Bangkok preparing for more flooding

Rescue workers setting up sandbag flodd barriers in Bangkok.

Sat Oct 15, 2011
Press TV

In Thailand, people are preparing for more flooding as the battle to prevent the flood waters from reaching the country's capital Bangkok continues.

Rescue workers rushing to widen canals around Bangkok, have piled sandbags along rivers and set up defenses around the city, AFP reported.

However, flood waters have already reached the outskirts of the 12-million-population city.

"We must try to protect our economic zone including Bangkok, Suvarnabhumi Airport, industrial areas and evacuation centers,” Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said.

This is while downpours and masses of water are expected to hit Bangkok on Saturday.

Floods have covered a third of the country since July, killing nearly 300 people and causing three billion dollars in damage.

The forecast for the growth of Thailand's gross domestic product (GDP) this year stands at 3.6 percent instead of the previously-projected 4.4 percent because of the floods, according to Thailand's Center for Economic and Business Forecasting.

Inner Bangkok, including the main tourist districts, was not affected and conditions in most parts of the city remained normal.

Flooding has also hit other countries in Southeast Asia, including Cambodia, where almost 250 people have died. In Vietnam, the death toll has risen to 43, most of them children.