BANGKOK—Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Thursday told reporters that it was no longer possible to protect Bangkok from the flooding that has swamped much of Thailand.
“We cannot block the water forever,” said Yingluck, reported The Bangkok Post.
“The longer we block the water the higher it gets,” she said. “We need areas that water can be drained through so the water can flow out to the sea.”
“Flood waters are coming from every direction and we cannot control them because it’s a huge amount of water. We will try to warn people,” Yingluck added.
Authorities are now in a crisis situation of having to choose where they will allow water to flood into the nation’s capital and to do so in a way that will be the least damaging.
The Post reported that the Thai PM attended a meeting with water management experts at which it was announced that the authorities will attempt to redirect as much water as possible through the eastern part of the city and drain it into the sea.
Meanwhile, Bangkok Governor Sukhmbhand Paribatra has advised that seven districts of Bangkok are at risk of flooding and residents of those areas should move their possessions to higher ground.
A government statement said that floodwater was heading to these areas through a broken dyke. The Bangkok governor said his warning was not a signal for an immediate evacuation as the water level was rising slowly and local residents would have about 24 hours for preparation.
The Justice Minister and Flood Relief Operations Center director Pracha Promnok told The Post that as much as 90 percent of the city will be spared from the flooding and that residents living in inner Bangkok should not be apprehensive about the state of affairs.
However, in downtown Bangkok, residents and business owners continue to sandbag buildings and construct concrete floodwalls, in part due to concerns over the lack of reliable information about the crisis which has now killed over 320 people and left tens of thousands homeless.
Since late July, Thailand has been suffering heavier than usual monsoon rains that have caused what have been described as the worst flooding the country has faced in five decades, affecting a third of the country’s provinces.
The Thai government has said that United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has contacted Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, offering Thailand UN assistance if requested.
Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, other countries in Southeast Asia, are currently also dealing with severe flooding.
