In brief
For the first time in years, Bangkok has been declared a flood‑emergency zone after 48 hours of relentless rain turned roads into water. The city’s extensive canal system has overflowed, submerging major arteries and forcing citizens to seek higher ground. Authorities have urged residents to stay indoors and have activated emergency pumps, though water remains at waist level in many neighborhoods. All 50 districts have been marked as emergency zones, and the Thai Meteorological Service predicts continued rain through Sunday.
A flood‑emergency disaster has been declared across Bangkok after 48 hours of heavy rain left roads in the Thai capital submerged. People have been urged to stay at home, and residents near the city’s network of canals have been advised to move belongings to upper floors.
Thunderstorms, common in Thailand at this time of year, have overwhelmed Bangkok’s drainage system, triggering traffic chaos on already congested roads. The rain is expected to continue into Sunday, raising fears that more canals could burst their banks.
Somkid Pheuk‑ngam, 67, a shopkeeper north of central Bangkok, said to AFP: “The water keeps coming in. It’s hard to go out now. It’s like at my waist level. I have closed my shop for two days.” She noted water levels appear worse than the 2011 floods that killed hundreds across Thailand, but no casualties have been reported in Bangkok this time.
The Thai Meteorological Service foresees more heavy rain throughout the week, though the low‑pressure area causing the downpours is expected to shift towards central Thailand.
All 50 of Bangkok’s districts have been declared emergency zones. Chadchart Sittipunt, the city’s governor, said the eastern part of the city had been hardest hit. “The rain keeps falling and we are doing our best. We are trying to pump the water out, but the water in canals is full… The risk areas are those who live near canals. Every canal is now filled,” he said.
