Bangkok Prepares to Evacuate Some Residents as High Tide Worsens Flooding

By Daniel Ten Kate and Anuchit Nguyen - Oct 28, 2011 12:03 AM GMT+0700

Thailand’s government prepared to evacuate more people from Bangkok as a high tide starting today may exacerbate flooding that has killed 373 people and swamped factories north of the capital.

“Too much preparation is indeed better than too little,” Natapanu Nopakun, a spokesman for the government’s Flood Relief Operations Command, said in a televised briefing last night, expressing appreciation to those who already left town. “It is hoped these measures will lead to caution.”

The government may evacuate people in some areas of Bangkok to nearby provinces, he said, adding that residents in one-story houses near rivers and canals are most at risk. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has said it could take a month for waters to drain to the Gulf of Thailand.

Uncertainty over the severity of flooding has fueled panic in the capital, leading to shortages of bottled water, eggs and baby formula as the worst floods in more than half a century reach Bangkok. Dikes north of the city are holding back a three- meter-deep wall of water that has inundated about 10,000 factories, disrupting the supply chains of companies including Toyota Motor Corp. and Apple Inc.

“I suggested that clients leave town because of shortages of drinking water and chaos at supermarkets where people are cleaning out the shelves,” said Sanit Nakajitti, a director at PSA Asia, a Bangkok-based security and risk consulting company. “It’s not a life-threatening situation; it’s more just an inconvenience.”

Chao Phraya River

Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra warned communities in 13 districts to watch for flooding as the Chao Phraya river is expected to swell to a record. Severe flooding was limited to a handful of Bangkok’s 50 districts so far, he said.

“There is no sign that floods will spread all over Bangkok,” Sukhumbhand told a group of executives yesterday. “The severity of the problem depends on each area.”

Thailand’s government announced a 5-day holiday through Oct. 31 for 21 northern and central provinces to give people time to prepare for flooding. Commercial banks and financial markets will remain open.

The nation’s benchmark SET Index gained 2.3 percent as stocks surged around the globe after European leaders agreed to expand a bailout fund to stem the region’s debt crisis. The baht rose 0.4 percent to 30.67 per dollar, its strongest level in a week as international investors boosted equity holdings.

Credit Suisse Group AG cut its forecast for Thailand’s economic growth this year to 2.7 percent from 3.5 percent, it said in a report yesterday. The forecast for average inflation for 2012 was raised to 3.8 percent from 3.4 percent as supply shortages because of flooding drives up product prices, it said.

Insurers

Thailand’s floods may cause about 140 billion baht of financial damage to manufacturers in seven industrial estates, according to the government’s insurance regulator. Japan’s casualty insurers may face about 190 billion yen ($2.5 billion) in net payouts to cover damages from Thailand’s floods, Deutsche Bank AG said in a report yesterday.

Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport is operating normally and the company that operates the facility is “confident” that it can be protected from flooding, Somchai Sawasdeepon, senior executive vice president of Airports of Thailand Pcl, said yesterday. Malaysia advised against non- essential travel and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. (293) canceled four flights to Bangkok as the waters deter visitors.

Power Cuts

Don Mueang Airport, which is used mostly for domestic flights, closed after floodwaters reached the runways and has experienced electricity outages. Yingluck has used the building to direct flood-relief efforts and provide refuge for about 4,000 evacuees who are being transferred to other locations.

“Power blackouts are normal when water gets access to the system,” Yingluck told reporters yesterday. “We will reconsider moving again after all the flood victims here move out.”

Rainfall about 25 percent more than the 30-year average filled upstream dams to capacity, prompting authorities to release large amounts of water earlier this month down a flood plain the size of Florida, with Bangkok at its bottom tip. Authorities are aiming to drain the water around Bangkok and through the city’s 1,682 canals.

Residents in northern Bangkok caught fish in their homes and ate noodles with their feet resting in ankle-deep floodwaters, television images showed. In some areas, they showed residents capturing escaped crocodiles.

The government plans to open evacuation centers in provinces including Chon Buri and Kanchanaburi that will be able to house 120,000 people, said Pracha Promnog, a Cabinet member who heads flood relief efforts.

“For people who choose to stay in Bangkok, we have a plan for a food-storage center,” he said. “Electricity and water should not be a problem.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Daniel Ten Kate in Bangkok at dtenkate@bloomberg.net; Anuchit Nguyen in Bangkok at anguyen@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Hirschberg at phirschberg@bloomberg.net