Thailand's prime minister said Bangkok was fighting the forces of nature on Thursday
as residents began a mass exodus in the face of oncoming floods. Residents poured
out of the Thai capital by bus, plane and train, with roads to the flood free south
of the country reported jammed. The government warned residents to use a special
five-day holiday to evacuate before a weekend deluge rushes through the city.
The
warning only applies to 3 of Bangkok's 50 districts but the government has acknowledged
that the entire city could flood in the coming days, as floodwater threaten to break
through dikes protecting the capital. And its residents are fleeing in their thousands.
The country's worst flooding in half a century, caused in part by unusually heavy
monsoon rain, has killed 373 people since mid-July. Bangkok, a city of at least 12
million people that accounts for 41 percent of GDP, is in danger from run-off water
from the north coinciding with high tides on the Chao Phraya river, which is already
at a record high level in places. The defence ministry said 50,000 armed forces personnel
are standing by with 1,000 boats and 1,000 trucks to help evacuate people. Listen: