Bangkok Declares Flood Disaster Across City

Bangkok authorities have declared a flood disaster across all 50 districts of the Thai capital after days of continuous rain caused widespread flooding.

The designation gives local organisations greater authority to take emergency measures as the city grapples with rising water levels.

Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said nearly 300 millimetres of rain had fallen since Thursday, with the eastern parts of the city among the worst affected.

Rain has continued almost constantly since Thursday afternoon, flooding roads and causing Bangkok’s canals to overflow into homes and restaurants along their banks.

Chadchart said more rain was expected and that authorities were working to pump water out of affected areas. 

He identified communities near canals as particularly vulnerable and urged residents to move their vehicles to higher ground.

“The rain keeps falling, and we are doing our best. We are trying to pump the water out, but the water in canals are full,” he said. 

“The risk areas are those who live near canals. Every canal is now filled,” he said. 

The governor also advised bedridden patients who depend on life-saving medical equipment to consider temporarily staying in hospitals.

Residents in affected areas described the flooding as severe.

Somkid Pheuk-ngam, 67, a vendor living near a canal north of central Bangkok, said floodwater had risen to around waist level, forcing her to close her shop for two days.

She said the flooding was worse than what she experienced during the major 2011 floods.

“The water keeps coming in. It’s hard to go out now. It’s like my waist level now,”  Pheuk-ngam said. 

“I cannot go anywhere. I have been closing my shop for two days now.

“I think this time is worse than the 2011 flood,” she added. 

Flooding across Thailand in 2011 killed more than 500 people and damaged millions of homes.