A giant statue of a revered monk sits amidst the floods in Ayutthaya
province, Saturday, Oct. 15. Monsoon deluges that have pounded Thailand
since late July have affected 8 million people and swept across
two-thirds of the country, drowning agricultural land and swallowing
low-lying villages along the way. More than 200 major highways and roads
are impassable, and the main rail lines to the north have been shut
down. Authorities say property damage and losses could reach $3 billion
dollars. As of Monday, the nationwide death toll had reached 307, mostly
from drowning.
(AP Photo)
Grant Peck &
Thanyarat Doksone
Bangkok (AP) - Bangkok breathed easier Monday as barriers
protecting the capital from Thailand’s worst flooding in decades held
firm, but authorities ordered a new evacuation in an industrial park
north of the city, as the disaster’s economic impact worsened.
Authorities ordered the evacuation of the Nava Nakorn industrial estate,
in Pathum Thani province just north of Bangkok, after water burst
through one of several protective walls hurriedly constructed in the
past few days.
Villagers wade through
floodwaters
in Pak Kred district in Nonthaburi province. (AP
Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
At least four other major industrial parks have been
inundated, leaving upward of 100,000 workers idle and disrupting supply
chains, especially in the automotive and electronic industries.
The Labor Ministry said that more than 260,000 people had lost jobs and
6,533 businesses nationwide had to close due to floods in the period
Oct. 10-12. Thailand’s Central Bank last week estimated that the total
cost of the floods could be 100 billion baht.
A woman sits in her house
flooded in Pak Kred district in Nonthaburi province. (AP Photo/Sakchai
Lalit)
The nationwide death toll rose to 307, mostly from
drowning. Outside the capital, thousands of people remain displaced and
hungry residents were struggling to survive in half-submerged towns. On
Sunday, the military rescued terrified civilians from the rooftops of
flooded buildings in the swamped city of Ayutthaya, one of the country’s
hardest-hit.
At the same time, officials were expressing growing optimism that the
capital, Bangkok, would be spared thanks to the city’s complex system of
flood walls, canals, dikes and underground tunnels that help divert vast
pools of runoff south into the Gulf of Thailand.
Residents collect relief
supplies dropped from a Thai military helicopter in Pathum Thani
province, north of Bangkok. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
On Monday, the Flood Relief Operation Center ordered
all factories at the Nava Nakorn industrial estate in Pathum Thani
province just north of Bangkok to halt work and prepare their workers
for evacuation.
The order was issued in a live television broadcast after water started
to break through makeshift barriers erected the past few days at the
estate, which was founded in 1971.
Officials later said they managed to keep the flooded area to under 10
percent of the estate, and had the situation under control.
At least four other major industrial parks have been inundated, leaving
tens of thousands of workers idle and disrupting supply chains,
especially in the automotive and electronic industries.
Flood sufferers row a boat
past an old pagoda submerged in the flood in Ayutthaya province. (AP
Photo/Apichart Weerawong)
The flood center’s spokesman, Wim Rungwattanajinda,
said 200 buses and trucks were mobilized to take evacuated workers to
emergency shelters, including a huge temple complex belonging to the
Dhammakaya Buddhist sect that could house as many as 5,000.
Companies with operations at Nava Nakorn include Japanese watchmakers
Casio and Seiko, the Swiss powdered milk and food producer Nestle,
Japanese electronics firm Toshiba and hard drive maker Western Digital,
which has already lost another production facility at another industrial
park.
The biggest blows were suffered by Honda and Toyota for whom Thailand is
a major production base. Both have been forced to stop all work here due
to flooding of their facilities.
A woman and her pets are
transported on a boat as she evacuates from flood in Ayutthaya province.
(AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)
Many of the factories in flooded industrial estates
are producers of specialized components, such as parts for computer hard
drives, producing a knock-on effect for manufacturers in other areas
unaffected by flooding that are unable to source needed parts.
Last week, a Japanese trade organization criticized the Thai government
for allegedly failing to provide timely and accurate information about
the situation in the central province of Ayutthaya, where hundreds of
factories have been devastated, including electronics makers and
automotive parts suppliers.
“Japanese companies didn’t know what was happening or which information
was true or not,” said Seiya Sukegawa of the Japan External Trade
Organization Thailand. “They received warnings but not enough
information and not enough time to decide the next step.”
