Thailand flooding update, Oct. 13, 2011: today’s map of Bangkok’s threatened areas

Here’s an update on the flooding here in Thailand as of 11:45 p.m. Bangkok time today, October 13, 2011:

Summmary

• Much of central Bangkok is still okay, but there are ongoing worries about parts of the city outside the center, especially to the west, north, and east. (See new map below.) Much will depend on rains and tides in the coming days.
• The international airport, Suvarnabhumi, so far appears to be fine.
• Ayutthaya and central Thailand have been hit hard.
• Hundreds have died and many more displaced throughout Thailand. But for those wondering about tourism in Thailand, again: most of central Bangkok has not been affected.

  The areas near the Chao Phraya river, however, and particularly the western and northern portions of Bangkok, are at risk. And again, Ayutthaya and central Thailand have faced serious flooding.

New flooding map

Today’s Bangkok Post has a map of the city’s areas that could be hit:

News reports

Bloomberg has more info on the flooding’s economic implications:

Thailand said floods that have killed more than 283 people and hurt exports may last until the month’s end, swamp Bangkok and cut deeper into economic growth.

The NYT reports on the big picture:

As some of Thailand’s worst flooding in half a century bears down on Bangkok, submerging cities, industrial parks and ancient temples as it comes, experts in water management say it is human activity that is causing nature to run amok.

Deforestation, overbuilding in catchment areas, the damming and diversion of natural waterways, urban sprawl, and the filling-in of canals are combining with bad planning to turn an unusually heavy monsoon season into a disaster, they say.

The AP describes efforts to dig canals:

Workers hurriedly dredged canals and cut new waterways around Thailand’s capital on Thursday in an attempt to protect the city from the country’s worst floods in decades.

And:

Bangkok has been mostly spared so far, but areas on its outskirts have been inundated and authorities fear that flood waters rushing from the north will combine with rains in the next few days to flood the city.

For photos of the floods, see this Atlantic In Focus post from yesterday.

Additional resources

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post:

• Richard Barrow Tweets regularly about the floods. And his site, Thai Travel News, has regularly updated info.
• Relevant Twitter hashtags are #ThaiFlood (English and Thai) and #ThaiFloodEng (English).
• Twitter lists to watch: my Bangkok journalists list, and my general Thailand list.

More updates to come. If you have reports or photos to share, feel free to email me: newley@gmail.com.