Thailand raced yesterday to build floodwalls on the outskirts of Bangkok to prevent the worst floods in half a century from inundating parts of the capital later this week when water flowing from the north reaches the low-lying city.
At least 269 people have been killed by heavy monsoon rains, floods and mudslides that have battered 27 of Thailand’s 77 provinces since late July, according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.
Much of Thailand’s north, northeast and central plains are flooded, affecting 2.3 million people. Bangkok — only 2m above sea level — could be next, if water overflowing from reservoirs in the north arrives at the same time as high estuary tides are due from tomorrow.
Photo: AFP
Rescue workers hastily built a floodwall in Pathum Thani, north of Bangkok, where strong currents burst a river embankment overnight, flooding homes in water at least 2m high.
Pathum Thani Province Deputy Governor Lerpong Kaewsrichan said the water had mostly submerged farmland and two industrial estates in the area had been spared for now.
“Water didn’t flood into the economic zone. We’re trying our best to protect our economic zones,” he said.
About 2,000 people crammed into an evacuation center in Pathum Thani, most from the neighboring province of Ayutthaya, one of the worst affected.
Nearly 198 factories in a sprawling industrial estate there, including an assembly plant of Honda Motor Co Ltd, have closed after floodwater breached a wall of sandbags at the weekend. Nikon Corp said it has halted a digital SLR camera production site because of flooding.
Toyota Motor said it had halted operations at all three of its Thai factories.
Thailand is a major production center for many of the world’s biggest car manufacturers. Their assembly plants are mostly in eastern Rayong Province, which has not been badly hit, but there is bound to be disruption because car part makers elsewhere have been affected.
About 1.38 million hectares of farm land is under water — about 13 times the size of Hong Kong — and more than 700,000 homes have been destroyed or damaged.
The final quarter of the year is the high season for Thailand’s big tourist sector. The ancient capital of Ayutthaya is flooded and the popular northern city of Chiang Mai has also been hit, suggesting tourism may take a big hit.
Despite the disruption to road and rail travel to the north, Thai Tourism Minister Chumphol Silpa-archa played down the impact as he headed into a Cabinet meeting yesterday.
“At least 39,000 foreign travelers are still coming to Thailand every day. They’re choosing to visit other areas and travel by air,” he said.
The Cabinet agreed to cut current government spending by 10 percent for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1 and divert the funds — around 80 billion baht (US$2.58 billion) — to relief work.
The government still aims to keep its budget deficit at the planned level of 350 billion baht, officials said.
The Commerce Ministry has cut its estimate of the main rice crop, harvesting of which started this month, to 21 million tonnes from 25 million tonnes because of flooding. Thailand is the world’s biggest producer of the grain.
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