Floods in Thailand affect 2.46 million people in Bangkok and 20 provinces — Bangkok Post

Flooding continues in parts of Bangkok and 20 provinces in Thailand, mainly on the Central Plain. As of the morning of October 12, it affected 2.46 million people, Bangkok Post reports, citing the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.

Causes and situation in the regions

The department's director-general, Nirat Pongsitthithaworn, said the cause was accumulated heavy rainfall in many areas, as well as water runoff from the north of the country to the Central Plain. In the northern Bang Rakam district of Phitsanulok province, water levels were rising, while they were falling in several districts of Nakhon Sawan province.

On the Central Plain, water was receding in the provinces of Uthai Thani, Lopburi, Chai Nat, Sing Buri, Ang Thong, Ayutthaya and Samut Prakan. The situation remained stable in Suphan Buri, Kanchanaburi, Pathum Thani, Nakhon Pathom, Ratchaburi and Samut Songkhram, while water levels were rising in Phetchaburi province. In Bangkok, floodwater levels were declining. In the east of the country, water levels were unchanged in Nakhon Nayok and were falling in Prachin Buri, Chachoengsao and Chonburi.

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Measures to drain water

Deputy government spokeswoman Lalida Persvivatana said that water discharge through the Chao Phraya River barrage in Chai Nat province was reduced on October 12 from 2,000 to 1,900 cubic metres per second. Royal Irrigation Department spokesman Thanes Somboon said this should lower water levels in downstream provinces of the Chao Phraya basin, including Bangkok.

In Chachoengsao province, drainage from the Bang Pakong River was slowed by high sea tides, so authorities deployed boats to speed up the outflow. In Phetchaburi, water discharge from the Kaeng Krachan Dam was reduced to limit flooding in the central part of the province.