Bangkok roads submerged as flood disaster declared — SkimNews
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- Bangkok declared a flood emergency disaster across all 50 of the city's districts after more than 300mm (12in) of rain fell since Thursday, inundating roads and overwhelming the drainage system.
- Governor Chadchart Sittipunt warned that the flooding is not yet over despite the rain subsiding on Sunday, telling AFP that "every canal is now filled" and that the east of the city was hardest hit.
- Somkid Pheuk-ngam, a 67-year-old shop owner living near a canal north of central Bangkok, told AFP the water at her home is waist-high and that she has kept her shop closed for two days, calling the flooding worse than 2011.
- The Bangkok Metropolitan Authority urged residents near the city's canal network to move belongings to upper floors and stay home, as canal water levels remained dangerously high.
- Thailand's Meteorological Service forecast more heavy rain through the week, though the area of low pressure driving the downpours is expected to shift toward central Thailand.
- No casualties have been reported in Bangkok from the current flooding, though the 2011 nationwide floods — which Somkid cited as her comparison — killed hundreds and lasted three months.
Why it matters: With more heavy rain forecast through the week and every canal in Bangkok already at capacity, the city's roughly 10 million residents face a multi-day crisis that has paralyzed commerce and mobility; the 2011 precedent killed hundreds, and Somkid's firsthand comparison that this already feels worse raises the stakes even without casualties so far.
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