Yingluck pledges to continue fighting Skip to main content

Yingluck pledges to continue fighting

Yingluck pledges to continue fighting

Bangkokians flee as water bears down on capital


With Bangkok now entering a critical period, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Thursday pledged to continue fighting the country’s worst flooding in decades.

Floodwaters are spreading to larger areas of the capital and residents of Don Mueang, Bang Phlad and Thawi Wattana districts have already been urged to evacuate to safer places of refuge, higher ground or temporary shelters provided by City Hall.

With a massive volume of water from the North combining with high tides from October 28-30 threatening to flood all 50 districts of the capital, large numbers of Bangkokians flocked to bus terminals and crowded Suvarnabhumi Airport, the country’s main airport, leaving the city for the provinces and other countries.

Don Mueang Airport, the city’s former international airport housing the government’s flood centre, was forced to suspend all domestic flight services due to flooding on Tuesday.

Today is the first of a 5-day official holiday the government declared for 21 flood-hit provinces including Bangkok to allow city dwellers to leave or prepare to deal with the deluge. Banks and financial markets will remain open from Thursday to Monday.

The notorious traffic snarl in the capital has become a thing of the past as the mass exodus left city streets with a few cars although public buses, taxis and motorcycle taxis were still running.

Many city dwellers have opted to take public transportation after parking their own vehicles at safe places for fear of the worsening flooding. Triple parking could be seen at tollways and expressways.

Many hotels are offering budget prices to help the flood-affected. Some companies also booked hotel rooms for their staff whose homes are being submerged.

The teary-eyed premier remained steadfast that there was no need to move the Flooding Relief Operations Centre (FROC) located in inundated Don Mueang Airport.

"We must evacuate people who are staying in Don Mueang Airport to safer areas first," Yingluck said. "FROC will be the last agency to move out."

Yingluck said Don Mueang Airport can still be reached via the elevated tollway but she expressed concern for workers who may face obstacles getting to the centre. She has tasked government officials to facilitate such travel by providing transport and shelters.

The premier noted that the relocation of FROC also depends on the electrical system at Don Mueang and that she will consider other options. She said she does not want to move the centre as all working systems have already been settled there.

The prime minister conceded Bangkok is entering a critical level. She said it’s impossible to divert floodwater and that floodwater will pass through every part of the capital but how much and how long it will persist in particular areas depends on the level of the land.

Yingluck said that temporary shelters have been prepared in Lop Buri, Chonburi and a number of other provinces and urged Bangkokians to evacuate to ease burden of officials in emergency cases.

Following criticism of FROC's performance, the premier called on the public to feel sympathy for FROC officials, saying they may feel tired while others have now become flood victims themselves.

"Today we ask for mutual support as officials have fought flooding for nearly two weeks. Many are exhausted and some problems cannot be controlled and were not caused by FROC," said Yingluck.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Chronology of the Press in Burma

1836 – 1846 * During this period the first English-language newspaper was launched under British-ruled Tenasserim, southern  Burma . The first ethnic Karen-language and Burmese-language newspapers also appear in this period.     March 3, 1836 —The first English-language newspaper,  The Maulmain Chronicle , appears in the city of Moulmein in British-ruled Tenasserim. The paper, first published by a British official named E.A. Blundell, continued up until the 1950s. September 1842 —Tavoy’s  Hsa-tu-gaw  (the  Morning Star ), a monthly publication in the Karen-language of  Sgaw ,  is established by the Baptist mission. It is the first ethnic language newspaper. Circulation reached about three hundred until its publication ceased in 1849. January 1843 —The Baptist mission publishes a monthly newspaper, the Christian  Dhamma  Thadinsa  (the  Religious Herald ), in Moulmein. Supposedly the first Burmese-language newspaper, it continued up until the first year of the second Angl

Thai penis whitening trend raises eyebrows

Image copyright LELUXHOSPITAL Image caption Authorities warn the procedure could be quite painful A supposed trend of penis whitening has captivated Thailand in recent days and left it asking if the country's beauty industry is taking things too far. Skin whitening is nothing new in many Asian countries, where darker skin is often associated with outdoor labour, therefore, being poorer. But even so, when a clip of a clinic's latest intriguing procedure was posted online, it quickly went viral. Thailand's health ministry has since issued a warning over the procedure. The BBC Thai service spoke to one patient who had undergone the treatment, who told them: "I wanted to feel more confident in my swimming briefs". The 30-year-old said his first session of several was two months ago, and he had since seen a definite change in the shade. 'What for?' The original Facebook post from the clinic offering the treatment, which uses lasers to break do

Is 160 enough? One Indian man's family

By Sumnima Udas , CNN October 31, 2011 -- Updated 0857 GMT (1657 HKT) Ziona, center, with his has 39 wives, 86 children and 35 grandchildren in rural Baktwang village, India. STORY HIGHLIGHTS One man in India is the patriarch of a family of 160 in rural India Ziona, who only goes by his first name, has 39 wives, 86 children and 35 grandchildren. Ziona's father, Chana, founded the Christian sect in Baktwang that promotes polygamy "I never wanted to get married but that's the path God has chosen for me" Mizoram, India (CNN) -- The world's population hits 7 billion this week, but Ziona, the patriarch of what may be the biggest family in the world, is not bothered. "I don't care about overpopulation in India ... I believe God has chosen us to be like this (have big families). Those who are born into this family don't want to leave this tradition so we just keep growing and growing," he says with a smile. Ziona, who only goes by his f