New flood wave hits river in Bangkok

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New flood wave hits river in Bangkok

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High tides swell Bangkok's Chao Phraya River, flooding busy residential areas.

12 November,2011 12:53 pm

New high tides surging up the Chao Phraya River further flooded commercial and residential districts of Bangkok on Saturday morning.In densely-populated China town, water poured down alleyways leading from the river, flooding a market area with 40 centimeters of water, government figures showed.City police officers helped people across the fast-flowing water, as residents went about their business as best they could.Thongchai Chiaomanat, a disabled China town resident, said flooding from high tides was a nightmare for him and other local residents.The Hydrographic Department of the Royal Thai Navy said, Saturdays highest high tide was at 2.34 metres above sea level by 09.00 a.m. local time (0200 GMT).The water level was expected to drop to the lowest of the day at 1.80 metres in the early afternoon before rising again to 2.05 metres in the early evening.Patcharat Poonpolthana said business at her family-run knife shop had plummeted as floods had deterred customers and damaged the workshop.Flooding across northern and central Thailand has killed 533 people since July, government figures showed.Inner Bangkok, protected by a series of dykes and sandbag walls, has as yet survived high tides, but authorities are struggling to contain the massive volume of water bottled up in the north, west and east of the city.