More areas in city's east on alert

Bueng Kum, Bang Bon districts to be added to list of 30 disaster zones

More areas in the east of Bangkok are being monitored for flash floods, especially those located in the Saphan Sung district, Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra said yesterday.

Bueng Kum and Bang Bon districts will soon be added to the list of 30 disaster zones in the capital.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Authority (BMA) said yesterday that the Maha Sawas Canal in the west of Bangkok was brimming over, which kept floods at a high level in many areas to its south. It was the same with Lat Phrao Canal in central Bangkok and Prem Prachakorn Canal in the north.

Meanwhile, frustrated residents tore down 5 meters of the bigbag barrier near Don Muang police station, causing flood water to leak into Prem Prachakorn Canal.

The level of water along the Saen Saeb Canal, including Lat Phrao Soi 130, 136 and 138, is up to 20 centimetres high, while the Sena Niwet housing estate and bylanes in Soi Chok Chai IV have at least kneehigh floods.

The volume of water heading south toward Bangchan Industrial Estate has risen, but factory owners inside the compound are doing their best to fight it off. However, their efforts are reportedly facing a setback due to budgetary constraints resulting in the lack of petrol to power up the pumps.

The Flood Relief Operations Centre (FROC) has been slow in providing cash to power up the water pumps, though the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand has agreed to fund the operations initially.

Thanes Weerasiri, chief of the Engineering Institute of Thailand, who led the flood prevention operation at the estate, said the flood level had dropped by 9cm after 22 boats were used to propel water into the Saen Saeb Canal.

In addition, the King Mongkut Institute of Technology in Lat Krabang is also fighting off floods, with rector Khomsan Maleesee saying he was confident the campus would be safe thanks to the 1.5metrehigh barrier around it.

The level of flood water has risen in some sections of Rama II Road due to runoffs from the sewage, though it was at a low level and traffic could still go through the road, which links the rest of the country with the South.

In Bangkok, inundation has forced the closure of the Seri Thai Road from Min Buri to the Bangchan estate; Krungthon Bridge to Bang Phlat intersection; and Charan Sanitwong from Rama VII Bridge to Yanhi hospital.