Thai PM moves to soothe Bangkok flood panic

BANGKOK, October 14, 2011 (AFP) – Thailand’s premier
moved Friday to reassure Bangkok’s 12 million residents over a looming
flood crisis, after one of her ministers briefly sparked panic with an
evacuation warning.

Science minister Plodprasop Suraswadi rushed out of a flood briefing
late Thursday to say that several areas in Bangkok’s northern suburbs
were at risk of being submerged by up to one meter (3.3 feet) of water
after a dyke burst.

But the authorities quickly backtracked, causing confusion among
residents who have been braced for floodwaters to reach the capital
after causing havoc  across northern and central Thailand, leaving at
least 289 people dead.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said on Friday that the situation was under control.

“The water level is stable and not increasing. So I would like to ask people not to panic,” she told reporters.

“Minister Prodprasob wanted to update the people about the situation
because he was concerned that they were anxious about it,” Yingluck
explained.

“So he just reported about the possibility of what might happen to the people, and nothing happened. Everything was normal.”

Some residents in the affected areas rushed to move their belongings to higher ground after the warning.

In the Bangkok suburb of Saimai, local authorities received hundreds of
phone calls from concerned residents, district chief Nongpanga Boonpaksa
told AFP by telephone.

“After last night’s announcement people in Saimai were panicky. There
were some frantic traffic jams in our district because people were
trying to move their cars to higher places but the situation later
returned normal,” she said.

About 110,000 people around the country have sought refuge in shelters
in the face of the floods that have destroyed crops, inundated hundreds
of factories and damaged the homes and livelihoods of millions of
people.

Currently 26 out of 77 provinces are affected, but conditions in inner
Bangkok and at most of Thailand’s top tourist destinations are normal.

The capital is, however, bracing for a large amount of run-off water to
reach the city along with seasonal high tides that will make it harder
for the flood waters to flow out to sea.

Bangkok residents have thronged supermarkets in the capital to stock up
on instant noodles and other non-perishable food, while flashlights have
been flying off the shelves.

Sandbags have been piled in front of homes and businesses in preparation
for possible inundation, while some residents have opted to leave their
vehicles in multi-storey carparks in the city to avoid possible
flooding.

Central Bangkok is protected by flood walls and the authorities have
piled sandbags along the Chao Phraya River to try to keep water out of
nearby areas, whose residents are no strangers to seasonal floods.

The authorities have said they will dredge and drain canals in the capital to allow more water to flow through.

The floods have dealt a heavy blow to Thailand’s economy, leaving hundreds of factories under water.

Japanese automakers including Toyota have suspended production in the
kingdom due to water damage to facilities or disruption to parts
supplies.

The ancient city of Ayutthaya, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) upriver of
Bangkok, has been badly affected and the UN cultural organisation
UNESCO said it would launch a mission to the World Heritage site to
assess the impact.

– ©Copyright AFP 2011-10-14 | AFP News Sponsor

Published with written approval from AFP.