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Thailand flooding update October 20, 2011: New flooding maps, and details on threat to inner Bangkok

Here’s the latest as of 4 p.m. Bangkok time today, October 20, 2011:

Summary

  • Officials are now saying parts of inner Bangkok are under threat — while it had seemed a few days ago that the worst had passed.
  • Prime Minster Yingluck seems increasingly to be coming under pressure as critics question the government’s methods in dealing with the floodwaters.

New maps

The BBC has this basic map today that shows which parts of Bangkok are most at risk:

2011 10 20 bangkok flooding map bbc

The Bangkok Post today has this map and an accompanying story:

2011 10 20 bangkok flood map bkk post

Meanwhile, this one, labeled Thailand Flood Monitoring System, provides additional information. Most of the site is in Thai, but the map is in English. Below is a screen capture:

2011 10 20 bangkok flooding map

The map is online here.

(Via @elgrodo.)

Here’s another map that seems to provide a visual representation of the parts of central Thailand and greater Bangkok that have been hit. Here’s a screen cap:

2011 10 20 thailand flooding map2

The map is online here.

(Via @seacorro)

News reports

The BBC has a good TV piece on how people are coping in hard-hit Ayutthaya. You can watch it online here.

Bloomberg reports mid-day today that:

Thailand’s government warned that floodwaters may reach parts of inner Bangkok, sending stocks and the baht lower as the government struggles to control a deluge that has inundated thousands of factories.

And there are these additional details:

The government earlier today warned residents living near Prapa canal, which runs from northern Bangkok to an area of the city near Victory Monument along an elevated train line, to be vigilant against floodwaters.

“If we can’t pump water out on time, there is a chance Bangkok may be swamped,” Pracha Promnog, head of the national flood center, said in a phone interview with Channel 3 today.

The AP reports:

Thailand’s new premier acknowledged the country’s flood crisis has overwhelmed her government, pleading for mercy from the media and solidarity from the country in battling the relentless waters.

In an emotional appearance before reporters Wednesday, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said her administration is doing all it can and trying to be as clear as possible about where the flooding may strike next.

The WSJ says:

Thailand’s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra pleaded Wednesday for the country’s warring political factions to unite to combat a worsening flood crisis that now threatens to engulf parts of the capital.

Reuters says:

The threat of serious flooding in Bangkok is growing because of the volume of water running down from the centre of Thailand, and one inner city area was under threat on Thursday after floodwater breached a waterworks canal, officials said.

Pracha Promnok, justice minister and head of the government’s flood crisis centre, told Channel 3 television that city officials had been pumping water out overnight in the Samsen and Makkasan areas, which are just north of the royal palace and other sites visited by tourists.

(All emphasis mine.)

As a reminder, previous posts can be found by clicking on the Thailand flooding tag.

Stay tuned.

As ever, you can find me on Twitter: @Newley.

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