Thailand's worst floods in decades
have prompted the country's premier to postpone official visits to Singapore
and Malaysia, a spokeswoman said on Sunday, as Bangkok braces for rising waters.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra last week described the
flooding, which has left more than 250 people dead and inundated huge swathes
of the kingdom as a "serious crisis" and warned that the capital
would not escape unscathed.
She was scheduled to fly to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore on
Tuesday and Wednesday respectively as part of an introductory tour of the
region after coming to power in August.
"The trips are postponed due to the floods,"
government spokeswoman Titima Chaisaeng told AFP.
More than two months of heavy rains have deluged provinces
across northern and central Thailand and damaged the homes or livelihoods of
millions of people, particularly farmers, according to the government.
Huge efforts are now under way to stop the waters from
reaching low-lying Bangkok, home to 12 million people, prompting pleas from
some residents north of the city for sluice gates to be raised to release
floodwater.
Thailand's ancient capital Ayutthaya, about 80 kilometres (50
miles) northeast and upriver of the capital has seen increasingly serious
flooding in recent days after being partially waterlogged for several weeks.
Historic temples have been swamped and a large industrial
estate, home to a slew of Japanese electronics and auto parts makers including
car giant Honda, has started to flood.
Authorities are evacuating some 200 patients from Ayutthaya's
hospital, according to Science and Technology minister Plodparsob Suraswadi,
who signalled a new emphasis on moving people out of the path of flooding in
provinces outside Bangkok.
"The plan will be focused on evacuation rather than
fighting floods," he said.
Large amounts of run-off water is expected to reach Bangkok
in mid-October, while high tides will make it harder for the floods to flow out
to sea. More storms are also expected.
Meanwhile, Eleven Chinese were killed and two missing after their
cargo boats were attacked in the golden triangle area of the Mekong River,
state media said on Sunday.
The two ships, the Hua Ping and Yu Xing 8, were attacked on
October 5, according to the Xinhua news agency, which said China's leaders were
"paying close attention to the matter".
The foreign ministry in Beijing has asked the Chinese embassy
in Thailand and consulate general in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai to
investigate and do all they can to find the missing crewmen, Xinhua said.
Beijing had also asked "relevant countries" to take
measures to improve the protection of Chinese ships and sailors in the Mekong
River, the report said, quoting a statement on the ministry's website.
The Mekong River region comprises Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar,
Thailand, Vietnam and China's Yunnan Province.
Source : AFP
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