BANGKOK, Thailand – All 50 districts of Bangkok have been declared public disaster zones due to sustained rainfall and floods, with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration announcing today that the move, effective immediately, will enable relevant government agencies and local administrative organisations to carry out their duties and responsibilities promptly and systematically after 48 hours of heavy rain caused widespread flooding, traffic problems and disruptions to daily life.

Eastern Bangkok Heavily Flooded As Canals Overflow And 15 Main Roads Submerged

Schools will close on Monday and government workers are being encouraged to stay home as Bangkok tries to keep traffic off flooded roads, Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said. The disaster declaration allows the BMA, other state agencies and local administrations to respond more quickly and systematically in affected areas, coming as heavy rain continued to cause flooding and traffic problems in several parts of the capital, with eastern Bangkok among the hardest-hit areas. Pathum Thani province also declared Rangsit municipality an emergency disaster zone as rain continued into Saturday evening.

A cell broadcast alert was sent to Bangkok residents shortly after 9am, saying water levels in canals were already at critical levels and were expected to rise further. According to the Meteorological Department, the main cause of the unsettled weather is a strong low-pressure system covering the lower Central Plains, Bangkok and surrounding provinces, with the southwest monsoon over the Andaman Sea, the South and the Gulf of Thailand also strengthening, and heavy rain expected to continue until Sunday nationwide.

September is the peak of the rainy season in Bangkok but it has been wetter than usual, according to figures from the BMA Drainage and Sewerage Department, with the capital recording 487mm of rain between 1 and 25 September compared to an average of 269mm for the same period from 1991 to 2020. Water levels began to stabilise around midday Saturday thanks to the city’s pumping stations, which were operating at full capacity and pumping out 1,200 cubic metres per second combined, with the governor saying that if the rain stops it is expected to take two to three days to drain the floodwater. He also assured the public there would be no repeat of the flooding catastrophe of 2011 and no need to panic, as some people raced to stock up on essentials in case the flooding worsens, with witnesses reporting a Makro store in Ram Inthra packed and the parking lot overflowing onto the street, and shelves at a 7-Eleven in the Pracha Chuen area emptied.

Over 10,000 Households Flooded Across 12 Thai Provinces As Heavy Rain Pounds The Country

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul was returning ahead of schedule from London, where he was leading an investment roadshow, to monitor the flood response, stressing during a teleconference before his departure that the response must integrate weather monitoring, disaster mitigation, irrigation and transport under a single, seamless management framework. Upstream from Bangkok at the Chao Phraya Dam in Chai Nat province, water discharges were gradually being increased to 1,950 cubic metres per second from 1,850, according to the Royal Irrigation Department, with people living in low-lying areas along the Chao Phraya downstream of the dam and along the Noi River urged to closely monitor water levels and official announcements and prepare for possible changes in the situation. Varying degrees of flooding were also reported in 20 other provinces including Nakhon Ratchasima, Chanthaburi, Phetchabun, Chon Buri, Chachoengsao, Buri Ram, Surin, Sing Buri, Samut Prakan, Nakhon Sawan, Phichit, Rayong, Ang Thong, Chai Nat, Uthai Thani, Prachin Buri, Ayutthaya, Sa Kaeo, Phitsanulok, Suphan Buri and Nakhon Phanom.

-Thailand News (TN)