Thai PM: Floods will be receding within this month

BANGKOK, November 5 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has assessed that inundations in Greater Bangkok will be receding within this month. The prime minister acknowledged during her weekly televised address on Saturday that flooding in Bangkok's eastern areas is likely to be first resolved over the next 1-2 weeks; while inundations in the capital's western areas, or the Thonburi side, are believed to subside one or two weeks thereafter. Yingluck said that large-scaled sandbags or "big bags" have already been laid near Muang Ek in Rangsit of Bangkok's suburban Pathum Thani Province to block upstream water, while repairs of a six-kilometre breaching dyke in the strategic area will be complete in the coming days, to enable workers to dry out floodwater in Rangsit and adjacent Don Mueang area in the capital within due course. The Pheu Thai premier conceded that attempts by all agencies concerned, including the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) and the military, to end flooding in the Thonburi side and adjacent zones will take more time, as repairs at 14 breaching dykes were set to complete on November 13, after which drainage of floodwater will be speeding up. The prime minister urged affected people, particularly those in the western areas, to be patient and to follow the laws by not destroying dykes and refraining from all other offences, warning that legal action will be taken against all those found guilty to constitutionally protect the majority of people. The premier promised to take good care of all flood-affected people and business firms through official assistance measures covering all aspects, including provisions of necessities and financial support to them, as well as rehabilitation plans in flood-stricken areas once inundations recede, beginning with the central Ayutthaya Province by next week, followed by Nakhon Sawan Province in the Lower Thai North. (TNA)