Bangkok floodwater recedes as PM Anutin attends Newin's party
Pumping has cleared ground in eastern Bangkok, but more rain is forecast within days. The prime minister went to a political birthday party in the middle of the emergency.
Floodwater in eastern Bangkok is receding. Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said on Oct. 4 that levels had fallen 50 cm (20 inches) in the Rom Klao and Lat Krabang areas after days of sustained pumping, according to The Nation, a Thai English-language daily. He expected the water-free area in Rom Klao to grow 80% on Monday, Oct. 5.
Authorities are confident the earlier episode, which dropped 300 mm (12 inches) of rain in three days, will not repeat. They forecast about 30 mm (1.2 inches) over the two days after Oct. 4.
The Chao Phraya Dam is still discharging 2 500 cubic meters per second, according to the Royal Irrigation Department, which says river levels will not overtop the embankments protecting the capital, per a second report by The Nation. It warns, however, that communities outside the embankments remain at risk. The Bhumibol and Sirikit reservoirs stand at 68% and 81% of capacity. Heavy rain is forecast for central Thailand on Oct. 10 and 11, and for the south on Oct. 8 and 9.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul went to Buriram for the birthday of Newin Chidchob, a central figure in Bhumjaithai, Anutin's own party. According to the Bangkok Post, Newin wished him two more terms as prime minister. The paper's full text could not be reviewed, so that account rests on published excerpts.
The opposition had already accused the government of warning too late and responding poorly to the floods, which began around Sept. 24 or 25. There is still no recent official death toll.
