BANGKOK, Oct 22, 2011 (AFP) - Thailand's prime minister warned Saturday the kingdom would endure weeks more flooding, telling anxious Bangkok residents to prepare for possible metre-deep water as the inundation spread. A high-stakes effort is under way to drain billions of cubic metres of water from upcountry out to sea through rivers and canals in and around the city, where floods were already waist-high in the northern outskirts. "Bangkok must open all floodgates to allow the water through," said Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who has invoked a disaster law to take full control of the emergency response. "So during this long weekend residents should move belongings, cars and other valuable things to places at least one metre (three feet) high," she said in her televised weekly address to the nation. More than 1,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in the northern Bangkok districts of Don Mueang and Lak Si, where the water was up to 70 centimetres deep, making roads impassable for small cars. "It's an extremely serious situation that affects people's lives and property," said Yingluck, whose two-month-old government is racing to avert a humanitarian disaster.
Three months of heavy monsoon rains have killed at least 356 people in Thailand and damaged the homes and livelihoods of nine million people, mostly in the north and centre, the government said. About 113,000 people have been forced to seek refuge in shelters, Yingluck said, adding that while the waters were receding in some areas of the country, the floods heading towards the capital were unstoppable. "There is a huge volume of run-off water from the north and we can't effectively block it but can only slow the flow because our barriers are temporary," she warned. The overall flood situation would continue for "four to six weeks", she added. The centre of Bangkok was still dry on Saturday and sunny blue skies belied the sense of nervous dread in the city of 12 million people. Supermarkets were busy with people stocking up on food and bottled water, while many motorists have moved their cars to the upper levels of multi-storey carparks or left them on bridges and elevated roads.
Tens of thousands of soldiers and police have been mobilised to maintain order, but the military warned people who refuse to leave their inundated homes not to rely on troops to bring them essential items. "People must help themselves too. It's not practical if they just wait for relief workers who number in the hundreds of thousands, while there are millions of victims," army chief General Prayut Chan-O-Cha told reporters. The opposition is calling on the government to declare a state of emergency to make it easier to control people and protect flood barriers, but Yingluck has ruled out such a move. She said the authorities would secure important locations such as the palaces, government buildings, major utilities and key transport routes. "The government will oversee the distribution of all consumer goods and ensure that they are sufficient and available for everyone." "Bangkok residents must be prepared to cope with the situation because there is a lot of water, but don't panic and don't stockpile goods," Yingluck said.
A political novice before taking office, the sister of fugitive former leader Thaksin Shinawatra is facing the first major test of her fledgling leadership. Her administration has been accused of initially responding slowly to the crisis and of giving contradictory information. Her justice minister Pracha Promnog, who heads the government flood relief centre, said Saturday the water had not yet reached Bangkok, despite the inundation in at least two districts. The disaster has dealt a heavy blow to Thailand's export-dependent economy, with hundreds of factories outside the capital flooded. Some foreign governments have warned against non-essential travel to Bangkok, but most of Thailand's top tourist destinations as well as the capital's main airport have so far been unaffected.
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