the soil. In canal-side communities such as Soi Samakkhi, the water entering homes is likely to be contaminated with sewage and several groups of germs. When the water drains away, those germs remain on floors, walls, furniture and in corners.

The main germ groups to watch for

• Sewage bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella, which cause diarrhoea and food poisoning. In older adults, even a few days of diarrhoea can lead to dehydration and electrolyte loss much faster than in younger people.
• Leptospirosis risk from Leptospira bacteria carried in standing floodwater and mud. Staff who wade through water or clear mud without boots and gloves are most exposed.
• Gastrointestinal viruses such as norovirus and rotavirus, which spread easily wherever people live together and share bathrooms and dining rooms.
• Respiratory viruses such as influenza and RSV, which tend to circulate more in the wet, humid season and are a serious concern for older adults with chronic conditions.
• Moulds that grow on damp walls, ceilings, curtains, mattresses and timber floors, causing musty smells, irritating the airways and triggering allergies or asthma.

What makes care homes especially vulnerable

Many older adults have weaker immunity. Many live with diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease or chronic lung disease. Bedridden residents may have pressure sores, feeding tubes or wear incontinence pads, all of which give germs an easier way in. Care homes are also places where people are in close contact all day, sharing dining rooms, activity rooms and bathrooms. Once one person picks up an infection, it can pass to other residents and staff within days.

That is why public health bodies, including Thailand's Department of Disease Control and the US CDC, give consistent advice: after a flood, remove mud and soaked items, clean, ventilate and dry quickly, and only then disinfect surfaces with a suitable product. The order matters. Disinfectants work on clean surfaces, not on a layer of mud.

Important: if any resident or staff member develops fever, muscle pain (especially in the calves), persistent diarrhoea, vomiting or difficulty breathing after contact with floodwater, they must see a doctor straight away. Disinfecting a building reduces risk. It does not treat illness.

The Real Pain Points for Care-Home Managers

If you have been through the days after a flood, you know the hard part is not knowing what to do. It is doing it fast enough and thoroughly enough under several constraints at once.

1. The area is larger than it looks. A care home is not just bedrooms. There are dining rooms, kitchens, physiotherapy rooms, activity rooms, long corridors, car parks, wheelchair ramps, gardens and storerooms. Every flooded area needs attention.
2. Few hands, too much work. Most staff are needed for round-the-clock care. Pulling people off care duties to clean all day means less attention for residents.
3. Time works against you. The longer areas stay damp, the more mould spreads, and the longer residents stay crowded upstairs, the higher the chance of respiratory infections passing between them.
4. Families want reassurance. Relatives want to know that the home has been disinfected systematically, not just mopped to look clean.
5. Reputation and continuity. An outbreak after a flood damages trust for far longer than the physical damage to the building.
6. Outside providers have long queues. In a year like 2026 (B.E. 2569), with over a million households affected, every disinfection provider is fully booked, and waiting can take days.
7. The water may come back. Canal-side communities in Pathum Thani often see repeat rain and sometimes two or three floods in a season. Hiring help every time adds up in both cost and waiting time.

Why Mops, Buckets and Hand Sprayers Are Not Enough

Basic cleaning tools are always needed, because removing mud and scrubbing takes manual effort. But when it comes to disinfecting large areas, small tools have clear limits.

• Hand-squeeze spray bottles hold very little, need constant refilling, cover only small spots and tire the hands quickly. They suit high-touch points, not hundreds of square metres.
• Buckets and mops reach only flat floors. They miss upper walls, the space under beds, gaps behind cabinets and window ledges. Diluted solution in a bucket also gets dirty quickly and can carry contamination from one room to the next.
• Small pump or battery sprayers produce fairly large droplets, have a short reach and lack the airflow to carry droplets into corners. Covering a car park or the perimeter of a building takes a long time.
• Wiping with cloths works well on high-touch surfaces but is far too slow for a whole building when staff are already stretched.

The common problem is speed per square metre and coverage. Those are exactly what a care home needs most after a flood, because every extra day an area stays closed is another day residents stay crowded upstairs.

What the SOLO PORT 423 Is and Why It Suits Post-Flood Disinfection

The SOLO PORT 423 is an engine-powered backpack mistblower made by SOLO Kleinmotoren GmbH of Sindelfingen, Germany. An engine-driven fan produces a strong airstream. Liquid from the tank is fed into that airstream, broken into fine droplets and carried a long way, so the mist spreads over a much wider area than manual spraying can reach.

WHD sells this unit to government agencies and large organisations. According to WHD's product information, suitable settings include public areas, homes, food preparation areas, schools, hospitals, shopping centres, factories and vehicles, which covers almost every type of space found in a care home.

A point worth clarifying: the SOLO PORT 423 is a mistblower, not a thermal fogger. Many people in Thailand search for "fogging machines", but the two work differently. A thermal fogger uses heat to turn liquid into a visible fog. The SOLO PORT 423 uses a strong airstream to break liquid into droplets without heat, which makes it better suited to applying water-based disinfectants onto surfaces.

Key specifications

Source: all values in the table are according to SOLO, the manufacturer (official SOLO specification table). In addition, according to WHD's product information, the unit has a 1.4 L fuel tank, measures 68 x 45 x 34 cm, and is described by WHD as an ULV system producing droplets under 30 microns that helps save chemical. Actual droplet size depends on the nozzle and settings.

Design highlights

According to WHD's product information, the unit is made in Germany with MAHLE parts and a BING carburettor, a Nikasil-coated cylinder, a long spray tube with a wide-angle diffuser, a rotatable spray tube, a UV-resistant translucent tank with a wide filler, a one-hand control lever for throttle, dosing and stop, a padded harness and four anti-vibration mounts. Overseas dealer information lists a four-setting misting nozzle, a long-reach nozzle, a wide-angle grille and a double-sided deflector as standard. For other optional kits, ask the dealer directly.

How the SOLO PORT 423 Helps a Care Home

The heart of the machine is its maximum airflow of 1,400 m³/h according to SOLO. That strong airstream carries disinfectant droplets to upper walls, under shelves, into stairwells and along fences, the places a mop never reaches. A horizontal reach of about 12 m lets one operator cover a car park or a long corridor without walking into every corner. The 12 L tank means fewer stops to refill, and the one-hand lever lets the operator adjust the flow to suit each area, turning it down near walls and up for open ground.

For care homes, we suggest splitting the site into two groups. The first is outdoor and semi-open areas such as car parks, ramps, fences, gardens, under-building spaces and sheds, where the SOLO PORT 423 can be used at full power. The second is indoor areas that have been washed and emptied of people, such as dining rooms, activity rooms, physiotherapy rooms, corridors and shared bathrooms. The machine can be used there too, at lower engine speed and lower flow, with electrical and medical equipment covered first. High-touch points close to residents, such as bed rails, remote controls and nurse-call buttons, should still be wiped with a cloth and disinfectant under your infection-control procedures.

The disinfectant matters as much as the machine. The sprayer delivers the product to the surface; how well germs are dealt with depends on the product itself. Choose a properly registered disinfectant and follow the dilution rate and contact time on its label. One example is Chemgene HLD4H disinfectant, sold by WHD, which should be used strictly according to its label and Safety Data Sheet (SDS).

10 Reasons a Care Home Should Own a SOLO PORT 423

1. Start as soon as cleaning is done. No waiting in a queue while every area needs help at the same time.
2. Cover large areas quickly with 1,400 m³/h maximum airflow and about 12 m horizontal reach, according to SOLO.
3. Reach places cloths miss, such as under stairs, behind cabinets, along fences and upper walls where mould often hides.
4. Free up care staff. One trained operator does the spraying while others return to residents sooner.
5. A 12 L tank means fewer refills, smoother work and more predictable closure times for each area.
6. Ready for every rainy season. Canal-side areas of Pathum Thani often flood more than once, and owning the unit keeps you ready.
7. Useful outside flood season, for example disinfecting shared areas during flu season or supporting local mosquito-control work carried out correctly. See the unit
8. Reassure families with a clear, systematic process and a log of dates, times and areas treated.
9. German build quality. According to WHD, it uses MAHLE and BING parts and a Nikasil cylinder, designed for heavy, repeated work.
10. Local advice in Thailand. WHD helps with choosing disinfectants, operating the unit and looking after it. Request a SOLO PORT 423 quote

Before and After

Step by Step: Disinfecting a Care Home After a Flood

1. Always move residents out of the work zone first. Residents, bedridden patients, pets and non-essential staff must be outside the spray area, ideally in another building or wing with doors and windows closed. Neither the mist nor the 97 dB(A) engine noise is suitable for older adults.
2. Remove mud and soaked items. Mattresses, curtains, carpets and cardboard that sat in water usually have to go. Furniture that can be saved should be taken out and washed separately.
3. Wash surfaces with clean water and detergent. Scrub floors, walls, grab rails, bed legs and wheelchairs until no visible dirt remains.
4. Ventilate and dry. Use fans to remove moisture, and have an electrician check sockets and wiring before power is restored.
5. Cover electrical and medical equipment such as oxygen concentrators, suction machines and medicine cabinets, or move them out.
6. Prepare the disinfectant per its label and fill the 12 L tank with the unit on level ground.
7. Put on full protective equipment: ear defenders or earplugs, respiratory protection as the label requires, goggles or a face shield, chemical-resistant gloves, long sleeves or coveralls and boots.
8. Work outside in, and top down. Treat the car park, ramps and fences first, then move indoors. Spray upper walls before floors and back out of each room.
9. Adjust engine speed and flow to each space. Wet surfaces evenly as the label directs, without pooling.
10. Respect contact and re-entry times on the label, ventilate well, wipe high-touch points near residents again, then bring residents back.
11. Keep a record of date, time, area, product, dilution and operator.

If your home is not ready to buy a unit, or the site is beyond your team's capacity, WHD's disinfection service is a separate option you can book instead.

Safety When Using the SOLO PORT 423 in a Care Home

• Hearing protection: SOLO states 97 dB(A) at the operator. Always wear ear defenders or earplugs, and warn residents beforehand, since loud noise can alarm or confuse people, especially those living with dementia.
• Limit continuous use: the engine vibrates, so take regular breaks and rotate operators on long jobs, even with the padded harness and four anti-vibration mounts WHD describes.
• Chemical PPE: follow the disinfectant's label and SDS. Never spray into the wind or towards people.
• Refuel safely: switch off and let the engine cool before refuelling, outdoors and away from flames, kitchens and patient rooms. Never store fuel inside resident buildings.
• Weight: 11.0 kg dry according to SOLO, about 23 kg or more with a full 12 L tank. Choose fit operators, adjust the harness and watch for slippery floors.
• Keep people and pets out of the spray zone and allow re-entry only after the label's stated time.
• Ventilate indoors: petrol engine exhaust is harmful, so keep doors and windows open when working inside.
• Train first: read the manufacturer's manual and practise starting, flow adjustment and emergency stop before the real job.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How should a care home disinfect after a flood?

Move residents out, remove mud, wash with water and detergent, dry, then spray or wipe a registered disinfectant according to its label, and wait for the re-entry time before residents return.

2. What is the SOLO PORT 423 price?

Pricing depends on the package and purchasing terms. Contact WHD for a quote on 065-556-6294 or LINE @whd268.

3. Is a backpack mistblower the same as a fogging machine?

No. A thermal fogger uses heat to create fog. The SOLO PORT 423 uses a strong airstream to create droplets without heat.

4. Can we spray while residents are in the room?

No. Residents, patients and pets must always be out of the spray zone, returning only after the label's re-entry time.

5. How far does the SOLO PORT 423 spray?

About 12 m horizontally according to SOLO. Real-world reach depends on the nozzle, wind and settings.

6. Which disinfectant should go in a mistblower?

A registered disinfectant whose label allows spray application, such as Chemgene HLD4H from WHD, used strictly per its label and SDS.

7. Can it be used in bedridden residents' rooms?

Only when the room is empty, washed and medical equipment is covered, at reduced engine speed. Wipe bed rails and high-touch points again before the resident returns.

8. Is there an option if we do not want to buy?

Yes. WHD's disinfection service is a separate option. Contact WHD by phone or LINE to check availability.

9. How heavy is the backpack sprayer when full?

11.0 kg dry according to SOLO, and about 23 kg or more with a full tank.

10. Can private care homes buy it, or only government agencies?

WHD supplies both government agencies and private organisations, including care facilities. Contact WHD for purchasing details.

Keep Your Care Home Ready for Every Flood

Protect the older adults that families trust you to look after, with a backpack mistblower your own team can use the moment the water goes down. Ask about specifications, accessories and a SOLO PORT 423 quote today.

See SOLO PORT 423 Product and Price

Call 065-556-6294 | LINE @whd268

Related Reading

• SOLO PORT 423 backpack mistblower against dengue outbreaks for municipalities and TAOs (Thai)
• SOLO PORT 423 against emerging diseases for provincial public health offices (Thai)
• WHD disinfection service
• Chemgene HLD4H disinfectant

References

• Ban Mueang, flooding in the Soi Samakkhi community, Khu Khot, Lam Luk Ka, Pathum Thani (26 Sep 2026 / B.E. 2569): https://www.banmuang.co.th/news/region/492012
• Government Public Relations Department citing DDPM data as of 06:00, 7 Oct 2026 (B.E. 2569): https://www.prd.go.th/th/content/category/detail/id/33/iid/548715
• SOLO, PORT 423 Power Backpack Mister (manufacturer data): https://in.solo.global/gb/misters/107-port-423-power-backpack-mister-4015966423301.html
• CDC, Floods: https://www.cdc.gov/floods/
• Department of Disease Control, Thailand: https://ddc.moph.go.th/