A Story From the Field: Uncle Saman and the Ferry the Whole Community Was Waiting For

Uncle Saman has looked after a small community ferry crossing on the Thonburi bank of the Chao Phraya for more than twenty years. The pier has a timber waiting pavilion with a corrugated roof, long wooden benches where passengers sit, a tiny booth where fares are sold, one public toilet, and a floating pontoon that connects to two ferry boats. Every morning the pavilion fills with office workers, schoolchildren, market vendors heading to the far bank, and monks from the temple nearby.

At the end of September 2026, the river rose with a high tide and heavy rain. Water spilled over the bank and flooded the pavilion almost to seat height. The fare booth and the toilet were underwater for days. The ferries had to stop because the current was too strong, and water hyacinth, rubbish and broken timber piled up against the pontoon.

When the level finally dropped, Uncle Saman walked down to inspect the pier. The pavilion floor was covered in slick mud and green algae. The wooden benches had water stains and the first spots of mold. The fare booth smelled so damp and musty that he had to hold his breath, and the public toilet gave off a powerful sewage smell because wastewater had backed up. Inside the ferries, mud clung to the seats and the deck, and the life jackets stored in boxes under the seats were wet and smelly.

People in the neighborhood asked him every day, "Uncle, when will the boat run again?" Going the long way round by bridge takes far longer. He wanted to reopen as soon as possible, but he worried about hundreds of passengers a day holding the same handrails, sitting on the same benches and using a toilet that had just been underwater, especially children and elderly riders. After talking with the community committee, he contacted World Health Disinfection (WHD) to restore the pier before service resumed.

Uncle Saman's story is a composite drawn from situations our team encounters on site after floods. It is not a news report, and it does not describe any specific operator, but many people who run or use small piers along the river will recognize it.

Why Piers and Riverside Pavilions Are High-Risk Spots After a Flood

A pier is a public space where large numbers of people pass through in a short time, and everyone touches the same things: the guard rails, the handrail down to the pontoon, the benches, the fare window and the grab handles inside the boat. When those surfaces have just been sitting in floodwater mixed with sewage from drains and nearby homes, germs have an easy path from one person to the next.

Health risks

• Floodwater germs: Mud on rails and benches can carry E. coli and other organisms that cause diarrhea. Children who touch a rail and then put their hands in their mouths are most at risk.
• Leptospirosis: Riverbanks are prime rat territory. Anyone washing down the pier or walking through mud with an open cut needs to take extra care.
• Slips and falls: Mud mixed with algae makes the pavilion floor and pontoon extremely slippery, a serious danger for older passengers.
• Mold and allergies: The closed fare booth and toilet collect mold. The staff member who sits in the booth all day may develop coughing, sneezing and allergy symptoms.
• Aedes mosquitoes: Water collecting in old boats, tires used as fenders and containers around the pier creates breeding sites.

Risks to community service

A ferry crossing is not just a business. It is a lifeline for the neighborhood. If passengers fall ill or someone slips and is hurt, trust in the service drops, and complaints may reach local authorities. Reopening a pier that is clean, safe and odor-free is a direct way of looking after the community that depends on it.

Timing matters too. Every extra day the ferry is closed pushes commuters onto longer, more expensive routes, and some of them may not come back even after service resumes. A well-planned restoration lets the pier reopen quickly without cutting corners.

Common Approaches That Do Not Go Far Enough

• Hosing off the mud and reopening immediately: Water removes mud, but it does not disinfect, and sometimes the water used for washing is pumped straight from the river, which is still murky.
• Scattering detergent powder or bleach across the floor: It helps partially, but too much simply washes into the river, and it still does not reach the gaps under benches or the joints in the pontoon.
• Letting the sun do the work: Sunlight dries things out, but the fare booth and the toilet are enclosed and never see the sun, so the musty smell stays.
• Dropping mothballs in the toilet: This only masks the smell, and the strong chemical odor can make users feel dizzy.
• Forgetting the boats: Many people clean only the pavilion, yet the boats passengers sit in were submerged and coated with mud too.

The Solution: Chemgene HLD4H Fogging Across the Pier and Ozone Treatment for Enclosed Rooms

WHD relies mainly on our disinfection fogging service with Chemgene HLD4H, applied through ULV equipment, for open areas such as the waiting pavilion, guard rails, benches, the steps down to the pontoon and the inside of the boats. The fine mist settles evenly on surfaces while using a controlled amount of solution. Our ozone treatment service is used for spaces that can be closed: the fare booth, the public toilet, equipment stores and any passenger cabin on a boat with a roof and windows that shut. There it breaks down musty odors and deals with mold spores.

Step by step for a pier

1. Survey: We check how high the water reached, the condition of timber and structures, where odors are strongest and which spaces can be sealed for ozone treatment.
2. Clean-up advice: Clear rubbish and water hyacinth from the pontoon, scrub mud and algae off the floors, discard damaged cushions and materials, and check that timber and pontoons are structurally sound first.
3. Disinfection fogging: Chemgene HLD4H mist is applied to rails, benches, steps, the fare window and the inside of the boats while the pier is closed and empty.
4. Ozone treatment of enclosed rooms: The fare booth, toilet and storerooms are sealed and treated according to their size. Nobody and no animals may be inside during treatment.
5. Ventilation: Doors and windows are opened until the ozone has broken down, before staff or passengers use the rooms.
6. Re-check: We check odors and cleanliness and advise on a wiping schedule for high-touch points and on care around the daily tides.

Once the pier reopens, staff can use the Chemgene HLD4H 750 ml spray to wipe rails and the fare window in regular rounds, especially during the busy morning and evening rush.

10 Reasons Community Piers in Thonburi Choose WHD

1. Built for open spaces: Our disinfection fogging suits pavilions and pontoons.
2. Controlled use of disinfectant: Less chemical runoff into the river.
3. Odor-free enclosed rooms: Ozone treatment for the fare booth and toilet.
4. The boats included: Not just the pavilion, but seats and decks too.
5. A high-quality disinfectant: We use Chemgene HLD4H.
6. Planned around the timetable: Work happens while the ferry is not running.
7. Lower risk for children and elders: Cleaner shared touch points.
8. Mosquito control by the river: Add our mosquito spraying service.
9. Less chemical smell after scrubbing: Use ozone treatment for chemical residue.
10. Confidence for the community: You can announce that the pier has been disinfected.

Before and After the Pier Recovery

A Customer's Voice

"I've run this pier a long time, and after every flood we always just washed it ourselves. This year the water stayed for days and the toilet smelled terrible. Once the team fogged the whole pavilion and the boats, and treated the toilet and fare booth with ozone, some of the aunties told me on reopening day that the pier was cleaner than before the flood."
- Uncle Saman, caretaker of a community ferry pier, Thonburi (a composite scenario based on on-site situations)

Uncle Saman's situation is shared by many community piers, temple landing pavilions and long-tail boat stops along the Chao Phraya and the canals of Thonburi, all of which need to reopen for public use as soon as the water goes down.

Checklist Before Reopening the Pier and Restarting the Ferry

• Check the structural condition of the pavilion, pontoon, guard rails and the gangway to the boats.
• Clear all rubbish, water hyacinth and timber debris from the pontoon.
• Scrub mud and algae off floors, steps and the pontoon to reduce slips.
• Have the lighting, wiring and sockets in the fare booth inspected.
• Clean the toilet and check pipes and septic tank for backflow.
• Inspect every life jacket, wash and dry them, and replace damaged ones.
• Book disinfection fogging across the pier and boats, and ozone treatment for enclosed rooms.
• Empty standing water from old boats, fender tires and containers around the pier.
• Put up signs telling passengers the pier has been cleaned and disinfected.

Special Considerations for Riverside Sites

Tides: Piers on the Chao Phraya are affected by the tide every day. Schedule fogging for low tide so surfaces are dry enough and the solution is not washed away immediately.

Old timber and joints: Timber pavilions and pontoons have joints that trap mud and moisture. Rotten wood should be repaired first, because decayed timber will keep holding mold and odor for a long time.

Riverside toilets: Public toilets near the river often suffer from backflow at high tide. Check the non-return valves and septic tank, and include the toilet in a regular ozone schedule.

Boats and cabins: A boat with a cabin that closes can be ozone-treated, but it must be moored securely, with nobody aboard, and ventilated well before use. Open boats are handled mainly by fogging.

The environment: Fine-mist fogging uses only as much solution as needed, rather than drenching surfaces so that runoff flows into the river. That is better for a riverside community in the long run.

Ongoing Care Through the High-Water Season

During the high-water season the river may rise several more times, so a pier needs a care plan that runs in cycles. Every time the water drops, scrape off the mud right away before it dries hard. Wipe rails and the fare window with disinfectant every morning, and open the fare booth door to let air through whenever it is not raining.

If the pier sits beside a temple or a school, it can make sense to coordinate a joint clean-up of the whole area. Staff homes and community houses that flooded can also be restored with residential ozone disinfection, so that families come home to a place that feels livable again.

Life Jackets, Cushions and Other Soft Items

Soft items on a pier and its boats are easy to overlook, yet they are some of the worst sources of lingering odor. Life jackets are the most important. They are safety equipment, and a jacket that has been sitting wet in a closed box for days may not only smell bad but also have damaged foam, rotting straps or corroded buckles. Every jacket should be taken out, inspected, washed with mild soap, rinsed and dried completely in the shade before being stored again in a ventilated container. Anything that is torn, has crumbling foam or has a buckle that no longer closes properly must be replaced.

Seat cushions in boats and on pavilion benches are similar. Foam cushions that were submerged absorb dirty water deep inside and rarely recover fully. In most cases it is safer and cheaper in the long run to replace them with wipe-clean seating. Canvas covers and awnings should be scrubbed, rinsed and dried in the sun, and checked for mold along the seams.

Finally, the fare booth often holds paper tickets, logbooks, a small chair cushion and a fan. Wet paper should be discarded, the fan cleaned before use, and the booth included in the ozone treatment so the person working there all day is not breathing musty air.

A Practical Reopening Plan for a Small Pier

Small community piers rarely have a large maintenance team, so it helps to break the work into clear stages that a handful of people can manage alongside the professional treatment.

Stage 1 - Make it safe: Before anything else, check that the pavilion, gangway and pontoon are structurally sound. Floodwater can loosen anchor points, shift pontoons and weaken timber. Keep the public out until someone qualified has confirmed it is safe to walk on. Switch off power to the fare booth until an electrician has checked it.

Stage 2 - Clear and scrub: Remove floating debris, water hyacinth and rubbish. Scrape thick mud with shovels, then scrub floors, steps and the pontoon with stiff brushes to lift the algae that makes them so slippery. Work at low tide and from the shore outward. Wear boots and gloves throughout.

Stage 3 - Sort the soft items: Take out life jackets, cushions, mats and paperwork. Wash and dry what can be saved, and set aside anything damaged for replacement.

Stage 4 - Professional disinfection: Once surfaces are clean and reasonably dry, the team fogs the pavilion, rails, benches and boats, and ozone-treats the fare booth, toilet and storerooms, followed by full ventilation.

Stage 5 - Test run: Run the ferry empty for a few crossings to check the engine, the mooring and the gangway at different tide levels. Put up signs, place a hand-sanitizer point and reopen to passengers.

For many small piers, stages 1 to 3 take two or three days, and the professional treatment can usually be completed in a single closure window. The result is a pier that reopens quickly but properly, with nothing skipped that could put passengers at risk.

Communicating With Passengers

A community pier depends on regular riders who know the staff by name. When the ferry restarts, a little communication goes a long way:

• Post a simple sign at the pavilion explaining that the pier and boats were cleaned and disinfected after the flood.
• Share the reopening date in local LINE groups and with the community committee, temple and nearby school.
• Remind passengers to hold the rails and take care on the pontoon, which may still be slippery at low tide.
• Place a hand-sanitizer point near the fare window for the first few weeks.

Small gestures like these show that the pier is being looked after, and passengers return more quickly when they can see the care that has gone into the restart.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Does fogging work in an open riverside space?
A: Yes, when it is done after the mud has been scrubbed off and at a time when surfaces are dry and it is not raining. The fine mist settles evenly on rails, benches and floors.

Q: How long will the ferry need to stop?
A: It depends on the size of the pier and the number of boats. We plan the work for when the ferry is not running, such as at night or before dawn, and tell you how long enclosed rooms need to ventilate.

Q: Will the disinfectant end up in the river?
A: Fogging uses a controlled amount of solution rather than pouring it until it runs off, which reduces runoff into the river.

Q: Can you ozone-treat a boat?
A: Yes, if the boat has a passenger cabin that can be closed. It must be securely moored with nobody aboard and ventilated before use.

Q: Should we disinfect again if the river floods a second time this season?
A: Yes. Each new flood brings fresh mud and contamination. Scrape and scrub as soon as the water drops, then repeat the fogging of shared touch points and, if odors return, the ozone treatment of enclosed rooms. Many riverside sites plan for more than one round during the high-water months.

Q: How is the price calculated?
A: It depends on the area, the number of boats and the level of damage. Contact us for an assessment and quotation at 065-556-6294 or LINE @whd268.

Q: Do you serve areas near Thonburi?
A: Yes. We serve Thon Buri, Khlong San, Bangkok Yai, Bangkok Noi, Rat Burana and other districts across Bangkok and nearby provinces.

A Clean, Safe Pier Where Passengers Can Wait in Comfort

Passenger piers, riverside pavilions and ferry operators in Thonburi can book a survey with the WHD team today.

See Our Disinfection Service - Click Here

Book Ozone Treatment - Click Here

Call 065-556-6294 · LINE @whd268 · Email worldhealthdisinfection@gmail.com

Related Links

• Mosquito spraying service
• Ozone treatment for odors and chemical residue
• Chemgene HLD4H 750 ml disinfectant spray
• All articles

Health reference: World Health Organization (WHO): Floods · Department of Disease Control, Thailand