A Story From the Field: The Old Wooden Cabinets Where the Water Reached the Bottom Drawers

"Khun Prayoon" is the lay steward of a temple on the Noi River in Pak Hai district, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya. For years he has helped the abbot with the temple's administration. The temple office is a small ground-floor room in the building next to the main sermon hall. Inside stand three old wooden cabinets. They hold the temple register, files on the monks and novices who have lived there, books of income and expenses, donation receipts, land title documents, old photographs of merit-making ceremonies, and a small number of traditional Thai folding manuscripts that families offered to the temple long ago.

During the floods of early October 2026, the Noi River overflowed into the temple grounds to a depth of nearly half a meter and stayed for about a week. Staff and villagers managed to lift some things to higher shelves, but the bottom drawers of the cabinets and the document boxes sitting on the floor were already underwater. When the water receded, Khun Prayoon opened the cabinets. The files on the lowest shelves were soaked, their pages stuck together in solid blocks. Some sheets already showed grey and black spots of mold. The whole room smelled strongly of damp and mud.

Everyone had advice. Some villagers suggested drying the documents in the sun. Others said to spray them with disinfectant. Someone had heard that ozone kills mold, so they proposed ozone-treating the whole room with the files still inside. Khun Prayoon did not know which was right. These documents are the temple's official records, some are decades old, and once damaged they cannot be recreated.

The most important message of this article is simple: do not rush to ozone-treat or spray the documents. The right order is to remove the documents and let document conservation specialists assess and care for them first. Only then should the empty room be cleaned, cleared of mold and freed of musty odor, before the treated documents come back. This article brings together the approach the World Health Disinfection (WHD) team uses for this kind of job.

Why a Temple Records Room Must Be Handled Differently From an Ordinary Room

• The documents cannot be replaced. The temple register, accounts, land documents and monastic records are official evidence and part of the temple's history. If they are damaged by the wrong treatment, they may be lost for good.
• Paper and ink are fragile. Wet paper softens and tears easily, and some inks dissolve or bleed. Spraying liquids, drying in harsh sunlight, or exposing paper directly to a strong oxidizer such as ozone can yellow it, make it brittle, or fade the ink.
• Some items have cultural value. Folding manuscripts, palm-leaf texts and old photographs are materials that need specialist knowledge. They should not be handled by people without the right training.
• Records rooms are closed and damp. They usually have few windows and solid wooden cabinets, so moisture lingers for a long time. Mold grows quickly inside cabinets, behind them and on the walls.
• It is temple space. Any work requires the abbot's permission and should be carried out with the restraint and courtesy expected in a temple.

In short, a records room is two problems in one: precious, fragile materials that need expert hands, and a damp, moldy room that needs thorough cleaning. The mistake most people make is to treat both with the same tool at the same time.

Health Risks for People Working in the Records Room

The following is general information, not medical advice. Anyone with unusual symptoms should see a doctor.

• Mold spores from paper: Opening moldy files and turning pages releases spores right next to the face. This can cause sneezing, coughing and an irritated nose, or trigger allergies and asthma. Whoever sorts the documents should wear a mask that filters fine particles, wear gloves and work in a well-ventilated space.
• Skin: Long contact with contaminated paper and mud can irritate the skin. Wash hands thoroughly after each session.
• Leptospirosis: A ground-floor room that held floodwater for a week may have rat urine mixed into the mud. People cleaning the room should wear boots and gloves and keep cuts away from water and mud.
• Older monks: If the monk responsible for administration is elderly or has health conditions, it is kinder for lay helpers or staff to do the sorting, reducing his exposure to mold spores.

For more on flood-related illness, see the Thai Department of Disease Control and the WHO fact sheet on floods.

Well-Meant Advice That Doesn't Suit Important Documents

• Ozone-treating the room with the documents inside. Ozone is excellent for clearing mold and odor from an empty room, but it is an oxidizer that can speed up the deterioration of old paper, ink, photographs and some other materials. Documents must always come out first.
• Spraying disinfectant or alcohol on paper. This wets the paper again, may make ink run, and does not remove mold that has grown into the paper fibers.
• Drying whole files in strong sun. Paper can warp, become brittle and fade; photographs may stick together or be permanently damaged.
• Pulling stuck pages apart straight away. Wet paper tears very easily, and important text can be lost in seconds.
• Painting or covering over mold on the walls. The moisture in the wall remains, mold returns, and spores settle on the documents once they are brought back.

The safe approach is to split the work clearly into two parts. Part one is the documents, which belong in the hands of conservation specialists. Part two is the room and the cabinets, which is where a disinfection and ozone team can help.

Part 1: The Documents Go to Conservation Specialists

WHD is not a document conservation specialist, and we do not ozone-treat or spray documents directly. In the first days after the flood, the temple should:

• Inform the abbot and get his permission. Let the abbot or the person he appoints decide how documents are moved, and name one clear person responsible.
• Photograph before moving anything. Take pictures of the cabinets, drawers and the state of the documents as a record, and make a rough list of what is there.
• Separate wet documents from dry ones. Use separate boxes or trays so that moisture and mold do not spread to documents that are still in good condition.
• Keep them cool and airy. While waiting for specialist help, place wet documents in a dry room, out of direct sunlight, with gentle air movement.
• Contact document conservation specialists. These might be archives or conservation services, libraries or universities with conservation work, or independent conservators. Ask for advice on drying, separating pages and dealing with mold on paper.
• Official records. If registers or title documents are damaged, consult the agency that issued them about copies or re-certification.

Folding manuscripts, palm-leaf texts and old photographs especially need specialist care, because each of these materials has its own handling methods. A few days of patience at this stage protects records that have survived for generations.

Part 2: The Room and Cabinets, Where WHD Can Help

Once every document has been removed, the empty room and empty cabinets are where we can work fully. We use our disinfection service with CHEMGENE HLD4H applied by ULV fogging, together with our ozone treatment service, which helps destroy mold spores and break down musty odors embedded in walls, ceilings, cabinet wood and air.

Principles of Respect We Follow

• We work only with the abbot's permission and with the lay steward or another person appointed by the temple present.
• Work is scheduled around the monks' routine, avoiding chanting times, meal times and Buddhist holy days.
• Team members dress modestly, remove shoes where the temple asks, and keep noise to a minimum.
• We do not touch Buddha images, offerings or religious objects in the room. If they need to be moved, the temple moves them.

How the Work Proceeds

1. Joint survey with the temple. We inspect walls, floor, ceiling, cabinets, drawers and the space behind cabinets, and confirm that every document has been removed.
2. Advice on mud clearance. We advise on flushing mud from floors, wall edges and under cabinets, and on drying the room before disinfection begins.
3. Chemgene HLD4H fogging. We fog floors, walls, cabinet interiors, drawers, shelves and the backs of cabinets.
4. Controlled ozone treatment of the empty room. We close the room, post warning signs, open every drawer and cabinet door, and run the generator for a period suited to the room size.
5. Ventilation. Doors and windows are opened, and we wait until the ozone has broken down into oxygen before anyone goes back in.
6. Re-check before documents return. We check odor and former mold spots. Documents come back only when the conservation specialists confirm they are ready.

10 Reasons Pak Hai Temples Choose a Step-by-Step Approach to Records Rooms

1. Important documents are cared for by the right specialists, with no risky experiments.
2. The empty room is disinfected thoroughly by a disinfection service that reaches inside cabinets and drawers.
3. Mold and musty odor are removed at the source with ozone treatment.
4. A disinfectant without a harsh smell, CHEMGENE HLD4H.
5. Less chance of spores resettling on documents when they return.
6. Respect for the temple and the monks' routine, with work timed to suit the temple.
7. Less spore exposure for monks and staff who use the room every day.
8. Photos and a work record to share with the temple committee and the community.
9. Sound old cabinets can be kept after cleaning and disinfection.
10. Easy to extend across the temple, such as the sermon hall, monks' quarters and odor-removing ozone treatment in other storerooms.

Before and After Restoring the Temple Records Room

A Customer's Voice (Illustrative Scenario)

"We very nearly ozone-treated the whole room with the files still in it. The team told us plainly that the documents were not their job and should go to conservation specialists first, and that they would come back for the empty room. They worked in the afternoon after the monks' midday meal and didn't disturb the temple at all. The room doesn't smell anymore; now we're just waiting for the documents to come home."

— Khun Prayoon (pseudonym), lay steward at a temple in Pak Hai district

Checklist for Lay Stewards and Temple Committees

• Get the abbot's permission and name one person responsible for the documents.
• Photograph and list the documents before moving them.
• Separate wet and dry documents and contact conservation specialists as soon as possible.
• Clear mud from the room and let it dry before booking disinfection and ozone treatment.
• When documents return, raise cabinets and shelves off the floor and keep key records in waterproof boxes.
• Scan or photograph important documents and keep a backup copy outside the temple.
• Wipe cabinet surfaces and desks regularly with Chemgene disinfectant spray, never spraying the documents themselves.

Planning a Records Room That Survives the Next Flood

Pak Hai sits on low ground between rivers, and many temples there have seen water in their grounds more than once. Once the room is clean and the documents are on their way back, it is worth spending a little time on how the room is set up, so that next time the damage is much smaller.

• Raise everything off the floor. Put cabinets on sturdy stands or move the most important records to an upper floor if the temple has one. Even half a meter of height can make the difference between a soaked file and a dry one.
• Sort records by importance. Keep the temple register, land documents and current accounts together in clearly labeled waterproof boxes that can be carried upstairs quickly when a flood warning comes.
• Keep a digital copy. Scanning or photographing key pages and keeping a copy with a trusted committee member or in secure online storage means that even if originals are damaged, the information survives.
• Control humidity day to day. Ventilate the room regularly when the air is dry, avoid storing documents against outside walls, and consider a dehumidifier during the wet season.
• Write a simple flood plan. A one-page list of what to move, in what order and by whom can be pinned inside the cabinet door. When water rises at night, nobody has to think from scratch.

These steps cost little, and they protect records that the temple and the community will rely on for many years to come.

Organizing Volunteers Without Putting Documents at Risk

After a flood, temples in Pak Hai are usually full of goodwill. Villagers, former novices, students and neighbors arrive ready to help, and that energy is one of the community's greatest strengths. In a records room, though, enthusiasm needs gentle direction, because a well-meaning helper can do more damage to a fragile register in five minutes than the floodwater did in a week.

• Give volunteers the right jobs. Mud clearance, carrying empty furniture, washing floors outside the room, cooking for helpers and keeping a record of who came and what they did are all valuable tasks that keep people away from the documents themselves.
• Keep a small, named document team. Two or three people chosen by the abbot, ideally the lay steward and one or two careful helpers, should be the only ones who handle files and manuscripts until specialists arrive.
• Explain the reason, not just the rule. When people understand that wet paper tears easily and that ozone and sprays can harm old ink, they are far more willing to step back and help in other ways.
• Protect helpers' health. Provide masks, gloves and boots, a place to wash hands, and clean drinking water. Ask anyone with asthma or allergies to work outside the room.
• Thank people publicly. A short announcement after the morning chanting or a note on the temple notice board recognizes the community's effort and keeps goodwill strong for the long recovery ahead.

Handled this way, the community's help speeds up the work on the room while the documents stay safe with the people best placed to protect them.

What Happens to the Room While Documents Are Away

Conservation work on paper can take weeks or even months, depending on how much was damaged and how busy the specialists are. During that time the room should not simply be locked and forgotten, because a closed, damp room in the rainy season can grow mold again even after it has been treated.

• Open the door and windows on dry days so that air keeps moving through the empty cabinets.
• Leave drawers and cabinet doors slightly open so that moisture does not collect inside.
• Look in once or twice a week. If a musty smell returns or new spots appear, deal with them before the documents come back.
• If the room was badly affected, a short follow-up ozone treatment just before the documents return can give extra peace of mind, again with the room completely empty.

When the conservators confirm the documents are ready, the temple can bring them back into a room that is clean, dry and fresh, and that is set up to keep them safe.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can ozone kill mold on documents?
A: We do not recommend ozone-treating important or old documents, because ozone may speed up the deterioration of paper, ink and photographs. Documents should be cared for by conservation specialists. Ozone is used on the empty room.

Q: Can old wooden cabinets that were underwater still be used?
A: If the wood is not rotten or badly swollen, cabinets can usually be cleaned, disinfected, dried completely and used again. Plywood that has swollen or has deep mold may need replacing.

Q: How should wet documents be stored while we wait for a specialist?
A: Keep them apart from dry documents, in a dry room, out of direct sunlight, with gentle air movement. Do not try to pull stuck pages apart yourself.

Q: How long will the temple office be closed?
A: Disinfection and ozone treatment of the empty room usually take one day including ventilation. When the documents return depends on the conservation specialists.

Q: Can you also treat the rest of the temple?
A: Yes. We can plan work in the sermon hall, monks' quarters, kitchens and bathrooms, always around the monks' routine and with the abbot's permission.

Q: Should we throw away moldy documents to protect the others?
A: No. Never discard temple records on your own judgment. Keep moldy items separate from clean ones and let the abbot and conservation specialists decide what can be saved.

Q: Will the ozone treatment affect Buddha images or the shrine in the room?
A: We ask the temple to move any Buddha images and religious objects out of the room before treatment, handled by the temple itself in the proper manner, so that nothing of religious value is exposed.

Q: Which areas do you serve?
A: Pak Hai district and nearby districts such as Sena, Bang Ban, Bang Sai, Lat Bua Luang and Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya.

Give the Temple a Clean, Dry Records Room Again

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Related Articles and Links

• Ozone treatment for odors and chemical residue
• CHEMGENE HLD4H disinfectant
• Master Ozone Generator
• All articles
• External sources: WHO: Floods and health and the Thai Department of Disease Control

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Keywords: temple records room mold removal, flooded temple registers, moldy temple account books, ozone treatment records room, temple office disinfection, Pak Hai, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya 2026