Unstoppable floods
October 24, 2011
The Bangkok authorities have warned residents about large volumes of water flowing towards the city's low-lying areas and closing in on six particular districts, including areas just north of the city center. More flooding is expected this week when seasonal high tides flow up the river.
The Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Sinawatra warned that the flooding could then take up to six weeks to recede. She also rejected criticism that her administration was not keeping the public fully informed, telling reporters there had been "no cover-up but new factors arise every day."
The six Bangkok districts, which are of pressing concern, include Chatujak that is home to a giant weekend market popular with tourists, and Don Mueang, where the city's second largest airport is currently doubling up as a flood refuge centre.
"I stayed in the house without electricity and water for two days with my children," said one woman who has taken shelter at the airport after fleeing from Pathum Thani province north of Bangkok.
Distribution centers for food
The government has announced it will set up a distribution center to help replenish empty supermarket shelves in the capital but people are still worried.
"I went to try to get food, but I could not get any," one Bangkok resident said. "There's none left. I heard the military were providing food, so we went there, but none of us got any because some people went there more than once and got it all."
Industry suffers severe damage
The Federation of Thai Industries has calculated the damage to the industrial sector to be somewhere between 9.5 and 13 billion dollars so far, according to the organization's chairman Payungsak Chartsutipol. He said that seven large industrial estates had been submerged, with the hardest hit industries being automotive, electrical appliances and electronics.
The floods, which started in July have taken the lives of more than 350 people, with more than 100,000 people forced to evacuate their homes across the country. Most of Thailand's top tourist destinations and the capital's main airport are so far unaffected.
Author: Manasi Gopalakrishnan (AFP, dpa)
Editor: Anne Thomas