Thousands huddle in Bangkok shelters as Thai flood damages seen at $320m

Thailand's capital Bangkok is currently hosting thousands of residents in evacuation centers as the city continues to grapple with severe flooding that has caused extensive damage estimated at $327 million. Intense rainfall over the weekend resulted in parts of the city still being submerged, and swelling reservoirs in an eastern province prompted additional evacuations. The city has experienced 320 millimeters of rain in just three days, equivalent to what it typically receives in an entire month.

Nearly 81,000 residents are currently unable to leave their homes due to the flooding, and emergency services are mobilizing mobile kitchens and boats to provide three meals a day for all evacuees throughout the flooding period and for seven days afterwards. Bangkok is one of 41 provinces in Thailand hit by the floods since September 16, resulting in at least eight deaths and displacing over 580,000 homes.

The economic impact of the floods could reach 11 billion baht (US$327 million) nationwide, with losses potentially increasing if the situation worsens. This could lead to a reduction of 0.3 percentage points in this year's GDP growth, bringing it down to 2.1 percent, and a decrease of about 0.5 percentage points in third-quarter growth to 1.7 percent.

The hardest hit areas are expected to be Bangkok and the eastern region, particularly wholesale and retail businesses, while industry and agriculture will suffer in other regions.

Residents in Bangkok's hardest-hit neighborhood of Bang Kapi have been wading through waist-deep waters to purchase essential items from vendors, setting up stalls on floating plastic boxes and drums. Over 5,901 people in Bangkok have already moved to 234 evacuation centers, according to a city administration official. As a city built on a river delta just 1.5 meters above sea level, Bangkok is sinking by several millimeters annually, and its 8.4 million residents frequently face flooding during its six-month rainy season.

Further east, in the coastal province of Rayong, authorities ordered evacuations on Monday after floodwaters overwhelmed two reservoirs. The devastating floods in Thailand's south last year, caused by 630 millimeters of rain over three days, resulted in at least 145 deaths, inundated more than 33,000 homes, and damaged critical facilities such as schools, hospitals, and highways.