Thailand Live Thursday 27 Oct 2011

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Ex PM Thaksin house uses BMA sandbags for flood protection while most Bangkokian buy by themselves. http://twitpic.com/76cnch /via@issarar

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BKK Gov: Request for Cooperation from Those Residing along the Chao Phraya River No.7/2011

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PM orders Irrigation/Highwat Depts to survey breaking apart four roads to facilitate drainage of floodwater in Bangkok. /TAN_Network

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11.15 Borommaratchachonnani (Chaiyapruek temple) toward Bang Plad & Pinklao blocked http://bit.ly/rZCo2K (via @js100radio )

11.38 Pic of 2-metres-high barriers at Air Force Base, Don Muang http://bit.ly/uiNzKT (via @js100radio )

11.55 Water on Vibhavadi Rangsit Rd. reached Wat Lak Si canal. Traffic between Tollway and Lak Si intersection blocked

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Suvarnabhumi airport to hold a press conference regarding preparations against floods

BANGKOK, 27 October 2011 (NNT) - Suvarnabhumi Airport is prepared to give a press conference later this afternoon concerning its preparations for the approaching flood and confidence to maintain normal aviation service.

Airports of Thailand (AoT) Spokesperson Ms. Wilaiwan Nadwilai said the General Manager of Suvarnabhumi Airport will be speaking to the press about the airport’s flood prevention plan, during which normal flight schedules will be confirmed. The press conference will take place at the airport office, Room AOB1, 5th floor, at 16.00 hrs today.

The atmosphere inside the airport remains normal. The airport has already raised a dyke of 4 meters high to protect its compound from the expected flood waters.

-- NNT 2011-10-27

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12.08 Salaya flooded by 30cm. due to breached dyke in Soi Dao Thong 1, Putthamonthon (via @manageronlines )

Bangkok Noi Canal keeps rising and has flooded Baromratchachonnanee Rd. Travel through Talangchan District only possible on elev. rd. /TAN_Network

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Teary-Eyed Pm Yingluck Pledges To Fight Bangkok Flood

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Bangkok Is In Panic Mood

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Outside a viewer's housing estate on Sukaphiban 5 Rd http://pic.twitter.com/EZBO5BN8 / TAN_Network

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SET index midday Thur: 952.10, up 13.42 pts /NATION

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Four Roads to be excavated to Facilitate Flood Water Drainage across Bangkok.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra consulted with the Royal Irrigation Department and the Department of Highways to cooperate in investigating the water levels at various areas, particularly in Bangkok and the city’s perimeters. The premier has ordered the Department of Highways to hurry with digging up four main roads to quickly drain water out of the capital’s critical areas. As of now, the water has breached through many districts of the capital.

-- Tan Network 2011-10-27

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12.52 Water level inside & outside the Hok Wa canal dyke (Sai Mai) different by 60cm. http://bit.ly/tUa9Y3 (via@js100radio )

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Bangkok Noi Canal Swells into Baromratchachonanee Rd

The water level of Bangkok Noi Canal continues to rise and has swelled both sides of Baromratchachonnanee Road, making it impassable for small vehicles. Inbound and outbound travel through Talangchan District is possible only on the elevated road.

Meanwhile, overflow from Chao Phraya River has inundated Ratchadamnern Nai Road. Passage by small vehicles is impossible.

The overflow also cause 20-centimeter flooding on Maharaj and Phra Chan roads. Ferry service to Siriraj Hospital is suspended.

-- Tan Network 2011-10-27

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There has been a lot of misinformation & rumours about where it is flooded. Today I'm going to have a look for myself. /via@RichardBarrow

13.45 Bank Notes Printing House at Chao Phraya riverside overflowed twitpic.com/76dzjf (via @Voice_TV )

[george]

@denisbkk @thaifloodeng Boiling is the first choice, if the tap water is clear. Filter if not clear, and then boil. Boiling beats filtering

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Flood death toll rises to 373

Flood-related death toll has risen to 373 while two others were still missing, the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department announced Thursday.

Wibul Sanguanpong, director-general of the department, said 26 provinces were still affected by floods.

Wibul said 2.14 million people from 730,348 families in 8,377 villages have been affected.

-- The Nation 2011-10-27

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14.35 In front of Lumpini Place Pinklao near Borommaratchachonnani intersection http://pic.twitter.com/xO5liwBA (via @js100radio )

14.39 Bamrungrad Hospital will not admit non-emergency outpatients from 28 - 31 October (via @Voice_TV )

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More sandbags this week on Silom but not every shop. K-Bank & Bangkok Bank are OTT #NoFloodHere http://pic.twitter.com/Ucod0jUJ /via@RichardBarrow

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Series of bomb blast may not be over

The Nation

Authorities are still combing through various pockets in the city of Yala on Thursday following a spate of bombing incident that rocked this southernmost provinces just two days earlier.

According to memos circulating by security and intelligence agencies, the seventh anniversary of the Tak Bai massacre was greeted with a total of 37 violent and potential violent incidents in the three southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and the Malay-speaking region of Songkhla, according to official reports.

Out of the 37 incidents, 29 was in the city of Yala alone. Of the 29 incidents in Yala, 24 were bombings. Authorities were able to defused four bombs. A police outpost on the outskirts of the town was hit by two M79 grenades fired by suspected insurgents.

There were two civilian death, while two suspected insurgents were killed by a bomb they were transporting through Yala’s Old Market. Authorities believe they were heading to the other side where most of the bombs had been placed.

Eyewitnesses said the explosive ripped through their motorbikes and bodies of the two suspected militants beyond recognition, tossing their bombs as far as 30 metres away from the scene where the bomb went off.

The seventh Tak Bai anniversary came on Tuesday. The incident took place in Narathiwat at at the border district which the massacre was named after. It ended in the lives of 86 unarmed Malay-Muslim demonstrators who were calling for the release of five people who they believed had been wrongly arrested by the police.

Eight were shot dead at the scene of the protest while the rest died from suffocation after authorities stacked them one on top another on the back of military transport trucks.

-- The Nation 2011-10-27

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2:45pm At BTS Taksin & Sathon Pier it is dry but will flood later at high tide #NoFloodHere yet http://pic.twitter.com/V1arLjs8 /via@RichardBarrow

No service-fee charged on Motorway from 4pm today until 31 October (via @ktnews )

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N. Korean refugees stranded by Thai floods: report

SEOUL, October 27, 2011 (AFP) - Severe floods in Thailand have disrupted a favoured escape route for North Koreans fleeing their homeland, a report said Thursday.

About 30 to 40 refugees are waiting for transfer to Bangkok from the northwestern border town of Mae Sai, said Daily NK, a Seoul-based Internet newspaper run by former refugees.

Almost all refugees escape on foot to China but face repatriation if they are caught there. Many travel surreptitiously on what is nicknamed the "underground railway" to Southeast Asia and then seek resettlement in South Korea.

Those refugees who come to Thailand through Laos across the Mekong River report themselves to authorities in Chiang Mai before being transferred to the immigration office in Bangkok, Daily NK said.

But the preferred route through Mae Sai, Chiang Mai and Bangkok is now difficult to transit because of serious flooding, it said.

Daily NK quoted Park Gwang-Su, a refugee already in South Korea, as saying he fears for his family, which moved from Laos to Thailand a few days ago.

"If Bangkok is flooded they would be stranded: having arrived in Chiang Mai they would not be able to leave for the immigration office in Bangkok," Park said.

More than 21,700 North Koreans have fled their impoverished and hunger-stricken homeland for South Korea since the 1950-1953 war, the vast majority in recent years.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2011-10-27

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Water level from the Chao Phraya River continues to rise up to 2.51 meters above sea level and is expected to increase. /TAN_Network

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AirAsia urges for bottled water donation

The Nation

Thai AirAsia is currently seeking and accepting donations of bottled drinking water, which has become a scarce resource in Bangkok during the ongoing flood crisis.

"We are determined to use our connectivity to other destinations in order to collect large supplies of drinking water, which will be distributed to residents in Bangkok and neighboring provinces. We welcome donations from everyone and would like to invite individual donors, and all sectors, including the private, government, and non-profit sectors to contribute to this good cause," it said in a statement.

The donations of bottled water should be packed appropriately for shipping purposes. Donation drop-off points are located at all AirAsia counters in Thailand's airports nationwide including Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Ubon Ratchathani, Udon Thani, Krabi, Hat Yai, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Surat Thani, Narathiwat, and Phuket. Donations are welcome every day, and will be shipped along with containers of bottled water that the airline will purchase from local suppliers outside of Bangkok.

-- The Nation 2011-10-27

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Phuket tourism on high ground

WE'RE FINE: Phuket Tourist Association (PTA) Vice President for Marketing

Bhuritt Maswongsa says floods in Bangkok may well be providing a boost

to Phuket tourism. Photo: Warisa Temram

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Consular services continue throughout special holiday

The Foreign Ministry will continue providing passport and consular services in Bangkok and other provinces even though the government has announced a five-day special holiday from today.

The holidays apply to 21 provinces including Bangkok, which have been hard-hit by the flooding.

The ministry said its Consular Affairs Department on Chang Wattana road as well as its Bang Na branch and those in other provinces would continue offering services on Thursday, Friday and next Monday between 8am and 4.30pm.

-- The Nation 2011-10-27

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BKK area 1,500sq.km, if flooded by 1m. (250mil cub.m.) it will take about 1 month to drain all (via @ktnews )

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Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's Smartraveller advisory service.

The following Travel Advice has changed or been added since our last update (26 Oct 2011 17:10:46 EST):

* Thailand

http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/Advice/Thailand

Current Advice Level: "High degree of caution"

Change Summary:

This advice has been reviewed and reissued. It contains new information under Natural Disasters, Severe Weather and Climate (revised information on floods affecting Bangkok and other parts of Thailand). We recommend that you reconsider your need to travel to Bangkok and flood affected provinces (except Suvarnabhumi International Airport) due to transport disruptions and reduced access to essential services caused by severe flooding. The overall level of the advice has not changed.

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Transport Co adds 1,000 more bus trips

Transport Co Ltd has added 1,000 more bus trips to support many people wishing to return to their hometowns in the face of Bangkok flood, while the Mor Chit 2 Bus Terminal continued to be heavily crowded by travellers.

Transport Co president Wutthichat Kalayanamit Thursday commented about the company handling of stranded travellers since Wednesday that the terminal no longer had stranded travellers because the company has added 1,000 more bus trips, bringing the total bus trips available to be 4,000 trips per day and could support 200,000 travellers.

He admitted that people would reach their destinations about five hours late, as many roads were flooded. He said there was an unusually large number of travellers this period because of the special holidays in 21 floodhit provinces, starting Thursday until October 31.

-- The Nation 2011-10-27

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Emergency announcements

The Nation

Below are updates on key developments in the business circle, as floods are raging through Bangkok.

Bumrungrad Hospital is suspending all non-urgent and non-emergency outpatient services during Oct 28-31. It said in a statement that emergency room and inpatient facilities will operate normally, and additional emergency and urgent care outpatient capabilities will be added.

Patients can reschedule appointments or make inquiries by calling 02-667-1000 or e-mail to: info [at] bumrungrad.com.

-- The Nation 2011-10-27

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BOT, banks ready with back-up plans

The Nation

The central bank and financial institutions have prepared measures to continue functioning in case their back-office operations in Bangkok are compromised by floods.

Bank of Thailand Governor Prasarn Triratvorakul said yesterday that the central bank has a videoconference link with executives of local and foreign banks in Thailand to establish emergency plans.

Since the central bank's head office in Bangkok may be submerged up to one metre, it would use its cheque-clearing centre at Surawong, which can keep out water to a height of 2.40 metres.

The central bank plans to use its Note Printing Works in Nakhon Pathom's Nakhon Chai Si district in case the Note Printing Works on Tha Kasem Road in Bangkok was affected by floods.

In a videoconference every evening, the central bank and all banks review the latest flood scenario for Bangkok and their resolutions include ensuring that cheque clearing is available at their branches.

"Banks must facilitate financial transactions nationwide at their branch and ATM networks in Thailand, while finance companies must reserve cash for the next three months to cover the demand of customers nationwide," Prasarn said.

Krungthai Bank plans to move all operating systems to its Disaster Recovery Centre in Chon Buri and to Khao Yai in Nakhon Ratchasima if its head office in the Nana area of Sukhumvit is affected by flooding.

Kasikornbank has disaster recovery centres on Chaeng Wattana, Phaholyothin and Rat Burana roads to ensure it can process the financial transactions of customers.

Siam Commercial Bank has increased its cash reserves to accommodate customer demand in unaffected and affected areas.

Its head office tower is 2.7 metres above Ratchayothin Road. It has piled up sandbags and sealed all risk zones around the building to prevent flood waters from entering.

In the case of an emergency, it will use its Chid Lom branch as its disaster recovery centre to serve customers.

-- The Nation 2011-10-27