Bangkok authorities have declared a flood disaster across the Thai capital after nearly 48 hours of heavy rain left canals overflowing, roads submerged and residents wading through deep floodwater.
Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt urged residents to stay home after almost 300 millimetres of rain fell, while Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul cut short a trip to London to return to Thailand.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration declared a disaster across all 50 districts, allowing local authorities to take emergency measures. At least 13 roads were flooded, while around 980 people were staying in temporary shelters and 36 bedridden patients had been transferred to hospitals.
Chadchart said the situation had stabilised by Saturday afternoon but warned that it could take two to three days for floodwaters to drain if no further heavy rain fell.
“Our problem is that the canals are full,” he said, adding that authorities were working with neighbouring provinces to divert and drain water away from Bangkok.
Flooding was particularly severe in eastern parts of the capital and along its extensive canal network, with water entering homes, shops, restaurants and alleyways. Residents in several neighbourhoods were seen filling sandbags and moving belongings to higher ground.
The city’s pumping stations were operating at full capacity, with combined pumping estimated at 1,200 cubic metres per second.
Bangkok recorded 487 millimetres of rain between Sept 1 and 25, compared with an average of nearly 269 millimetres for the same period between 1991 and 2020.
Thailand’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation warned that a low-pressure system would affect eastern, northeastern and central parts of the country through Sunday.
